CLINICAL ETHICS
Ian D. Wolfe, PhD, MA, RN, CCRN, HEC-C, staff clinical ethicist
Dr. Ian D. Wolfe earned his PhD in Nursing with a focus in bioethics, and his MA in Bioethics with a minor in Public Health and focus on health equity, from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Wolfe has a clinical background in burn, trauma and pediatric critical care nursing. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric bioethics at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. Dr. Wolfe has authored a broad range of journal articles that support his main interest which is how social, political and cultural systems issues affect clinical ethics and care at the bedside.
Dr. Wolfe is the current chair of the Pediatric Ethics Affinity Group at the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities and a member of the ethics advisory board for the American Nurses Association Center for Ethics and Human Rights. He has chaired and participated in other volunteer activities with state and national nursing and medical organizations such as the American Association of Critical-care Nurses, and Society for Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Wolfe’s current areas of research focus on preventative and integrated ethics, parent-clinician interactions, and the relationship of hospitals to the community.
Dr. Asma Fazal, MD, MRCPI (pediatrics), MHSc, clinical ethics fellow
Dr. Asma Fazal completed her medical degree from Hamdard College of Medicine, Karachi, Pakistan. After completing her specialist pediatric training in Ireland, she received membership of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 2011. Over nine years, and after working in different parts of the world, Dr. Fazal has gained extensive clinical experience in general and subspecialty pediatrics.
Due to her growing interest in ethical issues in pediatric patient care, Dr. Fazal joined the University of Toronto and completed MHSc in Bioethics in 2019. As her capstone project, she developed an e-learn on “Introductory Concepts of Pediatric Bioethics for Healthcare Professionals”. Her bioethics education and training opened a new career pathway for her, and she joined Children’s Minnesota as a clinical ethics fellow in September 2020.
Besides providing ethics consultations, Dr. Fazal is passionate about ethics education, policy-making, and academic research. Her research interests are substitute decision making, the best interest of a child, consent and capacity, patient confidentiality, moral distress among healthcare professionals, ethical issues involving refugees and migrants, and organ transplantation.
Dr. Fazal lives with her husband, Syed, and two lovely daughters. She loves cooking, gardening and exploring new places.
Support staff: Hamdi Sahal, senior administrative assistant
Ethics committee leadership
Heidi Kamrath, MD, ethics committee co-chair
Dr. Kamrath currently holds the co-chair position of the ethics committee. Dr. Kamrath attended medical school at Des Moines University. She completed her pediatrics residency, chief residency and neonatal-perinatal medicine fellowship at the University of Minnesota. During her fellowship, she also completed a Certificate of Pediatric Bioethics at Children’s Mercy in Kansas City. She is the medical director for neonatal transport at Children’s Minnesota. Dr. Kamrath’s clinical interests include perinatal consultation and birth planning, care of the extremely preterm infant, neonatal ethics, medical education and quality improvement. She is an adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Kamrath is married with three children. Outside of medicine, she enjoys reading, baking and spending time with her family.
Elisabeth Groutwells, MSW, LICSW, ethics committee co-chair
Elisabeth (she/her) attended graduate school at University of St. Thomas/St. Catherine University where she obtained her Masters in Social Work. Her areas of interest include: perinatal/maternal mental health, infant/early childhood mental health, grief/loss, ethics, child development, trauma, and attachment. She specializes in providing support and guidance to families with children in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on the St. Paul campus. Elisabeth also provides clinical supervision and regularly hosts MSW student interns to foster a learning environment. Elisabeth has served on the ethics committee since 2015, serving on the consultation subcommittee. Outside of work, Elisabeth enjoys hiking, enjoying the outdoors, reading, and spending time with her family, including her husband, young daughter and two miniature schnauzers.
Ethics committee members
Tessa Billman
Patient-family centered care coordinator, Children’s Minnesota
Rachel Calvert
Child Life manager, Children’s Minnesota
Kris Catrine, MD
Pain and palliative care, Children’s Minnesota
David Collier
Senior diversity & inclusion consultant, Children’s Minnesota
Greg Coon
Community member
Rev. Abby Davis, M.Div.
Chaplain, spiritual care, Children’s Minnesota
Jodi Davis
Community member
Elise Durgin
Pharmacist, Children’s Minnesota
Bryan Fate, MD, MPH
Primary care, Children’s Minnesota
Asma Fazal, MD
Clinical ethics fellow, Children’s Minnesota
Abigail Faulman, MD
Neonatology, Children’s Minnesota
Susan Grefe, RN
NICU, Children’s Minnesota
Elisabeth Groutwells, MSW, LICSW
Ethics committee co-chair and clinical social worker, Children’s Minnesota
Nikki Helland, MSW, LICSW
Clinical social worker, Children’s Minnesota
Darvia Herold, MD
Metro Pediatrics
Theresa Huntley, MSW, LICSW
Social worker, cancer and blood disorders, Children’s Minnesota
Stacey Jenkins
Parent, community advocate
Beth Johnson, PNP
Transplant department, Cardiac Care Center, Children’s Minnesota
Heidi Kamrath, MD
Ethics committee co-chair and neonatologist, Children’s Minnesota
Tamika Lasege, MD
Chief value officer, medical director, Children’s Health Network
Lynn Liberman, Rabbi
Community chaplain, Jewish Family Services of St. Paul
Chris Lillehei
Chaplain, Children’s Minnesota
Cherie McGraw, RN
Cath lab, Children’s Minnesota
Siman Nuurali
Case management, Children’s Minnesota
Trisha Paul, MD
Resident, University of Minnesota
Andrew Redmann, MD
ENT, Children’s Minnesota
Christine Roberts, RN, BAN
Patient care supervisor, PICU, Children’s Minnesota
Hamdi Sahal
Senior admin, clinical ethics, Children’s Minnesota
Paige Schram
Parent, community advocate
Carolyn Serie, LICSW
Social work manager, Children’s Minnesota
Adam Sterman, MD
Pain and palliative care, Children’s Minnesota
Alice Swanson, MD
Child abuse pediatrician, Children’s Minnesota
Samreen Vora, MD
Medical director of simulation, Children’s Minnesota
Colleen Wherley
Genetic counselor, Children’s Minnesota
Ian Wolfe PhD
Ethicist, Children’s Minnesota