Jennifer Needle-Suarez, MD, MPH, HEC-C
Associate Professor
Expertise: Advance Care Planning | Pediatrics | Palliative Care Clinical Ethics
Jennifer Needle-Suarez, MD, MPH, HEC-C, is an Associate Professor in the Center for Bioethics and Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. She earned her MD from Howard University in Washington DC, and a Masters in Public Health in Epidemiology from Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. Dr. Jennifer Needle-Suarez completed her residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care at the University Hospitals of Cleveland/Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. She completed her fellowship in Biomedical Ethics at the Center for Ethics in Health Care at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon.
Dr. Jennifer Needle-Suarez joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 2013 and is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Critical Care. She has established a national reputation as an emerging leader in pediatric palliative care and health equity. She has served as principal investigator or co-investigator on grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society, studying advance care planning for adolescents and young adults with cancer and bone marrow transplant. She also received funding from the Cambia Health Foundation to examine palliative care experiences among Somali, Latino/a/x, and Hmong families.
Her research is published in journals including Critical Care Medicine, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Palliative Medicine, The Journal of Clinical Ethics, and Annals of Family Medicine. Dr. Needle-Suarez’s current academic work focuses on health inequities in pediatric serious illness, particularly among families with non-English language preference. She has collaborated with the SoLaHmo Partnership for Health and Wellness at the Community-University Health Care Center and is currently partnering with Inspire Change Clinic to develop the Common Thread Health Collective—an initiative to address cultural and linguistic barriers to equitable pediatric care.
She is pursuing a Master of Public Affairs at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, with a focus on healthcare policy and its impact on non-English speaking communities. Dr. Needle-Suarez also serves as co-chair of the University of Minnesota Medical Center Ethics Committee and co-leads the clinical ethics consultation service for M Health Fairview system hospitals.
Selected Publications
- Friebert S., Trujillo Rivera E. A., Baker J. N., Thompkins J. D., Grossoehme D., Needle J., & Lyon M. S. (2025). Pediatric Advance Care Planning and Adolescent Preparedness and Quality of Life: An RCT. Pediatrics, 55(2), e2024068699.
- Overbey, D. M., Stephens, E. H., Parent, B., Ameduri, R. K., Catarino, P. A., Needle, J., ... & Turek, J. W. (2025). Review of Current Normothermic Regional Perfusion Practice in Pediatric Cardiac Donation. The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, S0003-4975(24)01091-9.
- Larsen, S., Needle, J. S., Hsieh, E., & Shapiro, M. (2024). Professional interpreter use when a child is dying: A survey of pediatric critical care clinicians. Hospital Pediatrics. Advance online publication.
- Needle, J., Lee, S., Ahmed, A., Batres, R., Cha, J., de la Parra, P., Pergament, S., & Culhane-Pera, K. A. (2024). "We Feel Alone and Not Listened To": Parents' Perspectives on Pediatric Serious Illness Care in Somali, Hmong, and Latin American Communities. Annals of family medicine, 22(3), 215–222.
- Baker, J. N., Friebert, S., Needle, J., Jiang, J., Wang, J., & Lyon, M. E. (2022). An Intervention in Congruence for End-of-Life Treatment Preference: A Randomized Trial. Pediatrics, 149(5), e2021054796.
- Madrigal, V. N., Feltman, D. M., Leuthner, S. R., Kirsch, R., Hamilton, R., Dokken, D., Needle, J., Boss, R., Lelkes, E., Carter, B., Macias, E., & Bhombal, S. (2022). Bioethics for Neonatal Cardiac Care. Pediatrics, 150(Suppl 2), e2022056415N.
- Needle, J.S., Friebert, S., Thompkins, J.D., Grossoehme, D.H., Baker, J.N., Jiang, J., Wang, J., & Lyon, M.E. (2022). Effect of the Family-Centered Advance Care Planning for Teens with Cancer Intervention on Sustainability of Congruence About End-of-Life Treatment Preferences: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open, 5(7), e2220696.
- Lyon, M. E., Cheng, Y. I., Needle, J., Friebert, S., Baker, J. N., Jiang, J., & Wang, J for the Adolescent Palliative Care Consortium. (2021). The intersectionality of gender and poverty on symptom suffering among adolescents with cancer. Pediatric blood & cancer, 68(8), e29144.
- Needle, J. S., Liaschenko, J., Peden-McAlpine, C., & Boss, R. (2021). Stopping the Momentum of Clinical Cascades in the PICU: Intentional Responses to the Limits of Medicine. Journal of palliative care, 36(1), 12–16.
- Thompkins, J. D., Needle, J., Baker, J. N., Briggs, L., Cheng, Y. I., Wang, J., Friebert, S., & Lyon, M. E. (2021). Pediatric Advance Care Planning and Families' Positive Caregiving Appraisals: An RCT. Pediatrics, 147(6), e2020029330.
- Friebert, S., Grossoehme, D. H., Baker, J. N., Needle, J., Thompkins, J. D., Cheng, Y. I., Wang, J., & Lyon, M. E. (2020). Congruence Gaps Between Adolescents With Cancer and Their Families Regarding Values, Goals, and Beliefs About End-of-Life Care. JAMA Network Open, 3(5), e205424.
- Grossoehme, D. H., Friebert, S., Baker, J. N., Tweddle, M., Needle, J., Chrastek, J., Thompkins, J., Wang, J., Cheng, Y. I., & Lyon, M. E. (2020). Association of Religious and Spiritual Factors With Patient-Reported Outcomes of Anxiety, Depressive Symptoms, Fatigue, and Pain Interference Among Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer. JAMA network open, 3(6), e206696.
- Needle, J. S., Peden-McAlpine, C., Liaschenko, J., Koschmann, K., Sanders, N., Smith, A., Schellinger, S. E., & Lyon, M. E. (2020). "Can you tell me why you made that choice?": A qualitative study of the influences on treatment decisions in advance care planning among adolescents and young adults undergoing bone marrow transplant. Palliative medicine, 34(3), 281–290.
- Schreiner, K., Grossoehme, D. H., Friebert, S., Baker, J. N., Needle, J., & Lyon, M. E. (2020). "Living life as if I never had cancer": A study of the meaning of living well in adolescents and young adults who have experienced cancer. Pediatric blood & cancer, 67(10), e28599.
- Kamrath, H. J., Osterholm, E., Stover-Haney, R., George, T., O'Connor-Von, S., & Needle, J. (2019). Lasting Legacy: Maternal Perspectives of Perinatal Palliative Care. Journal of palliative medicine, 22(3), 310–315.
- Needle, J. S., Peden-McAlpine, C., & Liaschenko, J. (2019). Physicians' Perspectives on Adolescent and Young Adult Advance Care Planning The Fallacy of Informed Decision Making. The Journal of clinical ethics, 30(2), 131–142.
- Needle J. S., Brunquell D., Lyon M., & Heith C*. (2018). Mature minors, mature decisions: Advance care planning for adolescent patients with life-limiting illness. Journal of Pediatric Ethics, 1(3).
- Needle, J. S., Bjorklund, A., & Gupta, S. (2017). Considerations in Caring for Adult Patients in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Journal of pediatric intensive care, 6(2), 77–82.
- Sveen, W.*, Sury, M., & Needle, J. (2017). If Truth Be Told: Paternal Nondisclosure in Neonatal Herpes Simplex Virus Infection. Journal of Pediatric Ethics 1(1).
- Needle, J., & Smith, A. R. (2016). The Impact of Advance Directives on End-of-Life Care for Adolescents and Young Adults Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant. Journal of palliative medicine, 19(3), 300–305.
- Needle J. (2014). Ethical challenges with the advancement of hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Journal of pediatric intensive care, 3(3), 195–200.
- Needle, J. S., Mularski, R. A., Nguyen, T. & Fromme, E. K. (2012). Influence of personal preferences for life-sustaining treatment on medical decision making among pediatric intensivists*. Critical Care Medicine, 40(8), 2464-2469.
- Nakagawa, T., Rigby, M., Bratton, S., Shemie, S., Ajizian, S., Berkowitz, I., Bowens, C., Cosio, C., Curley, M., Dhanani, S., Dobyns, E., Easterling, L., Fortenberry, J., Helfaer, M., Kolovos, N., Koogler, T., Lebovitz, D., Michelson, K., Morrison, W., Naim, M., Needle, J., Nelson, B., Rotta, A., Rowin, M., Serrao, K., Shore, P., Smith, S., Thompson, A., Vohra, A. & Weise, K. (2011). A call for full public disclosure for donation after circulatory determination of death in children. Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, 12(3), 375-377.
- Needle J. S. (2010). Home extubation by a pediatric critical care team: providing a compassionate death outside the pediatric intensive care unit. Pediatric critical care medicine: A journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies, 11(3), 401–403.
- Needle, J. S., O'Riordan, M., & Smith, P. G. (2009). Parental anxiety and medical comprehension within 24 hrs of a child's admission to the pediatric intensive care unit*. Pediatric critical care medicine : a journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies, 10(6), 668–674.
- Needle, J. & Anderson, M. R. (2006). Medical emergency teams: Are improved outcomes really like day and night?. Critical care medicine, 34(6), 1840–1841.