Our vision is to develop and evaluate innovative, effective acute trauma care from point of injury through early post-injury in austere, low resource, rural, and emergency care settings by creating a multidisciplinary, translational research center that brings together trauma and emergency care research across the state of Minnesota into a single entity and develops faculty and trainee research careers.
Our Leadership
Greg Beilman, MD, COL (ret) Director
A general surgeon and ICU physician, Greg Beilman currently serves as the Associate Dean for DoD Relationships for the University of Minnesota Medical School and is Professor of Surgery at the University of Minnesota. He recently served as Senior Vice President of Acute Operations for the Minnesota Health Fairview Health System, the largest health system in the state of Minnesota, where he co-lead the system response to COVID-19. Greg has an active translational research program funded by the Department of Defense, the NIH, and industry. Greg is a retired Colonel in the Army Reserves and has deployed five times; serving during one deployment as the CENTCOM Joint Theater Trauma System Director in Iraq and Afghanistan. Greg has significant experience in Global Health efforts, with his experience in the Army, a decade of patient care and research efforts in Uganda, and recent efforts in Ukraine.
Lisa Rogers, MS, MPH Executive Director
Lisa Rogers has a scientific background in toll-receptor biology, cancer immunology, and health disparities. She has over two decades of experience in the operations of large multi-disciplinary and multi-institution research centers with a focus on developing and optimizing strategies to drive the research mission. She also has expertise in pre- and post-doctoral training programs.
Mike Puskarich, MD Associate Director
Mike Puskarich is a practicing emergency physician and clinician scientist. He is the associate director of the Center and director of research in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He is an expert in the conduct of emergency care research, with a particular interest in the conception and implementation of innovative clinical trials designed to improve the care of critically ill and injured patients.
Kristine Mulier, MS Preclinical Research Director
Kristine Mulier is the Preclinical Director for the Translational Center for Resuscitative Trauma Care in the Medical School at the University of Minnesota. Kristine received her Bachelor of Science in Genetics and Cell Biology at the University of Minnesota and Master of Science in Biological Science at the University of Minnesota. Her skill set is very diverse with decades of experience in animal modeling, sample/data procurement and data analysis.
Amanda Hayward, PhD Research Dev. Manager
Amanda Hayward received her PhD from the Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics program at the University of Minnesota. She started large center grant writing, editing, and assembly in 2019 as a part of the Institute for Engineering in Medicine’s (IEM’s) Center Accelerator program. As the Research Development Manager, Amanda will manage Center projects and provide grant writing and editing support to Center faculty members.
Chris vanBrenk Program Manager, Military Medic to Medical School Program/Military Relationships
Mr. vanBrenk currently serves as a full time Critical Care/Flight Paramedic with Duke Life Flight (Duke University Hospital) in Durham, NC. Mr. vanBrenk also currently works as a project manager with the Global Surgical and Medical Support Group (GSMSG) coordinating medical and tactical training for Ukrainian Special Operations Forces and conducted two overseas deployments to Ukraine in 2022 to support partnerships with the Ukrainian Military and the American College of Surgeons. From 2008-2018, Chris served as an Infantry Rifle Platoon Leader and US Army Special Forces Detachment Commander of a 12-man Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha (ODA) as well as Team Leader for a 3-man Special Activities team on several overseas rotations to the Middle East and Africa. As a Special Forces Officer, Chris was responsible for planning and conducting Special Operations which included direct action, unconventional warfare and prolonged field care in permissive, semi-permissive or denied areas often as the senior US Military Representative. Mr. vanBrenk graduated in 2008 with a B.S. in Political Science and minor degree in Classical Studies
Members, Affiliated Centers, Institutes, and Departments, and Advisory Boards
Center Members
 |  General Surgery resident |
 Director of Experimental Surgical Services |  |
 Benoit X. Blondeau, MD Surgery Department Chair, Division Head, Surgical Services, Regions Hospital
|  Research Support Manager in ESS |
 Division of Critical Care/Acute Care Surgery head; Vice Chair for Education, Department of Surgery; Northern Plains Rural Surgery Society |  Trauma research director and a trauma/critical care/acute care surgeon at St. Mary’s in Duluth |
 Department of Neurosurgery University of Minnesota; Rockswold-Kaplan Endowed Chair for Traumatic Brain Injury Hennepin County Medical Center |  Nick Davis, MD Trauma Surgeon, North Memorial Hospital |
 Michael Doering, MBA System Director, Trauma Services, M Health Fairview |  Professor, Dept Biological Sciences, UMD |
 Brian Driver, MD Emergency Physician Director of Clinical Research Dept. Emergency Medicine, HCMC |  Assistant Professor, Biostatistics |
 Professor of Political Science |  Jonathan Gipson, MD Surgeon, Trauma, Acute Care, General and Bariatric Surgery |
 James Hougas III, MD, FAAFP Assistant Professor, St. John's Family Medicine Residency, University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health |  Uroghupatei Iyegha, MD Director of Trauma Services and Adult Trauma Medical Director - Regions Hospital |
Regents and Distinguished McKnight Professor, Director, Center for Immunology, UMN |  Joe Jude, MD CPT, MC Fort Campbell, KY |
 Sarah Knack, MD Research fellow at HCMC; sedation, outcomes, and PTSD in critically ill patients at HCMC |  Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering; Working in Surgical Simulation |
 Derek Lumbard, MD Critical Care Surgery Specialist, Hennepin County Medical Center
|  Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery; Metabolomics |
 Research Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Director, HumanFIRST Laboratory; Gender disparities in military medic care |  Associate Professor, School of Public Health |
 Assistant Professor, Pediatrics |  Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology |
 Associate Dean for Research | Frederick Rogers, MD, MS, MA Adjunct Professor of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine |
 General Surgery Resident, UMN |  Ali Shaaban, MD Researcher, Translational Center for Resuscitative Trauma Care |
Nick Simpson, MD Chief Medical Director, Hennepin EMS; Dual trained in EM and EMS. ED Faculty at HCMC. Assoc. Medical Director for Hennepin ECMO Program |  Orthopedic Surgery |
 Mithun Suresh, MD Hospitalist, CentraCare-St. Cloud Hospital |  Assistant Professor, Elerctrical and Computer Engineering, UMN |
 Melissa Thorson, MS, APRN, CCNS Director, Trauma, Acute Care/General Surgery and Specialty Provider Programs |  Associate Dean for Data Science; Director, CQODE; Chair, Health Information Technology Committee, American College of Surgeons |
Linda Vogel, APRN, CNS Trauma Program Manager, Essentia Health-St Mary's Medical Center |  Emily Wagstrom, MD Ortho trauma surgeon; Interested in compartment syndrome |
 Michaela West, MD PhD Trauma Research Chair, North Memorial |  Assistant Professor, Surgery |
 Yaqoub Yusuf Researcher, Translational Center for Resuscitative Trauma Care |
|
Affiliated Centers, Institutes, and Departments
- Department of Surgery | Medical School - University of Minnesota (umn.edu)
- Department of Emergency Medicine | Medical School - University of Minnesota (umn.edu)
- Department of Biomedical Sciences | Medical School - University of Minnesota (umn.edu)
- Center for Immunology - University of Minnesota | (umn.edu)
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering | College | College of Science and Engineering (umn.edu)
- Institute for Engineering in Medicine (umn.edu)
- Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center (Duluth)
- Home - Hennepin Healthcare
- M Health Fairview
- Mechanical Engineering | College of Science and Engineering (umn.edu)
- Medical Alley Association – Elevating Medical Alley as the global epicenter of health innovation and care
- North Memorial Health Clinics, Hospitals, Air Medical Transport and Ambulance Services
- Department of Neurosurgery | Medical School - University of Minnesota (umn.edu)
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery | Medical School - University of Minnesota (umn.edu)
- St. Cloud Hospital Emergency Trauma Center | CentraCare
- University of Minnesota School of Public Health (umn.edu)
- Regions Hospital | Nationally recognized care in St. Paul, MN (healthpartners.com)
- Excelsior Surgical Society
External Advisory Board Members
Name | Title | Affiliation |
Shackelford, Stacy Col USAF, MC | Trauma Medical Director | DHA Colorado Springs Market |
Spott, Mary Ann, PhD | Deputy Chief, Joint Trauma System | Joint Trauma System |
Van Brenk, Christopher | CPT (Ret), Spec Ops | EMS System, Duke University |
DuBose, Joseph | Professor, Dept. Surgery and Perioperative Care | UT-Austin |
Rogers, Fred, MD, MS, MA | Adjunct Professor | UPenn |
Hick, John, MD | EMS Director, Hennepin County Medical Center | Hennepin County Medical Center |
Wenke, Josh, PhD | Professor, Dept of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation | U Texas Medical Branch |
Internal Advisory Board Members
| Name | Title | |
| Kris Colling, MD | Trauma research director and a trauma/critical care/acute care surgeon at St. Mary’s in Duluth | |
| Anne Eaton, PhD | Assistant Professor, Biostatistics | |
| Jon Gipson, MD | Surgeon, Trauma, Acute Care, General and Bariatric Surgery North Memorial Hospital | |
| Uroghupatei Iyegha, MD | Director of Trauma Services and Adult Trauma Medical Director - Regions Hospital | |
| Elizabeth Luszcek, PhD | Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery | |
| Mark Osborn, PhD | Assistant Professor, Pediatrics | |
| Marizen Ramirez, MPH, PhD | Associate Dean for Research Leon S. Robertson Professor in Injury Prevention Director, Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety University of Minnesota School of Public Health | |
| Melissa Thorson, MS, APRN, CCNS | Director, Trauma, Acute Care/General Surgery and Specialty Provider Programs | |
| Emily Wagstrom, MD | Assistant Professor, Orthopaedics |