Dr. Tiryaki is the deputy chief academic affiliations officer for the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), where she oversees operations for the largest health professions education program in the country. Previously, Dr. Tiryaki served as the associate chief of staff for education for the Minneapolis VA Health Care System (VAHCS), and as the network academic affiliations officer for VISN 23.

Dr. Tiryaki joined VA in 2014 due to her interest in health systems leadership within an integrated health care system and her desire to actively shape the clinical learning environment and promote interprofessional health professions education. She has been a teacher and mentor across the entire continuum of medical education, from medical students to mid-career faculty members. She has proven experience in designing, implementing, and managing education and leadership development programs at all levels of academic medicine. She is board certified in neurology, neuromuscular medicine, and palliative care and hospice medicine and specializes in the team-based, interdisciplinary care of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease that is nearly twice as likely to occur in Veterans. She is a professor of neurology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, where she also served as the neurology residency program director and a formal faculty adviser. Dr. Tiryaki was inducted into the University of Minnesota’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 2015.