Alana Sasaki is the Medical Director and founder of Kai Shin Clinic. The clinic has been open since June 2016, following the unfortunate passing of Prince, Minnesota’s Music Legend. Dr. Sasaki found it disheartening that it was difficult to seek help for those battling addiction here in Minnesota. This propelled her to found and establish Kai Shin Clinic.
Dr. Sasaki attended John A Burns School of Medicine, the University of Hawaii, and then went to the University of Minnesota St Joseph’s Family Medicine Residency. Following this, she accepted a position on the MICD inpatient unit at St Joseph’s Hospital as an attending addiction specialist. Dr. Sasaki worked with Allina Health, where she was the lead addiction physician with oversight and development of the addiction medicine (detox unit) at Mercy Hospital, Unity Campus. In Dr. Sasaki’s time at Allina, she was instrumental in designing the OTP (Opioid Treatment Program and consulting for their outpatient addiction medicine clinic).
Kai Shin Clinic continued to expand, and therefore she decided to leave her hospital position and focus on the development of the Kai Shin Clinic. She is a fellow in the American Society of Addiction Medicine and a diplomate of both the American Board of Addiction Medicine and the American Board of Family Medicine. Dr. Sasaki has extensive experience managing all continuums of care in addiction, from the most complicated detoxes, inpatient and outpatient services. She is a highly competent and compassionate physician who seeks to heal and “meet her patients,” where they are currently in their recovery while guiding with sound medical practices.
For over 6 years, Nicole Solberg had been serving her community’s primary care needs as an experienced Family Practice Physician. She has enjoyed caring for patients of all ages, and in all stages of life; personally getting to know them through a holistic approach.
Throughout her journey as a Family Physician, Dr. Solberg has had the unique opportunity to help patients with all aspects of their health, including addiction. Witnessing their journey first hand inspired Dr. Solberg to focus her career on Addiction Medicine.
Dr. Solberg is a board certified Family Practice Physician. She graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School in 2013, completed her residency at the University of Minnesota St. Joseph’s Family Medicine Residency in 2016, and has been helping patients ever since. It is her goal to be a guide and an advocate for her patients, providing individualized care on their road to recovery.
In her spare time, Dr. Solberg enjoys riding her motorcycle, playing the violin, and spending time with her family – which she affectionately calls the “zoo” with 2 cats, a dog, her son, and her husband.
Cindy Morey is a licensed clinical health psychologist. She has experience with medical, mental health, and substance abuse populations. She completed her undergraduate work at the University of Minnesota and received her Master’s and Doctorate degrees from the Minnesota School of Professional Psychology. She is board certified in Clinical Health Psychology. She has been practicing as a Clinical Psychologist for over 15 years. Dr. Morey also earned her MBA in Healthcare Management in May of 2017.
Dr. Morey is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT). She has led training in Motivational Interviewing within her organization and throughout the community. She specializes in health psychology, geropsychology, mental health, substance use, management, consultation, and supervision. She has been an instructor in the Integrated Behavioral Health program at the University of Minnesota since January 2015. Her work in inpatient and outpatient mental health and addiction has made her passionate about recovery. She enjoys helping patients make positive changes they want to make in their lives.
In her free time, Dr. Morey enjoys traveling and the theatre. She can often be found spending time with her family and participating in their activities.
Megan Simonet was born and raised in northern Minnesota. She moved to Saint Paul to attend the College of Visual Arts and earned a BFA in painting. While working in a group home for young adults with disabilities, she developed an interest in medicine, particularly mental health. She then returned to school and eventually enrolled in the physician assistant program at the College of Saint Scholastica in Duluth, MN.
While in school, she developed an interest in addiction after seeing how addiction permeates all areas of medicine and affects people from all walks of life. She joined Kai Shin Clinic in January of 2020 and enjoys being able to impact her community positively.
When not working, she loves spending time with her husband, family, and friends. She also loves painting, cats, and house plants.
After serving in the U.S. Navy as a Persian-Farsi interpreter for 6 years, David McGehee graduated from Bethel University (Saint Paul, MN) with a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies.David joined Kai Shin Clinic in November 2021. He was drawn to Addiction Medicine to help individuals from all walks of life treat their addictions and mental health issues and continue them on their path to recovery.
Outside of work, David enjoys playing the piano and juggling.
Meagan completed her undergraduate degree at University Wisconsin-La Crosse. She studied and graduated with her Master of Physician Assistant Studies from Albany Medical College in New York in 2015.
She worked in Family Medicine for a number of years but found herself gravitating towards Mental Health and Addiction Medicine and started working at a Methadone Clinic and in Correctional Medicine where she found her true passion. After almost 10 years she decided to return to the midwest but continues to work in a field she cares about.
