MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (7/8/2026) — Susan Culican, MD, PhD , senior associate dean of graduate medical education at the University of Minnesota Medical School, has been named a 2026-2027 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy Fellow by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) — a prestigious honor that places her among the nation’s top health leaders.
Beginning this September, Dr. Culican and seven other health professionals will spend a year in Washington, D.C., immersing themselves in health policy before serving in hands-on placements as senior advisors to elected or appointed federal government leaders in the Legislative or Executive branches.
“I am excited to learn the tools to bridge the gap between frontline healthcare experience and effective policymaking to move from identifying problems in healthcare to helping solve them through policy reform,” said Dr. Culican. “I want to understand how policy is developed, negotiated and implemented — and how evidence can inform and influence those decisions. My goal is to become more effective at translating healthcare experience into policies that improve care.”
Dr. Culican is a professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences and a pediatric ophthalmologist with M Health Fairview where she treats eye conditions in children. Her educational work includes development of ophthalmology milestones, data-driven residency assessment and developing novel training pathways to expand the workforce in underserved specialties.
The fellows were chosen in a national competition for highly accomplished health and healthcare leaders who have an interest in health policy. The fellowship offers mid-career health and healthcare professionals with deep subject-matter expertise a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape health policy at the highest levels of government. After their fellowship year, the fellows will join a network of over 300 alumni and continue to receive support to sustain their professional development as health policy leaders.
“At a time when health challenges are increasingly complex, this cohort brings the insight and real-world experience needed to drive meaningful and pragmatic policy solutions. They will play an important role in strengthening how decisions are made and who they serve. We look forward to supporting their work in the year ahead," said Gregg Margolis, director of the RWJF Health Policy Fellows program at the NAM.
“I hope this fellowship prepares me to become a physician-leader who helps shape evidence-based health policy. I want to continue studying healthcare systems while also helping policymakers understand how their decisions affect patients, physicians, and communities,” said Dr. Culican. “Ultimately, I hope to help create policies that better align our healthcare system with the realities of modern medicine.”
For more information, visit www.healthpolicyfellows.org.
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About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is a leading national philanthropy dedicated to taking bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime. Through funding, convening, advocacy, and evidence-building, it works side by side with communities, practitioners, and institutions to get to health equity faster and pave the way together to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org .
About the National Academy of Medicine
The National Academy of Medicine , established in 1970 as the Institute of Medicine, is an independent organization of eminent professionals from diverse fields including health and medicine; the natural, social, and behavioral sciences; and beyond. It serves alongside the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering as an adviser to the nation and the international community. Through its domestic and global initiatives, the NAM works to address critical issues in health, medicine, and related policy and inspire positive action across sectors. The NAM collaborates closely with its peer academies and other divisions within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
About the University of Minnesota Medical School
The University of Minnesota Medical School is at the forefront of learning and discovery, transforming medical care and educating the next generation of physicians. Our graduates and faculty produce high-impact biomedical research and advance the practice of medicine. We acknowledge that the U of M Medical School is located on traditional, ancestral and contemporary lands of the Dakota and the Ojibwe, and scores of other Indigenous people, and we affirm our commitment to tribal communities and their sovereignty as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with tribal nations. Learn more at med.umn.edu .