May 6, 2020

The Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) program for Women at Drexel University College of Medicine is pleased to announce the selection of its 2020-2021 class of fellows.

ELAM® is the only longitudinal program in North America dedicated to preparing women for senior leadership roles in schools of medicine, dentistry, public health and pharmacy. The prestigious program is dedicated to developing the professional and personal skills required to lead and manage in today's complex health care environment, with special attention to the unique challenges facing women in leadership positions. The ELAM program has been specially developed for senior women faculty at the associate or full professor level who demonstrate the greatest potential for assuming executive leadership positions at academic health centers within the next five years.

The effectiveness of ELAM's distinctive approach to leadership preparation is broadly recognized within the academic health community. ELAM alumnae number over 1,000 and serve in leadership positions at 263 academic health centers around the world. ELAM carries on the legacy of advancing women in medicine begun by the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, the nation’s first women’s medical school and a predecessor of Drexel University College of Medicine where ELAM is hosted.

“We’re excited to welcome 66 fellows into the 2020-2021 class of ELAM,” says Nancy D. Spector, MD, executive director of ELAM. “The women are exceptional leaders who are capable of making critical systemic change in their institutions. The need for the highest quality leaders in academic health care has never been greater, and we are doing everything we can to help meet that need by providing outstanding and innovative leadership training for women.” The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on academic medicine and healthcare has become an opportunity for ELAM to provide real time crisis leadership instruction for its fellows. To that end, the program has added additional curriculum within our modules that will help address issues that the fellows and their institutions are currently facing.

In order to be accepted into the program, each fellow must be nominated and supported by the dean or other senior official of her institution. ELAM continues to cultivate strong partnerships with participating institutions throughout the year-long fellowship. One aspect of this relationship is the curricular requirement to conduct an Institutional Action Project, developed in collaboration with the fellows’ dean or other senior official. These action projects are designed to address an institutional or departmental need or priority. “We are extremely excited to see the impact these women will have on their institutions as they work through the ELAM curriculum and develop their action projects,” explains Spector. “The projects the fellows conduct not only help them understand the challenges facing academic health centers and the skills a leader must possess to address these challenges, but also often result in concrete changes at their institutions.”

The work for this incoming class begins in May with online assignments and community building activities that continue through the end of the program in April 2021. Fellows begin the first of three week-long sessions on September 12, 2020.

2020-2021 ELAM Fellows

Hoda Badr, PhD
Baylor College of Medicine

Allison Ballantine, MD
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Patricia Birk, MD 
University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine

Jennifer Bizon, PhD 
University of Florida College of Medicine

Elizabeth Bonney, MD, MPH
University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine

Jada Bussey-Jones, MD 
Emory University School of Medicine

Michelle Caird, MD
University of Michigan Medical School

Alice Chuang, MD, MEd
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

Gretchen Diemer, MD
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Jefferson University

Cynthia Downard, MD, MMSc
University of Louisville School of Medicine

Rebecca Dutch, PhD 
University of Kentucky College of Medicine

Lotte Dyrbye, MD, MHPE
Mayo Clinic School of Medicine

Susanna Evans, MD, FAAFP 
Drexel University College of Medicine

Angela  Fagerlin, PhD 
University of Utah School of Medicine

Colleen Fogarty, MD, MSc 
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry

Kristie Foley, PhD, MS 
Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Beth Fox, MD, MPH 
East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine

Samara Ginzburg, MD
Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell

Sharon  Giordano, MD, MPH
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Riki Gottlieb, DMD 
University of British Columbia Faculty of Dentistry

Melissa Haendel, PhD
Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine

Irene Hamrick, MD 
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

Florette Hazard, MD
Stanford University School of Medicine

Caridad Hernandez, MD
University of Central Florida College of Medicine

Janine Higgins, PhD 
University of Colorado School of Medicine Anschutz Medical Campus

Sarah Iriana, MD 
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine

Denise Jamieson, MD, MPH 
Emory University School of Medicine

Arundhathi Jeyabalan, MD 
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Rima Jubran, MD, MPH, MACM
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California

Helen Kales, MD
University of California, Davis, School of Medicine

Amy Kelley, MD, MSHS
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Catherine Krawczeski, MD
Nationwide Children's Hospital

Sarah Lamb, MD
University of Utah School of Medicine

Clara Lee, MD, MPP 
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Jo Anna Leuck, MD  
TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine

Judith Lichtman, PhD, MPH 
Yale University School of Public Health

Kenya McNeal-Trice, MD
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

Raina Merchant, MD
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Jill Mhyre, MD
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine

Elaine Morrato, DrPH, MPH 
Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health

Steffi Oesterreich, PhD
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Emily Oken, MD, MPH 
Harvard Medical School

Jacqueline Nwando Olayiwola, MD, MPH, FAAFP 
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Donna Parker, MD 
University of Maryland School of Medicine

Page Pennell, MD
Brigham and Women's Hospital

Julie Pilitsis, MD, PhD
Albany Medical College

Uma Reddy, MD, MPH
Yale University School of Medicine

Nasia Safdar, MD, PhD 
University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health

Sinem Sahingur, DDS, MS, PhD
University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine

Celia Schiffer, PhD 
University of Massachusetts Medical School

Julia Segre, PhD
National Institutes of Health

Nancy Sicotte, MD
University of California, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Aimee Smidt, MD 
University of New Mexico School of Medicine

Abby Spencer, MD, MS
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Randi Streisand, PhD
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Kimberly Templeton, MD
University of Kansas School of Medicine

Stephanie Terezakis, MD 
University of Minnesota Medical School

Julie Thacker, MD 
Duke University School of Medicine

Britta Thompson, PhD, MS
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine

Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds, MD, MPH, MS
Indiana University School of Medicine

Barbara Van de Wiele, MD
University of California, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Amy Waer, MD 
Texas A&M University College of Medicine

Teresa Waters, PhD 
University of Kentucky College of Public Health

Carrie Wieneke, MD 
University of Kansas School of Medicine

Bessie Young, MD, MPH 
University of Washington School of Medicine

Wei Zhou, MD
University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson