Our Faculty

Dr Angela Smithson

Program Director

Hometown: Northfield, MN

Medical School: UMN Medical School

Family Medicine Interests: Diabetes, Women's Health, QI work

Personal Interests: Traveling, photography, gardening, cooking, coral reef-keeping, hiking and snorkeling.

Why St John’s?  This is an amazing group of family doctors that love teaching, that value what family medicine offers to an individual, our community, to a clinic, to a hospital.  It is a place of continued growth where we learn that together we can tackle anything.

Dr Timothy Ronneberg

Assoc Program Director

Hometown: Willmar, MN

Medical School:  University of Minnesota/Duluth

Family Medicine Interests:  All things inpatient medicine and obstetrics

Personal Interests:  Chasing my kids around ball fields and ice rinks, photography, refinishing furniture, maintaining a nearly 100 year old home

Why St John's?  The residents are what keep me at St John's.  Being able to be part of and witness the growth of residents from green interns to seasoned clinicians is so rewarding!

Dr Kathryn Brown

Hometown: St Paul, MN

Medical School: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Family Medicine interests:  obstetrics, caring for multiple generations, diabetes care, pediatrics, hospital medicine

Personal interests: reading, cooking, low waste living, spending time with my wonderful family, hiking/outdoors activities, ceramics

Why St John's: I was a resident at the St John's Family Medicine Residency and then transitioned after graduation into a faculty position.  I have always loved the relationships I have the opportunity to build among patients, coworkers, and staff.   I have patients I have been caring for since my first year of residency, families I have watched grow and change, and colleagues who inspire me to become a better physician.  I always have someone I look forward to seeing and interesting challenges to take on. 

Dr Jennifer Budd

Hometown: St. Paul, MN

Medical school: A.T. Still University (KCOM)

Family Medicine interests: Quality Improvement, Women’s Health, OMM

Personal interests:  Cycling, hiking, family adventures, jigsaw puzzles and reading good books

Why St John's? I chose St. John’s because of the strong clinic relationships and the ability to serve the East Side community, the educational and scholarly opportunities, and the variety in my work schedule.

Hometown: Eagan, MN

Medical School: University of Minnesota

Family Medicine Interests: Chronic disease management, obstetrics, pediatrics and newborn care

Personal Interests: Spending time with family, anything outdoors with the kids, motorcycling, softball

Why St John’s? The breadth and depth of patient experiences both at the clinic and hospital make practice interesting and challenging every day.  I love the challenge of being at a place that depends on family physicians to be trained and confident taking the lead in the comprehensive care of patients. Most importantly, the faculty, staff, and residents at St. John's treat each other like family. We have a truly incredible group of supportive and fun people!

Hometown: Cambridge, MA

Medical School: Tufts University

Family Medicine Interests: Sports Medicine, Ultrasound-Guided Procedures, Women's Health

Personal Interests: All things food, camping, scuba diving, sports

Why St John’s? St. John’s rises to the challenge of meeting the needs of the surrounding community, both by providing excellent multidisciplinary care to a diverse population and by training residents to do the same. The faculty have a wide range of interests that allow us to both serve the needs of our patients and provide broad-spectrum education to our residents. 

Dr James Hougas, III

Hometown: Papillion, NE

Medical School: Creighton University School of Medicine

Family Medicine Interests: Infectious diseases, antimicrobial stewardship, trauma care, office based procedures, physician leadership, and colonoscopy

Personal Interests: Woodworking, gardening, music, running, board and card games, spending time with his wife and four children

Why St John’s? When I was looking for the next step in my career (after coming off of Active Duty with the Air Force), St. John's best supported and embraced my broad spectrum practice and variety of procedures and interests. My fellow faculty are top-notch and I love coming to work with them every day. They are passionate about Family Medicine and about teaching it to the next generation.

Dr Karen Jankowski

Hometown: Anoka, Minnesota

Medical School: University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Family Medicine Interests: refugee and immigrant health, community medicine, women’s health, health equity, physician wellness 

Personal Interests: Outdoor adventures.  Spending time with my family and big Berner puppy.  Anything related to food.  

Why St John’s? St John’s has a small community feel in a diverse, urban environment with patients from around the globe.  It is a supportive atmosphere with a strong commitment to learning how to be a well rounded family doctor. 

Hometown: Fairfax, VA

Medical School: University of Virginia - Wahoowa!

Family Medicine Interests: sports medicine, high risk OB (that’s a joke), JEDI work, curriculum development, physician wellness 

Personal Interests: my kids, foodie, bourbon 

Why St John’s? The people. Really impressive emphasis on well-rounded education. Most of the faculty still do all the things. Perfect mix of urban underserved and smaller community medicine feel.

Dr Anne Keenan

Hometown: South St Paul, MN

Medical School: Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine

Family Medicine Interests: Obstetrics, gynecology— specifically menstrual health and fertility, Pediatrics 

Personal Interests: Spending time with my family, baking, running, gardening, crochet

Why St Johns? I chose to stay at St Johns after completing residency here because of the people! I have the best colleagues in the world. I love that we are small and we get to know each learner’s individual needs. I love that we pride ourselves in a broad scope of practice and our special strengths of inpatient and OB care. Last but not least I love our patient population and I feel honored to care for the people who walk through our doors.

Dr Megan Keuler

Hometown: Suamico, WI (near Green Bay!)

Medical School: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Family Medicine Interests: breastfeeding medicine, women's health and menopause care, gender care, addiction medicine, mental health, quality and process improvement, chronic disease management   

Personal Interests: spending time with my family, being outdoors, boating, paddle boarding, cooking, knitting, reading  

Why St Johns? The patients, the people and the culture. I love working in an environment that supports the lifelong learning of the entire team with a focus on growth, curiosity and the joy of working in family medicine. 

Dr Kelsey Leonardsmith

Hometown: Hastings, MN

Medical School: Harvard Medical School

Family Medicine Interests: caring for gender expansive kids and teens, adolescent care, chronic disease in pregnancy, sexual health, reproductive health, using medicine as a tool to advance justice and equity  

Personal Interests: Biking, skiing, outdoor adventures, audiobooks, ridiculousness 

Why St Johns? I love living in and caring for the beautifully diverse Saint Paul community.  After years of working in community health centers, I am excited to spend more time teaching and learning alongside this wonderful group of residents and faculty.

Hometown: Minneapolis, MN (grew up in Burnsville, MN)

Medical School: University of Minnesota

Family Medicine Interests: Everything geriatrics, health and aging policy, health systems, medical education

Personal Interests: Cycling, Rowing, Cooking, various movies (Marvel, the Matrix f.e.)

Why St John’s? You are granted independence early in your training, truly taking on the roll of primary care physician from day 1 -- of course with appropriate support. Our population offers a diverse and broad range of languages, backgrounds, and experiences, strengthening your skill sets. Training is robust in inpatient, outpatient, obstetrics, and community care (with growing nursing home and home visits) with ability to tailor your training to your interests and practice needs.

Hometown: Clear Lake, IA

Medical School: Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Family Medicine Interests: Reproductive health, adolescent health, promoting a healthy lifestyle, chronic disease management

Personal Interests: Yoga, reading for pleasure (mostly non-fiction), cooking, exploring new places, chasing my toddler on the playground

Why St John’s?  I was drawn to the vibrant and diverse patient population at the Phalen Village Clinic and the strong interdisciplinary approach to patient care among the health care team.

Hometown: Hastings, Minnesota

Graduate School: PharmD, North Dakota State University

Family Medicine Interests: Chronic disease management, tailoring medication therapies to patient's needs/abilities/desires, teaching residents where to find information about medications to guide their practice/patient education

Personal Interests: Outdoor/trail running, Pelotoning, cooking, making jams/preserves

Why St John’s?: I love our program because of the learning environment. We are constantly learning from each other.

Dr Lisa Zak Hunter 

PhD, LFMT

Hometown: New Hope, MN

Graduate program: Master's and PhD in Child and Family Development and Marriage and Family Therapy at the University of Georgia

Interests: integrated behavioral healthcare, medical family therapy (interplay between families & health), chronic disease management, provider resilience and well-being, trauma and adverse child experiences, eating disorders, parenting.

Personal interests: walks and hiking, attempts at gardening & photography, planning adventures with my family, road trips to the mountains

Why St. John's: I completed both an undergraduate and predoctoral internship at St. John's and was impressed by the sense of family and community. I became more and more interested in Hmong culture and finding ways to mix traditional psychotherapy methods with culturally appropriate healing. I like that the residency is smaller because it allows me to know the faculty, residents, and staff on an more intimate level.