National Leadership Program Names 2026-2027 Class of Fellows
April 16, 2026
The Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) program at Drexel University College of Medicine is pleased to announce the selection of its 32nd class of fellows, and the 4th class of fellows for its Executive Leadership in Health Care (ELH) program track.
ELAM is the only longitudinal program in North America dedicated to preparing leaders for senior-level executive roles in schools of medicine, dentistry, public health and pharmacy. This 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 those in leadership positions. The ELAM program has been specially developed for senior 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 ELH program is designed for senior-level leaders interested in advancing in hospitals and health care systems to positions such as CEO and CMO.
The effectiveness of ELAM's distinctive approach to leadership preparation is broadly recognized within the academic health community. ELAM alumni number nearly 1,800 and serve in leadership positions at 300 academic health centers around the world. ELAM carries on the legacy of advancing leaders in medicine begun by the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, the nation’s first degree-granting women’s medical school and a predecessor of Drexel University College of Medicine, where ELAM is hosted.
“We are excited to welcome 99 ELAM fellows and 45 ELH fellows to the class of 2026-27. This cohort comprises exceptional leaders from 108 institutions who are capable of making critical systemic change. 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,” says Nancy D. Spector, MD, executive director of ELAM.
To be accepted into the program, each fellow must be nominated and supported by the dean or another senior official of their institution. ELAM continues to cultivate strong partnerships with participating institutions throughout the yearlong fellowship. One aspect of this relationship is the curricular requirement to conduct an Institutional Action Project, developed in collaboration with the fellow’s sponsor. These action projects are designed to address an institutional or departmental need or priority.
“We are extremely excited to see the impact these leaders will have on their institutions as they work through the ELAM curriculum and develop their action projects,” explains Spector. “The fellows’ projects 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 June 2026 with online assignments and community-building activities. The fellowship concludes with the capstone event, the Leaders Forum, on April 14, 2027, and then graduation on April 15, 2027. The Leaders Forum brings together the fellows and their deans, CEOs and other senior officials, and features a symposium highlighting the fellows’ Institutional Action Projects.
For more information on the ELAM program curriculum, faculty and participants, visit drexel.edu/elam.
[This list of fellows is accurate as of 4.15.26]
ELAM Fellows
- Sally Adebamowo, MD, MSc, ScD
University of Maryland School of Medicine
- Gauri Agarwal, MD
University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine
- Jean-Marie Alves-Bradford, MD
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
- Amal Amer, MD, PhD
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
- Abdo Asmar, MD
University of Central Florida College of Medicine
- Sejong Bae, PhD
Augusta University School of Public Health
- Sophie Bakri, MD, MBA
Mayo Clinic
- Frances Balamuth, MD, PhD, MSCE
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Cristina Baldassari, MD
Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences Eastern Virginia Medical School
- Amy Barrios, PhD
University of Utah
- Preetha Basaviah, MD
Stanford University School of Medicine
- Rebecca Berman, MD
University of California, San Francisco Health- UCSF Health
- Michele Birch, MD
Wake Forest University School of Medicine- Charlotte
- Anne Blaes, MD, MS
University of Minnesota Medical School
- Marisha Burden, MD, MBA
University of Colorado School of Medicine Anschutz Medical Campus
- Adela Rambi Cardones, MD, MHSc
University of Kansas Medical Center
- Paloma Cariello, MD, MPH
Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah
- Elizabeth Carlton, PhD, MPH
Colorado School of Public Health
- Geetanjali Chander, MD, MPH
University of Washington School of Medicine
- Sarwat Chaudhry, MD
Yale University School of Medicine
- H. Carrie Chen, MD, PhD
Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine
- Arlene Chung, MD, MACM
Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont
- Jenell Coleman, MD, MPH
Thomas Jefferson University
- Amanda Condon, MD
University of Manitoba Max Rady College of Medicine
- Tracy Crane, PhD
University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine
- Dana Dabelea, MD, PhD
Colorado School of Public Health
- Blossom Damania, PhD
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Ellen Demerath, PhD
University of Minnesota School of Public Health
- Krista Denning, MD
Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University
- Anne Courtney DeVries, PhD
West Virginia University Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center
- Kelly Dooley, MD, PhD, MPH
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- Emily Dressler, PhD
Wake Forest University School of Medicine- Winston-Salem
- Odinakachukwu Ehie, MD, MAEd
University of California, San Francisco Health- UCSF Health
- Dina EL Metwally, MD, PhD
University of Maryland School of Medicine
- Amanda Leigh Elrod, DPAS, MPAS
Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah
- Rodrigo España, PhD
Drexel University College of Medicine
- Carri Glide-Hurst, PhD
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
- Anita Gohel, BDS, PhD
University of Florida College of Dentistry
- Kathryn Gold, MD
University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center
- Marjorie Gondre-Lewis, PhD
Howard University College of Medicine
- Stephanie Graff, MD
Rhode Island Hospital
- Meera Harhay, MD, MSCE
Drexel University College of Medicine
- Elizabeth Harry, MD
University of Michigan Medical School
- Antwione Haywood, PhD
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
- Brenda Heaton, PhD, MPH
University of Utah School of Dentistry
- Heather Heiman, MD
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
- Elaine Hill, PhD
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
- Evelyn Hsu, MD
Seattle Children's Hospital
- Lee Jennings, MD, MSHS
University of Oklahoma College of Medicine
- Shaneeta Johnson, MD, MBA
Meharry Medical College School of Medicine
- Melanie Joy, PharmD, PhD
University of Colorado School of Medicine Anschutz Medical Campus
- Dineo Khabele, MD
Washington University in St. Louis
- Alia Koch, DDS, MD, FACS
Columbia University College of Dental Medicine
- Beth Kozel, MD, PhD
Nationwide Children's Hospital
- Roopal Kundu, MD
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
- A. Noelle Larson, MD
Mayo Clinic
- Philana Lin, MD, MSc
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
- Jennifer Long, MD, PhD
University of California, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
- Erika Lourenco de Freitas, PhD
Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences University of Colorado
- Jamie MacKelfresh, MD
Emory University School of Medicine
- Melinda Maggard-Gibbons, MD, MSHS
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
- Jasmine Marcelin, MD
University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Medicine
- Denise Martinez, MD
University of California, Riverside School of Medicine
- Allison McLarty, MD
Stony Brook University
- Michelle Moore, PsyD
Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans
- Judith Moskowitz, PhD, MPH
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
- Bryn Mumma, MD, MAS
University of California Davis School of Medicine
- Shalina Nair, MD, MBA
Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont
- Neha Nanda, MD
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
- Gretchen Neigh, PhD, MBA
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
- Ekaterina Noyes, PhD, MPH
University at Buffalo SUNY School of Public Health and Health Professions
- Megan Osborn, MD, MHPE
UC Irvine Health
- Sara Petruska, MD
University of Louisville School of Medicine
- Jaya Raj, MD
CommonSpirit Health
- Sarosh Rana, MD, MPH
University of Nebraska Medical Center
- Jyotsna Ranga, MBBS
Creighton University School of Medicine
- Goutham Rao, MD
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
- Caterina Rosano, MD, MPH
University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health
- Jacalyn Rosenblatt, MD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Amy Ryan, PhD
The University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
- Pina Sanelli, MD, MPH
Northwell Health
- Tetyana Shippee, PhD
University of Minnesota School of Public Health
- Teresa Smith-Bellille, MD, MSEd
SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine
- Lucia Sobrin, MD, MPH
Harvard Medical School
- Sylk Sotto, EdD, MBA, MPS
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
- Marisa Spann, PhD, MPH
New York State Psychiatric Institute
- Catherine Staton, MD, PhD
Duke University School of Medicine
- Michelle Steele, EdD
Meharry Medical College School of Graduate Studies
- Jennifer Surtees, PhD
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Buffalo State University of New York
- Loni Tabb, PhD
Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health
- Susanne Tanski, MD, MPH
Dartmouth Health Children’s
- Laura Tatpati, MD
University of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichita
- Kristy Townsend, PhD
The Ohio State University College of Medicine
- Susan Vadaparampil, PhD
Moffitt Cancer Center
- Gabriela Velazquez, MD
Wake Forest University School of Medicine- Winston-Salem
- Rebecca Wallihan, MD
Nationwide Children's Hospital
- Joni Williams, MD, MPH
Medical College of Wisconsin
- Kari Wisinski, MD
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
- Pamela Woodard, MD
Washington University in St. Louis
ELH Fellows
- Maysa Abu-Khalaf, MD, MBA
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Suzanne Bennett, MD
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
- Hem Bhardwaj, MD
Virginia Commonwealth University Health System
- Meena Bhatia, MD
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
- Robison Chan, MD, MSc, MBA
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
- Wan-Tsu Chang, MD
University of Maryland School of Medicine
- Emilie Chow, MD
University of California, Irvine Medical Center (UCI Medical Center)
- Rebecca Claure, MD
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford
- Matthew Cline, MD
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist- Winston-Salem
- Courtney Collins, MD, MS
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
- Lisa Davidson, MD
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist- Charlotte
- Daniela Davis, MD, MSCE
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Melissa Davis, MD, MBA
Yale University School of Medicine
- Nada Farhat, MD, MA, MPH
Albany Medical College
- Wayne Feng, MD, MS
Duke University School of Medicine
- Brigid Flynn, MD, FCCM
University of Kansas Medical Center
- Mona Gera, MD
Children's Hospital Los Angeles
- Lara Goitein, MD
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center
- Amber Inofuentes, MD
UVA Health (University of Virginia)
- Michelle Kars, MD
Northwell Health
- Amy Kerger, DO
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
- Sucharita Kher, MD
Tufts Medical Center
- Devyani Lal, MD, MBBS, DLO (Eng)
Mayo Clinic
- Nancy LaVine, MD
Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
- Janie Lee, MD
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
- Kelly Malloy, MD, MBA
University of Michigan Medical School
- Cindy Matsen, MD, MSCI
Huntsman Cancer Institute (University of Utah)
- Mollie McDermott, MD, MS
University of Michigan Medical School
- Sarah Menacho, MD, MBA
University of Utah Health
- Laura Morris, MD, MSPH
University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine
- Shanna Patterson, MD, MS
Mount Sinai Health System
- Jessica Porembka, MD
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
- Mara Schenker, MD, MBA
Emory University School of Medicine
- Donna Stephenson, MD
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Jennifer Stevens, MD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- John Stewart, MD, MBA, FACS
Morehouse School of Medicine
- Anne Stowman, MD
University of Vermont Medical Center
- Patricia Sylla, MD
Mount Sinai Health System
- Alexandra Urban, MD
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
- Gretchen Velazquez, MD, MBA, FACP
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist- Winston-Salem
- Liza Weavind, MBBCh, MMHC
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- Sarah Wescott, DO, MS
UC Health; University of Cincinnati Medical Center
- Katti Woerner, DO
University of Minnesota
- Anita Ying, MD, MBA
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Jessica Zerillo, MD, MPH
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center