Our Team

Kiara is the Masonic Cancer Center’s Community Outreach and Engagement Director. Her passions lie in serving as a change agent for the community and impacting systemic change that will further cancer health equity in the state. She is the creator of the Cancer Center Community Impact Forum.

Dr. Poynter serves as the Associate Director of Community Outreach and Engagement. Her role in the Masonic Cancer Center is to understand the cancer burden in Minnesota and ensure that the Center is responding to the needs of the population of Minnesota through research and clinical care.

Dr. Pratt serves as the Associate Co-Director of Community Outreach and Engagement. Dr. Pratt's role with the Masonic Cancer Center is supporting the ongoing efforts to build relationships with communities, enhance community engagement, and bring community voices into her work.

Ashley comes to the Masonic Cancer Center with a background in reducing cancer burden in Indigenous communities. Her professional experience includes program evaluation, health systems change, and program design and implementation.

Amna completed her Master’s degree in Biological Sciences with a focus on public health, immunology, and cancer biology. Through various opportunities, Amna's professional experiences have centered around tackling inequities in education and healthcare. She is passionate about addressing the social determinants of health to reduce cancer health disparities in communities across the state. 

Cathleen previously taught high school science in public, private, and international schools with a focus on helping students to develop the knowledge, skills, and habits needed to carry out their own independent investigations. She is passionate about making science research engaging and accessible for diverse learners of all ages. Her role is to support students and rising researchers in their pathways; additionally, she seeks to help connect the local community with the work of the Masonic Cancer Center.

Sandy is majoring in Biology and plans to further her education by attending a graduate school to become a Physician Assistant. She is from New Ulm, Minnesota and is a part of the Chinese American Student Association (CASA) on campus, along with the College of Biological Sciences Dean's Scholar Program. 

Hattie is a senior majoring in Biology, Society, and Environment with a minor in Public Health. She plans to pursue a career in medicine after undergrad, and hopefully go into pediatrics primary care. She is passionate about community engagement and outreach/public health. She has spent time during her undergrad career doing community-focused public health research in the Twin Cities with Somali and Jamaican communities.

Salma is a junior majoring in Human Physiology and minoring in Public Health. She plans to pursue a career in medicine after undergrad, hopefully in surgery or emergency medicine. She is very passionate about helping her community and other underserved communities like hers. She is currently the co-president of the Somali Association of Pre-Health Students. A big passion of hers is to diversify medicine.