March 2026

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March is National Kidney Month, a time to raise awareness about kidney disease and the importance of early detection. For Kirsten Johansen, MD, nephrologist and president of Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (HHRI), it’s also a reminder of the critical role research plays in improving the lives of patients living with kidney disease.

Johansen’s path to nephrology was not straightforward. After college, she spent two years working in liver-related research before deciding to pursue medicine. Once in medical school, she became fascinated by kidney physiology and the complex role the organs play in maintaining the body’s balance of fluids and electrolytes.

“The kidneys are amazing,” Johansen said. “They keep everything in balance – sodium, potassium, fluid levels. That complexity is part of what drew me to the field.”

Spotlight

Recognizing Excellence

Recent Awards & Honors

• Board-certified internist and Director of the Institute for Professional Worklife (IPW), Mark Linzer, MD, has received the 2026 American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) Camille Mermod Award for Exceptional Service. The AMWA held an Awards Gala on March 28 in San Francisco, CA, where they honored Dr. Linzer’s continuous work as an advocate for women’s voices and career advancement in medicine. 

Recent Publications

• HHRI investigator Tyler Winkelman, MD, MSc, HHRI data scientist Peter Bodurtha, MPP, and other members of the MN EHR Consortium (MNEHRC) are co‑authors on a newly published Learning Health Systems article, "Design and Implementation of a State-Wide Network for Near Real-Time Public Health Surveillance and Research: The Minnesota Electronic Health Record Consortium Experience." The MNEHRC, a successful collaboration of researchers from several large health systems in Minnesota, is an important resource for public health surveillance in the state. This descriptive study of the MNEHRC analyzed the Consortium's governance structure, infrastructure, members, and characteristics of the patient population. The Consortium initially focused on COVID-19 infections and vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic and has since expanded into other public health and chronic disease research.

In the Media

• Nephrologist and Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (HHRI) President Kirsten Johansen, MD, was interviewed by Minnesota Physician, where she discussed how HHRI is transforming patient care on both a national and international level through its groundbreaking research and innovation. The article highlights some of HHRI’s key contributions since it was founded in 1952, as well as HHRI’s recent adoption of its new mission statement, “Transforming health and health care for all through ethical research and meaningful community partnerships.” Read the article. 
  
• Internist, pediatrician and Co-Director of HHRI's Health, Homelessness, and Criminal Justice lab (HHCJ), Tyler Winkelman, MD, MSc, was interviewed on WCCO’s CBS News Minnesota where he advocated for why Hennepin Healthcare should stay open and how closing it would endanger the MN EHR Consortium. Read the article and watch the video interview.

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