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Topic: Health Care

Mira Morton Luna

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Mira Morton Luna, M.A., serves as the associate director of the Health Institute at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her areas of expertise include health equity, diabetes, international affairs, career services, curriculum development, and organizational development. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Denver, where she previously taught cross-cultural public relations, health communications, and career and internship courses. Her career focus is centered around education and healthcare, with an international perspective.  

In addition to teaching, Luna is a professional career coach and serves as a career consultant to the International Career Advancement Program (ICAP). She also holds a Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) credential, further contributing to her multifaceted engagement in human resources and career services.  

Before joining MSU Denver, Luna served as the associate director for Career Development at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. She also held roles as a Sales Manager at pharmaceutical companies like Kos and Bristol-Meyers Squibb. Furthermore, Luna served as a Program Director for the American Diabetes Association.

Luna earned her master’s degree in International and Intercultural Communications where she focused on cross-cultural health promotion, and a specialized graduate certificate in Human Capital in Organizations, both from the University of Denver. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications with an emphasis on Hispanic Studies from Lewis & Clark College.

Emily Matuszewicz

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Emily Matuszewicz, D.C., is the Health Institute Director of Development and Partnerships at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She is charged with the oversight and development of an interdisciplinary educational approach that prepares students from diverse backgrounds to become Colorado’s future health professionals, improve health outcomes, and promote health equity.

Michelle Tollefson

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Michelle Tollefson is a physician and associate professor in the Health Professions Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She teaches in the Integrative Therapies program and is the current secretary of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

Tollefson worked as a private practice obstetrician and gynecologist, until leaving to work with Poudre Valley Health System as a medical director and director of Women’s Wellness Education. She is a certified wellcoach, guest faculty for Harvard and author of online continuing medical education for the Harvard Institute of Lifestyle Medicine. She is passionate about women’s healthcare, lifestyle medicine and teaching people to lead healthier and happier lives.

Tollefson is a graduate of Creighton University, where she received her Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees. She completed her obstetrics and gynecology residency at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and received her board certification in this medical specialty.

Erin Seedorf

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Erin Seedorf, Dr.P.H., is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Professions at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her areas of expertise include public health, population health, public health policy, local public health and community engagement/advocacy.

Seedorf joined MSU Denver in fall 2010 as an affiliate faculty and now serves as a full-time faculty. Previously, she served as program manager at the University of Colorado Denver in the Center for Public Health Practice. At UCD, Seedorf managed a technical assistance program providing support to communities around the state working on tobacco control policy initiatives. She also served as an evaluation specialist with the Community Program Evaluation Group at UCD. Her research topics include public health policy and community-based interventions.

Seedorf received her doctor of public health in community and behavioral health from Colorado School of Public Health in 2017.

Nancy Sayre

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Nancy Sayre teaches Health Economics, Healthcare Strategic Planning and Entrepreneurship in Healthcare.

She has taught at Metropolitan State University of Denver since 2007.

Sayre’s entire career has been in the health care industry. Most recently, she worked as senior vice president for an international company developing medical databases where she was in charge of strategic planning, marketing and new product development. Sayre started her career as a billing clerk and an admitting officer in a hospital to fund her college tuition. She also has worked as a consultant for start-up health care companies, a medical editor and a physician’s assistant.

Steven Rissman

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Steve Rissman, N.D., is a professor a faculty member in the Integrative Health Program in the Department of Health Professions at Metropolitan State University of Denver. His focus areas center around the health of men and boys and he has developed one of the first men’s health care academic programs in the nation.

Rissman teaches classes related to men’s health including: Men Across Cultures, Anger in Men, Men and Addictions as well as Father’s and Fathering. In addition, Rissman is also the lead instructor for a clinical pathophysiology class, which he has taught for more than 15 years.

Rissman has studied, taught and worked in the fields of men’s health for over 20 years. He has committed his naturopathic medical practice to improving the lives of men and boys by working with those suffering with anxiety, compulsive behavior, anger issues, lack of motivation or direction, chronic pain and any physical health issues. Rissman also has a private practice at his farm office, north of Denver, working with men and boys.

Having grown up on a farm and spending a great deal of time in the outdoors, Rissman has a deeply rooted curiosity for the laws of nature, particularly the science of disease process. As a result, he has an ability to illicit the story of one’s unique disease process and to perceive what needs to be cured in each individual man or boy using homeopathy, botanical medicines, therapeutic nutrition and other insightful methods intended to help lead men on the journey through the abyss of illness. He has also published several articles including “Health Effects of Anger in Men” and “Getting Behind the Mask: Improving Quality of Care for Male Patients.”

Rissman received his doctor of naturopathic medicine from Bastyr University in 1996.

Diane Ream

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RN since 1999; nursing management, NICU, adult ICU, emergency, home health care, and nursing education. Retired from 23 years in USAF in 2005.

Lunden MacDonald

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Lunden MacDonald, Ph.D., is a professor of modern languages at Metropolitan State University of Denver. MacDonald started teaching Spanish at MSU Denver in 1998 and has since held the positions of instructor, assistant professor, full professor, chair of the Department of Modern Languages and director of First Year Success program. She speaks Spanish, French, Portuguese and Galician. Her areas of expertise are in Spanish language, literature, teaching, contemporary trends in foreign language study, translation, SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), SUDC (Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood), Investigative trends in SIDS and SUDC research.

MacDonald has published several articles including “The Virtual Language Lab: Virtually Painless, Simply Real” in the International Association for Language Learning Technology Journal in 2009 and Spanish Translation of “La próxima etapa en Panamá: la subcontratación de pensiones” in La Prensa, Journal of Honduras, in 2007. Her research topics include Joseph Blanco White, European Enlightenment, Enlightenment (or lack thereof) in Spain, paradigms of Enlightenment in the Spanish-speaking world, Spanish language learning and teaching methods; and technology and technological applications in the teaching and learning of Spanish language, literature and culture.

MacDonald received her Ph.D. and master’s in Spanish language and literature from Princeton University in 2006 and 1997. Additionally, she also received a master’s and bachelor’s in Spanish language and literature from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1995 and 1993.

Christopher Looby

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Christopher Looby, M.B.A, is an affiliate professor in the Department of Health Professions at Metropolitan State University of Denver where he teaches organizational management. His professional consulting focuses on software and analytical tools for the health care industry including strategic planning.

Looby serves as vice president of products and business development at Agile Healthcare. He is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a seminar leader for the Healthcare Financial Management Association. Looby’s expertise is in business unit development, change management, quality performance improvement, client development and management of referral-based sales.

Looby received his master’s in business administration from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management in 1994 and his bachelor’s in political science/economics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1979.

Katrina Little

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Katrina Little, M.S.N., is a lecturer in the Department of Nursing at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her areas of focus are on education and health promotion amongst child-bearing and breastfeeding women in minority populations.

Little has 14 years of clinical experience as a registered nurse specializing in inpatient obstetrics caring and sharing in the low to high-risk birth experiences across the states of Texas, California and Colorado. She has over eight years of experience teaching as an affiliate faculty and full-time faculty. Little taught at University of Colorado School of Nursing and College America before joining MSU Denver in 2013. She transitioned to a full-time faculty in 2017. Little has held a variety of leadership roles in the community and professionally. Little is a member of the Women’s Health and Neonatal Leadership team and diversity chairman on St. Elizabeth’s Denver Episcopal Day School Parent Association Board.

Little received her master of science in nursing with a specialty in nursing education from Kaplan University in 2013 and a bachelor of science in nursing from Texas Christian University in 2003. She is a registered nurse in Colorado and California.

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