Current Family Medicine Fellows

Meaghan Combs, MD
Integrative Medicine/DFM

Meaghan is originally from Cleveland, OH. There she received a BA in Medical Anthropology from Case Western Reserve University. She spent the next two years in Burkina Faso with the U.S. Peace Corps teaching math, physics, and chemistry in a rural middle school. The next four years she lived in New Orleans, studying at Tulane University, earning both her MD and a Master's in Public Health. She has most recently completed her residency in Family Medicine at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. As an integrative medicine fellow, she plans to pursue her interests in breast feeding medicine, care of the maternal/infant dyad, as well as explore other treatment modalities such as acupuncture. Overall, she appreciates that health is not merely the absence of disease and looks forward to working with her patient's to find each one's unique road to optimal health.

Jessica Dalby, MD
Academic/DFM

Jessica Dalby is a fellow in Academic Medicine. She attended the University of Texas in Austin, where she completed a biochemistry degree. Following college, she spent a year as a research assistant at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland. She then returned to Texas for medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Looking for greener summer pastures, Jessica moved to Madison, WI for residency training. She also learned to appreciate winter adventures. She completed her residency in family medicine at UW, during which time she pursued additional training in reproductive health. Her fellowship training goal will be to expand the residency reproductive health curriculum.

Ronni Hayon, MD
Academic/DFM

Ronni Hayon graduated from UW Madison with a B.A. in Zoology before heading west to California. While living in the Bay area she worked as a Reproductive Healthcare Specialist at Planned Parenthood, where she provided pregnancy options counseling and HIV counseling to a diverse patient population. She also volunteered as an HIV counselor at the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic and served as an outreach worker at a weekly street-based needle exchange program. Medical school then called her to the other coast, and she earned her medical degree from Drexel University in Philadelphia. As a medical student she continued to be active in volunteer work for at-risk populations. She was a student coordinator for the Streetside Health Project, and she worked as an Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Educator with area teens. She also served as a student coordinator for her campus chapter of Medical Students for Choice. In her off hours, Ronni enjoys music/performance, and she was the lead singer of a 10-piece band in San Francisco. She also loves bread-making.

David Kiefer, MD
CAM Research/DFM

David is a research fellow in the newly awarded Complementary and Alternative Medicine Fellowship. He is a board-certified family physician with extensive experience in botanical and integrative medicine. Dr. Kiefer graduated from the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison, and completed his residency training at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. Dr. Kiefer’s past work includes teaching naturopathic medical students at Bastyr University in Seattle, and supervising family medicine residents at a homeless youth clinic. He completed a fellowship at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, where he is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine. His research and teaching activities encompass both national and international universities and conferences, and he has a focus on Latin American ethnobotany and evidence-based herbal medicine. Dr. Kiefer has medical licenses in Washington, Arizona, and, his current residence, Wisconsin.

Beth Longmier, MD
Research/DFM

Beth Longmier received her MD at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in her hometown of Madison WI. She then spent a year in general surgery before discovering her passion for family medicine and completed her family medicine residency at Memorial Family Medicine in Houston, TX. During residency, she became interested in the challenges of chronic disease management. Her research interests include improving self-care of diabetes by educating and empowering patients to be involved in their care. She also is interested in behavioral factors influencing health care, including exploring the effect of patients' past exposures on their current attitudes towards healthcare. Beth enjoys all aspects of family medicine and plans for a career in academics, combining research, teaching and clinical care.

Kyle Nagle, MD
Sports Medicine/DFM/Pediatrics

Kyle Nagle completed his pediatric residency at the University of Washington Seattle Children's Hospital in 2005. After residency, he went into private practice in Bellevue, Washington. He obtained his MPH in 2009, and continued working in private practice. Kyle will be working closely with the Sports Medicine Team during the upcoming academic year as a Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellow.

Chidi Obasi, MD
Research/DFM

Chidi Obasi comes to us from Nigeria via Madison, WI. He was born in Madison and later moved to Nigeria. While in Nigeria he received his MD degree from Abia State University in Uturu, Nigeria. During his medical studies, Chidi's interest in academic research was sparked while studying infectious and chronic diseases. While treating his patients he observed disparities in health care access. His research focused on prescription patterns of antimalaria drugs by physicians. He also participated in health education programs centered on malaria prevention and universal sanitation. When he returned to the US, he researched kidney allograft fibrosis at UW and assisted in the development of a self-cleaning unit for small instruments at Hopkins. He has also worked on the association of biomarkers with mild cognitive impairment. Chidi returned to the warmth and friendliness of Madison with a commitment to further understand the epidemiology of infectious and chronic diseases, health outcomes research and global health through the Primary Care Research Fellowship. As a fellow he will be completing his graduate studies with the Department of Population Health Sciences.

Elizabeth Paddock, MD
Academic/DFM

Elizabeth Paddock MD is an academic fellow pursing interests in geriatrics and women's health. She obtained her BS from Cornell University. After working for a year at a healthcare for the homeless clinic in Rhode Island, she went on to obtain her MD from Albany Medical College in upstate NY. Elizabeth recently completed her residency in family medicine at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. When not working, Elizabeth enjoys running, biking and spending time outdoors.

Jackie Redmer, MD
Integrative Medicine/DFM

A native of WI, Jackie Redmer first explored her interest in science as an undergraduate at UW Madison. Following her undergraduate studies, she worked with the WI DNR, US Forest Service in Utah and also taught environmental education in the BWCA of northern MN. Her experience serving as a public health Peace Corps Volunteer in Kazakhstan 2000-2002 led her to the study of medicine. She attended medical school at UW followed by a one year appointment as a HRSA research fellow with the DFM. During this time she completed the UW MPH program and conducted a research study evaluating a clinic wide weight loss intervention for obese patients. Throughout medical school and residency, she also combined medicine and public health through international health work in rural Guatemala, Lesotho, and Honduras and has remained an active volunteer at the MEDIC clinics. Jackie is also committed to the practice of Integrative Medicine and plans to incorporate a holistic approach to healing in her future practice. She is entering the UW Integrative Medicine Fellowship and intends to pursue a project bringing Integrative Medicine to underserved communities in Madison.

Srivani Sridhar, MD
Integrative Medicine/DFM

Born in Salem, India, Srivani carries into her medical practice the Hindu belief that family bears great importance in shaping both the body and mind. As a medical student at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, she was an active volunteer for the underserved in and around Newark through the free student-run health clinic and by serving as a mentor for high school students. After spending most of her life in New Jersey, she came to Madison to complete Family Medicine residency at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. During residency she was on the Integrative Medicine pathway which fed her desire to incorporate complementary and alternative treatments into patient care. Her interest for different healthcare models took her to Riobamba, Ecuador for one month where she learned medical Spanish. During fellowship in Integrative Medicine, she hopes to focus on incorporating mindfulness, nutrition, and manual therapy into developing a comprehensive health plan for patients.

Paul Wedel, MD
Research/DFM

Paul received his medical degree from the University of Illinois-Chicago in 1979 and three years later completed a residency in family practice at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, IL. He was an educator before moving back to his hometown of Rockford, IL and going into solo private practice. In 1994, he joined the family practice residency in Rockford as a full-time teacher and clinician, where he remained until 2006. The next 3 years saw him doing a combination of urgent care, part-time teaching of medical students at a university affiliated primary care clinic, and making house calls. In July 2009, he returned for a 1 year full-time residency appointment. In addition to being a single payer proponent, his interests include exploring the relationship between length of office visit and quality of care, health disparity concerns and integrative medicine. When he is not working, Paul relaxes by backpacking, skiing, hiking in the mountains, and reading.

Jeff Yaeger, MD
Research/DFM/Pediatrics

Born in a small town in upstate New York, about 40 minutes from Lake Placid in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains, Jeff obtained a B.S. in Molecular Genetics from the University of Rochester and then migrated an hour west on I-90 to SUNY Buffalo where he completed his medical school education. From there, he came to Madison in 2007, finishing his residency training in pediatrics as well as a year of Chief Resident. He lives in Madison with his future wife, who is also a pediatrician. During his medical training, he developed a strong interest in working with children in under-served areas, both domestically and throughout the world. As an NRSA Research Fellow, Jeff looks forward to studying the necessary factors for providing effective health care in resource-poor locations, including public policy, reliable health statistics, medical knowledge, and education of health care professionals who travel to these areas to help.