Jennifer Needle-Suarez, MD, MPH, HEC-C

Associate Professor

Expertise: Advance Care Planning | Pediatrics | Palliative Care Clinical Ethics

Headshot of Dr. Needle-Suarez.jpg
[email protected]

United States

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. Needle 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. Needle-Suarez joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 2013 after six years as an Assistant Professor for the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Critical Care, at Oregon Health & Science University. She is board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics in Critical Care and the American Board of Pediatrics. She has developed a national reputation as a leading early investigator in the field of pediatric palliative care and advance care planning.  She has been a PI or co-I on grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society studying Adolescent and Young Adult Advance Care Planning in Cancer and Bone Marrow Transplant. Her work has been published in Critical Care Medicine, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Palliative Medicine, and The Journal of Clinical Ethics. Her current academic focus is on reducing health disparities in pediatric palliative care. She is collaborating with the SoLaHmo Partnership for Health and Wellness to utilize a community-based participatory research approach to understand barriers and facilitators to pediatric palliative care in the Somali, Latino/a/x, and Hmong communities. Dr. Needle serves as the co-chair of the University of Minnesota Medical Center Ethics Committee, and co-lead for the clinical ethics consultation service for MHealth Fairview system hospitals.

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Selected Publications

  • Overbey, D. M., Stephens, E. H., Parent, B., Ameduri, R. K., Catarino, P. A., Needle,
    J.    , Kucera, J. A., Kaldas, F. M., Biniwale, R., & Turek, J. W. (2025). Review of Current Normothermic Regional Perfusion Practice in Pediatric Cardiac Donation.     The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. https://www.annalsthoracicsurgery.org/article/S0003-4975(24)01091-9/pdf
  • 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.
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.3106
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2022-056415N
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.20696
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-054796
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-029330
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1177/0825859719851487
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1002/pbc.29144
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216319883977
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1002/pbc.28599
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.6696
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.5424
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1086/jce2019302131
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2018.0303
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0036-1584680
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2015.0327
  • Needle J. (2014). Ethical challenges with the advancement of hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Journal of pediatric intensive care, 3(3), 195–200. https://doi.org/10.3233/PIC-14097
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1097/CCM.0b013e318255d85b
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1097/PCC.0b013e31820ac30c
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1097/PCC.0b013e3181c0143f
  • 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. https://doi.org/10.1097/PCC.0b013e3181a706c9
  • Needle, J. & Anderson, M. R. (2006). Medical emergency teams: Are improved outcomes really like day and night?. Critical care medicine, 34(6), 1840–1841. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.CCM.0000219369.59563.9A

Selected Presentations