Rheumatology Division

Dedicated to rheumatology patient care, education, and research.

Rheumatology at Hennepin Healthcare has a long and distinguished history:

Training medical students, residents, and fellows for five decades

Offering musculoskeletal ultrasound-based diagnostics and therapeutics to the patients and training medical trainees through a nationally recognized CME course

Home for rheumatology research in our ethnically diverse population whom we serve.

Clinical Care

Our clinical activities are centered at Hennepin Healthcare, a Level 1 Trauma Center and safety net hospital serving a diverse patient population. We care for patients with a wide range of rheumatologic diseases including osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren’s disease, myositis, scleroderma, gout, sarcoidosis, and vasculitis. We have a continuous presence in the outpatient rheumatology clinic and in the inpatient rheumatology consult service. We have a general rheumatology clinic, bone health clinic, chronic pain clinic, and musculoskeletal ultrasound-based injection clinics in our outpatient rheumatology center.

Education & Training

Our wide variety of clinical activities, dedicated cadre of teaching faculty, and broad research endeavors provide the foundation for our rheumatology educational curriculum. Medical students, residents, and fellows are exposed to the full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient clinical care and have ample opportunity to participate in research during their training. We also do rheumatology case conferences, grand rounds, dedicated teaching rheumatology didactics, and MSK ultrasound teaching sessions for our medical trainees.

Research

Our research is embedded within Hennepin Healthcare and the Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute. Division research spans a wide spectrum of observational studies that look into the use of musculoskeletal ultrasound, racial disparities in diagnosis and care of rheumatic disease, and reporting rheumatic disease in diverse population.

Rheumatology Clinical and Research Faculty

Currently, the division comprises three faculty, Dr. Rawad Nasr, Dr. Saud Abaalkhail, and Dr. Linh Ngo and Advanced Practice Provider, Kathleen Holets. We also have University of Minnesota Rheumatology fellows and Hennepin Healthcare internal medicine residents rotating with us. We have an excellent Pharm D team with us including George Konstantinidis our Rheumatology Clinic Medical Director, and Ashton Forst.

Rawad Nasr, MD, Division Director

Rawad Nasr, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School

I have been Division Director at Hennepin Healthcare since August 2018. I was drawn to Hennepin because of its mission of caring for underserved populations while training the next generation of physicians. The rheumatology division at Hennepin is full of dedicated clinicians, educators, and researchers. I am a board-certified rheumatologist with a clinical interest in rare rheumatologic diseases, vasculitis, systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. My research centers around the racial disparities in diagnosis and treatment of rheumatologic diseases.

Education and training

Rheumatology Fellowship, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN
Chief Resident, Internal Medicine, Hennepin Healthcare, Minneapolis, MN
Internal Medicine Residency, Hennepin Healthcare, Minneapolis, MN
Internal Medicine Residency, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
MD, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

Select Publications

Mahmood, SB, Nelson, E, Padniewski, J, Nasr, R; Polymyalgia Rheumatica: An updated review; Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine September 2020, 87 (9) 549-556; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3949/ccjm.87a.20008.
Padniewski, J, Thottam, G, Nasr, R; IgG4 sclerosing disease of the esophagus: a case-based review, Rheumatology Int 2002 Oct; 40 (10): 1733-1737 doi: 10.1007/s00296-020-04594-5. Epub 2020 May 2.
Rinden, T, Miller, E, Nasr, R, Giant Cell Arteritis: An updated review of and old disease; Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine July 2019, 86 (7) 465-472; DOI https://doi.org/10.3949/ccjm.86a.18103.

Grants

Weil Foundation: 7/1/2021-6/30/2022, Principal Investigator

Teaching Activities

Hennepin Healthcare

Friday School, internal medicine residents
Morning Report with Internal Medicine Residents
Faculty Supervisor for Rheumatology Fellows Continuity Clinic
Created Annual Peter Schlesinger Rheumatology Grand Rounds Series
Organizer: Rheumatology-Renal Conference
Development of Intern Immersion Month
Creator and Principal Investigator: Bringing the kitchen and the gym to residency: a workshop in healthy diet, mindfulness, and physical activity Wellness program for internal medicine residents
Established a rheumatology curriculum for rotating fellows, residents, and medical students
Co-creator of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound CME Course, midwestmsk.com

University of Minnesota

Essentials of Clinical Medicine - Process of Care: clerkship preceptor for second-year medical students
Rheumatology Fellowship Didactics, monthly
Rheumatology Fellowship Board Review monthly sessions

Saud Abaalkhail, MD

Education and training

Internal Medicine Residency, Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester, MA
MD, King Abdulaziz University College of Medicine, Jeddah, SAUDI ARABIA

Publications

Dodge T, Joshi D, Abaalkhail S, Moore B. Physical activity goals among patients in a primary care setting. Transl Behav Med. 2020 Aug 7;10(3):792 800. doi: 10.1093/tbm/ibz061. PMID: 31050759.
Gilvaz V, Mody E, Rapose A, Radhakrishan S, Abaalkhail S, Vibhavari Guntupalli S. Machine Learning Module to Predict Culture Positivity in Suspected Septic Arthritis [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020; 72 (suppl 10).
Gilvaz VJ, Mody E, Abaalkhail S. A Case of Disseminated Cutaneous Infection During Treatment With Tofacitinib. J Rheumatol. 2021 Oct;48(10):1623. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.200730. Epub 2021 Jul 1. PMID: 34210837.
Abaalkhail S, Javaid M, Negron A. Case Report: A Long, Arduous Evaluation Capped by Genetic Testing. The Rheumatologist. February 2023.

Linh Ngo, DO, RhMSUS

Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School

Dr. Ngo is board-certified in internal medicine and rheumatology. He is also a certified musculoskeletal ultrasound specialist. He uses ultrasound in his practice diagnostically and as a tool in image-guided injections.

Education and training

Rheumatology Fellowship, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN
Internal Medicine Residency, Gundersen Health System Medical Education, LaCrosse, WI
DO, Midwestern University, Chicago, IL
MA, Loyola University, Chicago, IL
BS, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN