Bob Tavani House For Medical Respite Team

Annalisa Peterson is an attorney and mediator by training and has focused most of her professional life in the area of communication and conflict resolution. She currently serves as the Ombudsperson for Doctoral and Postdoctoral Programs at Johns Hopkins University. 

She has served on the board of the Bob Tavani House for Medical Respite since 2021 and believes deeply in BTH's mission of offering hospitality and a safe place to heal after hospital discharge for those who need it in the Twin Ports community.

Dr. Mary “Daisy” Braaten is originally from Chicago.  She attended the College of the Holy Cross, Trinity College in Dublin and Northwestern University Medical School.  Her residency training was at West Suburban Family Medicine Residency at PCC Community Wellness Center on the West Side of Chicago.  She completed the Cook County Faculty Development Fellowship while working at Primecare Community Wellness and the Women’s HIV Clinic at the Core Center in Chicago and served as the Medical Director of Primecare for 2 years.

When her husband completed his medical training, they moved to Minnesota where they raised their four children.  Dr. Braaten practiced full-spectrum family medicine in Deer River for ten years.  Since 2013 they have lived in Duluth.  Dr. Braaten is core faculty at the University of Minnesota Duluth Family Medicine Residency Program and continues to do emergency room shifts in Deer River.  She is the Faculty Lead for Community Involvement at the residency and staffs a half-day a week clinic at the CHUM shelter in Duluth.  Dr. Braaten helps facilitate a monthly local Healthcare and Homelessness Committee meeting, bringing agencies together to improve communication and collaboration. She enjoys teaching all aspects of family medicine including inpatient care, obstetrics, and behavioral health.   

Jamie Conniff, MD, MPH (he/him) practices full-spectrum family medicine at the Min No Aya Win Clinic on the reservation of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. He is Vice Speaker of the House on the Board of the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians and previously co-chaired the MAFP’s Legislative Committee. He has particular interests in LGBTQ health, including gender-affirming care; addiction medicine; community health; and improving systems to reduce barriers to care. 

Previously Jamie taught at the University of Minnesota Duluth Family Medicine Residency, where he oversaw the residency program’s community health training and advocated within health systems to promote wellness and improve care for Duluth’s community of LGBTQ people, especially transgender and non-binary Duluthians. Jamie is currently a faculty member for Indian Country ECHO’s Trans & Gender-Affirming Care ECHO. He grew up and received his education in the Northeast, but then moved to Madison, Wisconsin for his post-graduate training, where he learned to provide gender-affirming care from amazing, pioneering mentors. He lives just outside of Duluth with his husband Carson and son Link.

 Anthony W. Olson, PhD, PharmD, is a Research Scientist at the Essentia Institute of Rural Health and adjunct faculty at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. He specializes in translational research on community-integrated, person-centered interventions. His work focuses on improving the care experience and clinical outcomes of individuals and communities, especially those in underserved rural areas. 

Dr. Olson's research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control Foundation, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. He has served as an officer and executive committee member for the American Pharmacists Association, Academy of Pharmaceutical Research & Science, and the Minnesota Pharmacists Association. 

Mary Rapps has a passion for health equity and population health improvement. She is committed to improving the health of communities through innovation and collaboration with community members, public health, health care and service organizations. 

Mary served as Executive Director of Generations Health Care Initiatives from 2018 through 2023 after serving over four years as a

Program Director. Mary brings over 21 years of Health Care Administration experience to her current position. She earned a BAS in Community Health Education from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and Masters Degree in Health Care Administration from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Cedar Savage, RN, MSN, PHN, CLC is currently employed as the Infectious Disease American Indian Liaison for the Minnesota Department of Health. She is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in Belcourt, North Dakota, but has lived her entire life on the Fond du Lac reservation with her young children who are members.

A nurse by trade, she is passionate about health equity and advancing the health outcomes of American Indian people. She attended the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College where she completed her Associate of Arts and Associate Degree in Nursing. She began her career as a nurse at Mash-ka-wisen Treatment Center where she was employed from 2015-

2018 and then began working for the Fond du Lac tribe. While at Fond du Lac she worked as a

clinic nurse as well as a Public Health Nurse. She finished her bachelor’s degree of Nursing at

the College of St. Scholastica in 2019 and later went on to finish her master’s degree of science

in Nursing Education at St. Catherine’s University in 2022.

Leo is a retired dentist. After graduating from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry in 1981, he entered into active duty service in the  USAF at Offutt AFB, NE. In 1984, he separated and bought a dental practice in Duluth, MN, where he practiced until  2001. Concurrently, from  1990-2001, he was also the Base Dental Surgeon at the  148th Air National Guard Base. In 2001, Leo sold his practice and re-entered active duty service in the  USAF. He had assignments as a general dentist (Mountain Home AFB, ID), Resident (Lackland AFB, TX), Dental Flight Commander ( Grand Forks AFB and Minot AFB, ND) and Chief of Clinical Services (McConnell AFB, KS) and retired in 2015. He worked for LHI and Scenic Rivers Health Services for two years and fully retired in 2017. 

He is on the Leadership Team and member of First Covenant  Church. He's looking forward to help continue the needful services provided at the  Bob Tavani House. 

Mike Swanoski recently retired from the University of Minnesota where he served as the Senior Associate Dean for the College of Pharmacy on the Duluth campus. During his time with the University of Minnesota he also served as Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs and Associate Department Head. 

During his time with the University of Minnesota, he held various clinical positions including Clinical Pharmacy Specialist and Long-Term Care Consultant. He is passionate about understanding and addressing the healthcare needs of vulnerable populations.

Bio coming soon!

With 27 years of experience in the health care field, Stephanie has served in a variety of roles, many of them at the Duluth Family Medicine Clinic. Her background includes serving as Nurse Supervisor at the Center for Alcohol and Drug Treatment, where she played a key role in planning and implementing the Opioid Withdrawal Management Unit.

Stephanie currently serves as the Program Manager for the Family Medicine Residency Program at the Duluth Family Medicine Clinic, transitioning her focus from nursing into Graduate Medical Education for Family Medicine resident physicians.

Born and raised in Duluth, she has also raised her family in the Twin Ports and remains dedicated to serving the underserved populations within the community she calls home.