Dr. Berg Wraps Up Her Work at UW-CTRI

Dr. Kristin Berg
Dr. Kristin Berg

Dr. Kristin Berg is altering her schedule in 2022 so she’ll spend 100 percent of her time in clinic as a physician at UW Health, wrapping up seven years of spending part of her work week with UW-CTRI.

“Kristin has made many valuable contributions to the Center,” said UW-CTRI Director Dr. Michael Fiore. “She has served as a physician for our research studies, particularly assisting with adverse events. And, she has conducted and published important research. She has completed every aspect of her work with the utmost professionalism. She’s such a bright, talented, kind physician and individual. We thank her for all she does for public health.”

Berg said she remembers meeting UW-CTRI Director of Clinical Services Dr. Doug Jorenby in 2009 during a session for residents interested in meeting researchers from various established centers looking for clinicians to assist. “Doug introduced me to clinical research,” Berg said. “That was very gratifying.”

Early on, Berg worked at UW-CTRI to analyze TTURC 2 data. Later, she studied smoking by women Veterans.

“Dr. Kristin Berg contributed a great deal to UW-CTRI during her years with us,” said Jorenby. “Her research work highlighted important disparities in helping women Veterans quit smoking at a time when only a few people in the field were talking about treatment disparities. She provided quality care to both patients at the Smoking Cessation and Prevention Clinic as well as for many participants in UW-CTRI clinical research studies, such as the Triple Medication Cessation Study. At the same time, she was involved with research and care at UW-CTRI, she was also establishing herself in a role that used to be iconic, but now is quite rare: she is a true community physician for Stoughton. Not only is she engaged in providing excellent care for community members as an internist at UW-Health’s Stoughton Clinic, but she has also been involved in supporting the community in a variety of other ways.”

“I have learned so much,” Berg said, “both with the clinical aspect to help patients to quit smoking but also understanding how it’s such a team effort to get quality research done. It’s so important to have ethical, knowledgeable researchers. Now I’m excited to focus on internal medicine and primary care. I’ll continue to help my patients quit smoking.”

Berg said she empathizes with patients who smoke and reassures them that when they use evidence-based treatments it gives them the best chance to succeed. “That piece I will forever take with me.

“I have really enjoyed my time with UW-CTRI,” Berg said. “I’ll miss it so much.” Now she has Mondays off. “I’m excited to have that additional free time. I really enjoy being outside, running and kayaking. I love snow, I’m a big cross-country skier. Last year, we bought wet suits so we can do winter kayaking. That nice, quiet piece of nature that you can’t get anywhere else, I love that.”

Kristin Berg Poster