July 27, 2021

The Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM®) program at Drexel University College of Medicine is pleased to announce the graduation of its 26th class. This graduating class of 63 fellows from 58 institutions joins a diverse alumnae community of more than 1,200 highly accomplished leaders who represent 269 medical, dental, public health and pharmacy schools from around the world.

As the graduation speaker, Michelle Ng Gong, MD, MS, ELAM ’18, chief of critical care medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, celebrated the class’s achievements at an online ceremony. Dr. Gong was at the center of planning for the surge of patients who required mechanical ventilation and intensive care at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Gong shared how the leadership lessons she learned during her ELAM fellowship helped her navigate the COVID-19 crisis when Montefiore received an extraordinary surge of critically ill patients with the disease during the initial outbreak of the pandemic.

The 2021 fellowship was marked by the pandemic, and many of the program fellows were involved in frontline work. ELAM shifted its entire year to a virtual format. On July 27, 2021, the fellows presented their capstone Institutional Action Projects (IAP) online. The event brought together the fellows and their deans or other senior officials and featured a poster symposium highlighting the fellows’ IAPs. These projects were conducted at their home institutions, in coordination with their deans and other senior leadership, and designed to address an institutional or departmental need or priority.

“The class of 2021 showed grace and fortitude as they navigated the fellowship during the pandemic. We are so proud of how they led and managed through crisis and how they supported their classmates.”  said Nancy D. Spector, MD, executive director of ELAM. “The quality and impact of their IAPs is a testament to the capability of the members of this class to enact powerful systemic change at their home institutions and beyond even in a time of crisis.”

ELAM’s mission is to increase the number and impact of women in senior academic leadership positions. From there, these new appointments will help change the culture of academic health organizations in becoming more accepting of different perspectives and more responsive to societal needs and expectations. ELAM, established in 1995, is the only longitudinal program in North America dedicated to preparing women for senior leadership roles in academic health science institutions. The intensive yearlong fellowship encompasses executive education, personal leadership assessments and coaching, and networking and mentoring activities aimed at broadening perspectives, building new capacities and encouraging professional connections. Program assignments, both group and individual, provide opportunities for applying and exercising leadership skills in a variety of situations and settings. ELAM alumnae serve in a variety of leadership positions including department chairs, research center directors, deans, college presidents and provosts, as well as chief executives in health care and accrediting organizations.

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

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

Esra 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

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

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

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