Area: Providers

Ada Otter is a provider in the OB/GYN Clinic at Hall Health Center and a UW clinical associate in the Department of Family Medicine. She holds a doctoral degree from the University of Washington School of Nursing and has been ANCC board certified as a family nurse practitioner since 2010. Born and raised in California, she earned bachelor’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University and UC Santa Barbara before pursuing advanced practice in nursing. Her special interests include reproductive health and supporting people in being comfortable in (and knowledgeable about) their own bodies.

Patient Care Philosophy

My goal is to empower you to be actively engaged in your own healthcare, with a strong focus on prevention and healthy lifestyle choices. I strive to create a safe environment where we can work in partnership to maintain wellness and address your health concerns.

Personal Interests

Roller skating, stand-up paddle boarding, yoga, travel, reading, and spending time with my family.

Jennifer Melsher is a graduate of the Family Nurse Practitioner program at the University of California, San Francisco with specializations in women’s health and chronic illness. She has worked in community health, women’s health, and prison health. She has been at Husky Health Center since 2010.

Patient Care Philosophy

I enjoy getting to know my patients and discussing their unique experiences and concerns so that we can work together to manage their health.

Scope of Care

Preventive care for adults; acute and chronic disease diagnosis and management; minor trauma evaluation and treatment.

Personal Interests

Spending time with her family, outdoor sports, and cooking from scratch with natural foods.

Clinical Interests

College health, women’s health, and chronic disease management

Brenda McKenzie became a practicing physical therapist in 2000. She earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Washington and her graduate degree in Physical Therapy from Nova Southeastern University in Florida. Her career began at Harborview Medical Center in-patient department working with a variety of neurological and orthopedic patients. Later she transferred to the University of Washingtonʼs Medical centerʼs outpatient outreach clinics working with primary orthopedic injuries and post-op rehabilitation. Brenda’s post-graduate work has been in various manual therapy techniques.

Brenda recently completed her Certification of Manual Therapy (COMT) program through the Ola Grimsby Association.  She has studied with the North American Institute of Orthopedic Manual Therapy (NAIOMT Level 1-II), the URSA foundation and Brian Mulligan Mobilizations for the upper extremity. Her love of running has propelled her to complete the Road Runners Club Of America (RRCA) Level 1 Coach Certification in November 2016 while continuing to study the biomechanics of the foot and treatment of running injuries through various classes and clinics. Brendaʼs emphasis in her practice is to work on your needs and abilities, working on correcting muscle imbalances and efficient movement patterns so you can return to your activities.

Brenda participated in a 4-year soccer study with Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center. This study assessed functional abilities to predict the risk of injury in female soccer players. Involvement in this study enhanced Brenda’s use of video technology for biomechanical assessments. Brenda is a clinical instructor for UW physical therapy graduate students. Brenda facilitates the graduate student physical therapy clinic during Spring quarter at Hall Health PT clinic.

Personal Interests

Brenda leads a full life at home sharing her time with her husband and two children. When not helping with her children’s sporting activities, Brenda is busy running & biking (with and without kids in tow), swimming, training for triathlons, weight lifting to prevent injury, trail running, playing in the snow, and traveling. Brenda has competed in and finished IRONMAN triathlons! She enjoys working with other runners/triathletes on running form and mechanics for treatment/prevention of training injuries.

Howard Levine, PT, COMT, FAAOMPT, is a certified orthopedic manual physical therapist. He completed postgraduate coursework, exams, and a fellowship with the North American Institute of Orthopedic Manual Therapy. He graduated from Brandeis University and in 1994 obtained his PT degree from the UW. He also attended Bastyr University for 2 of the 4-year naturopathic medicine program before taking a leave of absence that eventually became a permanent one.

Clinical Interests

Howard has a particular interest and expertise in problems of the back and neck.

Personal Interests

Outside of work he enjoys playing tennis, hiking, and tai chi, as well as spending time with his wife and special needs son.

Dr. Kauffman practices in primary care at Hall Health Center. She is board certified in Family Medicine.

Dr. Kauffman grew up in Maryland. She earned her undergraduate degree from Yale and her medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She came to the UW in 1996 for her master’s of public health in epidemiology and maternal and child health. She continued at the UW for her residency in family medicine and her chief residency and faculty development fellowship. She joined the UW faculty in 2003.

Patient Care Philosophy

I enjoy learning about my patients’ lives and challenges. I try to explain my diagnoses and recommendations and to involve the patient in medical decision-making. I view not knowing as an opportunity to learn. I particularly enjoy taking care of children, young adults, and young families. I appreciate the atmosphere of knowledge and caring at Hall Health, and I feel privileged to work with our outstanding patients and staff.

Personal Interests

I enjoy spending time with my husband and my two school-age children, especially bicycling and building Lego. My personal interests include reading, photography and graphic arts, exercise, and travel.

Clinical Interests

• Health habits, health promotion, and preventive medicine
• Parenting and care of families
• Development of health habits in childhood and early adulthood
• Care of college students, graduate students, and university populations

Brendan Cassidy received his doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Maryland. He is a licensed acupuncturist in Washington State and credentialed by UW Medicine. He is board certified in sports physical therapy through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties.

He did a graduate-level internship in acupuncture, which included dry needling and non-needling traditional sports therapies including gua sha, cupping, die da, and tui na. His physical therapy doctoral internship in rehabilitation was at Villanova University Athletic Training facility.

Brendan has been lucky enough to treat elite athletes who include NFL Hall of Fame players, PGA Tour golfers, All-American NCAA Division I basketball players, and national team basketball players. He has worked with UW Division I soccer players, UW volleyball players, UW rugby players, UW gymnasts, UW boxers, UW ultimate players and the entire UMES Division I men’s and women’s basketball teams, along with many NW Iron Man triathletes, marathon runners and rock climbers.

His background includes the following:

• The FIFA 11+ dynamic exercises for soccer injury prevention. The training program has shown in studies to significantly reduce soccer injury rates at the collegiate division I level.
• Phoenix Suns physical therapist and training in Corrective Exercise Strategies for Basketball Players protocol
• Certified in Graston Technique
• Certified in the Functional Movement Screen utilized by the NFL
• Academically and clinically trained in Greenman’s osteopathic approach to spine and joint mobilization at the University of Maryland
• Clinically trained in Active Release techniques for soft tissue restriction at the University of Maryland
• Certified sports lymphatic drainage massage training from University of Washington athletic trainer and Seattle Supersonics therapist

Personal interests

• Running and competing in Olympic distance triathlons, half marathons and a full marathon
• Over 15 years of yoga and tai chi practice
• Playing and coaching basketball