Be strong. Be courageous. Be hopeful.
Ruby W Tam, DO (she/her)
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Dr. Tam is a board-certified family-medicine doctor, and a certified Perrin Technique Practitioner. She graduated from Des Moines University Osteopathic School of Medicine in 2009, and completed a family-medicine residency at University of Minnesota, Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital in 2012.
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From 2012 to 2022, Dr. Tam practiced full-spectrum family medicine at Northwest Family Clinics. She came across the first chronic fatigue patient in 2015. Since then, Dr. Tam has been reading and learning about the disease. Dr. Lucinda Bateman has graciously provided support and answered questions that arose over the years. Dr. Tam retired from her salary position in 2023, and started MECFS Clinic MN to volunteer her time to treat people with ME/CFS. Beginning in May 2023, she has the honor to serve on the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board of #MEAction to help promote advocacy and clinician education of ME/CFS and Long COVID.
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"Patients suffering from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome have been dismissed, under-represented, mistreated and ignored by the current medical system. They deserve equal access to good and affordable medical care like anyone else."
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Jessica Puchalski, PAC (she/her)
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Jessica is a board-certified physician assistant. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biology at the University of Minnesota with high distinction in 2013, then her Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies at Augsburg University in 2017.
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While working at Northwest Family Clinics, Jessica managed many complex illnesses including ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia, Orthostasis, etc. She is now a hospitalist physician assistant at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.
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Jessica has been involved in many community projects throughout the years. She had a Spanish minor in college and volunteered at Ebenezer Care Center to be a Spanish companion; at Shriners Hospitals as a Child LIfe Associate; at Urban Venturers as a tutor; and at Epiphany Covenant Church doing children's ministry. She believes in empowering the next generation with knowledge by taking budding physician assistant students under her wings and teaching them how to become a patient-centered, attentive yet thorough physician assistants.
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"Patients with ME/CFS are often not validated and not heard because their symptoms are so vague and complex. I strongly believe that they deserve a chance to receive good care and be understood."
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Lewis Leung (he/him)
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Lewis has been a graphic designer for over 30 years with a bachelor's degree in advertising. He has worked as a graphics artist in design and advertising in Hong Kong before moving to Minnesota. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, he interned at the Star Tribune’s newsroom, which transformed him into a visual journalist. His creative journey in features and news design brought him to the Duluth News Tribune to focus on redesigning the newspaper. Lewis later relocated to Orange County, California to take on the challenge of a features sections designer at the Orange County Register, a design and graphics powerhouse in news presentations. He was subsequently promoted to be the features design director at the Denver Post in Colorado. Over the years, he had also won several awards from the Society for News Design, a worldwide newspaper design competition, and the AP awards before returning to the Star Tribune full-time in 2003 to design the Business and the Metro sections where he earned numerous praises from his peers for his quality work.
After retiring from a decorated career at the end of 2023, Lewis recently ventures into a niche of painting and drawing by using mushroom spores and mycology to make digital art. He has gracefully design the MECFS Clinic MN website, the clinic logo and business cards, and other promotional materials.
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"ME/CFS has been such a mysterious illness that affects so many people ranging from the very young to the elderly. The worst is these patients are not being taken seriously by their physicians. I this this virtual clinic could help them get their lives back in a meaningful way."
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Ginny Greene (she/her)
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Ginny is a retired journalist of more than 40 years and has been an editor at top papers in seven states during her career, including The Star Tribune, Colorado Springs Gazette, Miami Herald and St. Paul Pioneer Press. A Texas native and graduate of the University of Texas , she also owned her own website design and marketing business in Colorado Springs. She has lived in the Twin Cities since 2012. She was a medical writer at MSP Communications and is thrilled to be volunteering at the MECFS Clinic MN to help promote this essential service. She looks forward to playing a role in Dr. Ruby's amazing humanitarian efforts.
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"When I learned of Dr. Ruby's clinic for those suffering from chronic fatigue, I knew I wanted to help in her pursuits, even if simply a communications position. More potential patients, donors and others in supportive roles need to hear Dr. Ruby's message: That everyone is entitled to treatment so that they can get their lives back. The hand-on approach to chronic fatigue that Dr. Ruby practices at her clinic is a fascinating and time-honored alternative to expensive drugs and treatments that the patients cannot cannot tolerate."
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Social Services Director
Autumn Forest (they/them/theirs)
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Autumn, a frequent Dean list's student, graduated from Anoka-Ramsey Community College with an associate degree in 2021. With many talents and skills, Autumn started their career as a tutor, and most recently is doing freelance work.
Autumn has a longstanding passion for volunteering, specifically for people affected by illness and disability. They fiercely fight to raise awareness of disease and disabilities, advance disability care, and ensure that the disabled are treated fairly and live a life where their needs are not just met, but the quality is improving.
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"I am passionate about discovering a cure for ME/CFS and advancing disability rights. I am eternally grateful to the historic 1997 504 sit-ins which helped shape today's accessible rights in America, and I strive to continue their mission with MECFS Clinic MN and other motivated individuals like Dr. Tam."
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Public Relations Director
Katie Kraning (she/her)
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Katie is a curious, lifelong learner with Communication (BA & MA) degrees. She has traveled a winding path from commercial construction communication and management, to adjunct college communication professor, to technical writer, to creative director, to homeschool mom, to e-commerce consumer liaison. Along the journey, ME/CFS became the mammoth felled tree abruptly obstructing her path. After years of chipping away at it, and all of its comorbid little friends, she has learned more than she ever imagined about something she had never heard of and that is often hidden in plain sight. She is now seeing a new way forward.
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As a person surviving through disabling, invisible, and often disbelieved or misunderstood conditions, she brings an unique angle with first hand knowledge of living with ME/CFS, as well as caring for a child with complex cares conditions. After hearing of Dr. Tam's selfless devotion to this neglected patient population, Katie felt compelled to help in whatever way she is able, when she can. She has a tenacious drive for patient advocacy and a heart to help. She is passionate about connecting with & hearing the stories of others and sharing new information to educate others. Katie truly believes that Dr. Tam has created a ripple effect that will impact people around the globe, by starting right here at home.
"ME/CFS has robbed so many people of the ability to work, learn, thrive, love, sing, travel, dance, socialize, create, live. It has shattered personal & professional relationships, stolen credibility, exhausted hopefulness & faith, made patients feel voiceless, ignored, isolated, and has devastating financial consequences & economic impacts on millions of people and their loved ones. The mission of MECFS Clinic MN is something I can support wholeheartedly in the fight to bring hope to those dealing with this every day. I still maintain hope and carry the mantle for those who have fought this for so long. I count myself a proud member of this resilient, valuable, determined community."
Fundraising Director
Jasmine McAleavey (she/her)
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Jasmine moved from Ireland to the United States in 20211 with a degree in Fine Art Sculpture from the West Wales School of the Arts and a strong sense of adventure. She worked in corporate communications and philanthropy until being diagnosed with ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia. She quickly made the hard choices and lifestyle changes required to improve her quality of life and encourages everyone to have the courage to do the same.
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Jasmine has always been involved in some form of volunteerism. It is her passion to leave the world in a better state. Since winning the diagnosis lottery with a colorful set of obscure illnesses between 2020-2023, she turned her attention to causes aligned with her new personal challenges. In addition to supporting the ME/CFS Clinic, she also runs a global Facebook support group for visible - an app and device for patients with similar chronic conditions and a local Iowa support group for patients. Food security has long been a passion for her and she helps operate a student food pantry at her job with the local community collage in her city. It brings her joy to connect people to services that can help them and improve their lived experience.
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"Rest is work. When you rest, you give your body time and space to do the hard work of repairing, organizing, fighting, and recharging. You do not need to be consciously doing anything in addition to all of this to validate your worth as a person. Give yourself permission to rest."
Nathan Horek, ND (he/him)
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Dr. Horek is a naturopathic doctor and 2011 graduate of the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. He has worked in private practice as well as in research at the University of Minnesota Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
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"With personal experience with ME/CFS, EDS, POTS and mold/mycotoxin exposure, I am volunteering with MECFS Clinic MN to help patients suffering from this debilitating condition."
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Lisa Neitge, OTR/l, CTL (she/her)
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Lisa is a licensed occupational therapists at Northfield Hospital and Clinics specialized in lymphedema/edema, post-concussion and memory care, wound care, upper extremity injuries and neuroscience. She received her Bachelor of Applied Science in Occupational Therapy at the University of Minnesota at Twin Cities in 1994, and is a certified Perrin Technique practitioner.
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"As an occupational therapist of thirty years, I truly enjoy being a partner with people as they move through unexpected life changes and managing long term conditions. I like empowering people to get back to the real layers of life through pacing and self-treatment routines. I seek to find solutions to every day problems that work for the individual and the world around them. I will often incorporate mind/body techniques into my practice, such as yoga, Pilates, mindfulness, myofascial release and lymphatic massage.
Being a part of the MECFS Clinic MN is important to me, as so many of people affected by ME/CFS and long COVID are taken out of their employment and our communities for months and years of time. These people can easily experience financial insecurity, can have limited to no options for health care and often feel lost between providers in their care. Volunteering with Dr. Tam’s clinic helps us serve this often unseen population in many ways. It also provides a network for me to keep learning and growing as a therapist.."
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