President/CEO of the Center for Women in Academic Medicine and Science

Over her 35 years in academic medicine, Dr. Mladenovic has served in several leadership roles, all of which have given her a broad understanding of the multitude of issues that shape the trajectory of women’s careers in medicine and science. She is passionately committed to advancing opportunities for women to flourish in academic medicine. She recently served as President of the Foundation for the Advancement of International Medical Education and Research, and in her last academic position, she served as Executive Vice-President and Provost at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU), where she developed creative faculty and science initiatives, a new school of public health, an interprofessional rural campus, and a university-wide partnership in Southeast Asia. Previously she held positions as senior associate dean at two institutions, and as chairman or chief of medicine. The creation of mutually beneficial partnerships between the academic health center and its communities were the hallmark of her efforts.

Dr. Mladenovic graduated from the University of Washington and its medical school. She trained in internal medicine and hematology at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Stanford University, and the University of Washington, where she also served as chief resident. For 18 years, she had an NIH/VA funded laboratory focused on hematopoietic cell differentiation. Nationally, she held leadership roles in the APM, ABIM, ABMS, ASH, ACGME, and SUSME. She holds an MBA from the University of Miami, and is a certified mediator. Currently she also serves on a university board and those of two start-ups. She and her husband of 42 years have four adult children.

Provost of the Medical Campus and Dean of Boston University School of Medicine

Karen H. Antman, MD, an internationally recognized expert on breast cancer, mesotheliomas and sarcomas, is Provost of the Medical Campus and Dean of Boston University School of Medicine since 2005.

Dr. Antman previously served as Deputy Director for Translational and Clinical Sciences at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (2004-5) and before that as Wu Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology and Director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she also co-directed the cancer care service line at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Antman was voted 1993 Senior Faculty Teacher of the Year by medical residents. She also served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School from 1979 to 1993 and had hospital appointments at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

She is a member of PBK and the National Academy of Medicine. She served as President of the American Association of Cancer Research and the American Society of Clinical Oncology and as Chair of the Administration Board of the American Association of Medical Colleges Council of Deans, the International Editorial Board of Lancet, the Journal of the American Medical Association Oversight Committee, and board of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG).

CEO and President, Dartmouth-Hitchcock and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health

“Organizations with diverse leadership teams perform better financially. So it is a bit confounding why it has taken so long to achieve equity in leadership, especially in healthcare. It is not a pipeline problem: Women make up more than 50 percent of physicians in training, and 78 percent of the entire healthcare workforce. It is not an ambition gap: Women in healthcare are just as interested in advancing in their careers, but less likely to be promoted. The “motherhood penalty” for women with children (stereotypes and biases about working mothers) is real.

We don’t want to simplify the challenge by just asserting that women make better leaders than men. Instead, we want to stress that greater representation by women and attention to the environment at the top of an organization allows everyone to be empowered, engaged, included, and respected in their pursuit of improving health and health care for the greater community.”

Before Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Dr. Conroy served as CEO of Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Mass. Prior to her leadership role at Lahey, Dr. Conroy served for more than five years as chief health care officer for the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington, D.C. Before that, she worked at the not-for-profit Atlantic Health System in Florham Park, N.J., where she served as chief medical officer for four years; as vice president, academic affairs for three; and executive vice president for another three. Prior to these roles, Dr. Conroy served as senior associate dean, chair of the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, and vice president for medical affairs at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).

She received her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., and her medical degree from MUSC, where she completed her residency in anesthesiology.

Dean Emerita, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

A renowned physician and medical researcher, Pamela B. Davis, MD, PhD, became dean of the School of Medicine and senior vice president for medical affairs at Case Western Reserve University in 2007 after serving as interim dean during the previous year. She served in this position until stepping down in 2020 to serve as a Professor in the Center for Community Health Integration. She holds the Arline H. and Curtis F. Garvin Research Professorship. She previously served as a professor of pediatrics, physiology and biophysics and a professor of molecular biology and microbiology at the university, and as chief of the pediatric pulmonary division at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and as director of the Willard A. Bernbaum Cystic Fibrosis Research Center at Case Western Reserve University.

In 2014, Dean Davis, a prolific researcher whose work focuses largely on cystic fibrosis, was proud to be inducted into the Institute of Medicine, now known as the National Academy of Medicine. She was also elected as the 2015 Chair of the Medical Sciences Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2020 she was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors. For more than 30 years, Dean Davis has been continuously funded by the NIH, most recently as the principal investigator of the school’s $64.6 million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program. In 2015, she began serving as the program’s co-principal investigator.

Dean Davis holds seven U.S. patents and is a founding scientist of Copernicus Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company that creates novel pharmaceutical targeting and delivery systems. She has published more than 130 articles in peer-reviewed journals. She has served in prominent roles such as the Advisory Council to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the Advisory Council for National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. She received her BS in chemistry, summa cum laude, from Smith College in 1968. She earned her doctorate in physiology and pharmacology in 1973 and her medical degree in 1974, both from Duke University.

CEO, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
Dean, Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Chief Academic Officer, Atrium Health Enterprise

“Why I am passionate about women in academic medicine?

I look at how things are accomplished in the best way by using a mosaic—people of different ages, genders, backgrounds, ethnicities, and specialties. Women make up at least half of the new doctors we are training; therefore, encouraging many women to go into academic medicine is critical in order to get the best involved.”

Julie A. Freischlag, MD, FACS, FRCSEd(Hon), DFSVS, is the chief executive officer of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, dean of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and chief academic officer of Atrium Health Enterprise. Consistently ranked among the nation’s top medical centers, Wake Forest Baptist includes a growing, multi-hospital health system and physician network, the state-of-the-art and highly competitive Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and the school’s technology transfer and commercialization arm, Wake Forest Innovations.

As CEO and dean, Dr. Freischlag has the overall responsibility for the health system’s clinical, academic and innovation enterprises and its annual operating budget of $3 billion. Previously, she was vice chancellor for Human Health Sciences and dean of the School of Medicine at UC Davis.

Dr. Freischlag has published more than 300 manuscripts, abstracts and book chapters. She has received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Service Award from the Association of VA Surgeons. She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2015 and continuously has been named one of the Best Doctors in America.

In addition to serving in various national and international leadership roles, she has mentored students, residents and young faculty and is a frequent speaker on topics, including expertise in vascular diseases, teamwork, patient safety, leadership, work-life balance and women succeeding in health professions. Dr. Freischlag has dedicated her career to serving as a role model for her students and is a respected colleague across health professions, a strong community leader and a national voice for improving health and health care.

In addition to her leadership responsibilities, Dr. Freischlag continues to see patients and is an internationally recognized expert in the treatment of thoracic outlet syndrome, which can require a specialized surgical procedure.

Currently, Dr. Freischlag is President of the American College of Surgeons and also serves on the Board of Directors of the Association for American Medical Colleges, National Institute of Health Clinical Center Research Hospital Board, Aga Khan University Board of Trustees, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Advisory Board, the University of Illinois Health Advisory Board, and the American Hospital Association Changing Workforce Task Force.

President Emeritus, Rush University
Dean & Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Dr. Gabriel is University Professor of the Future of Health Outcomes and Medicine at Arizona State University and Board member at Online Med Ed. She is president emeritus of Rush University and dean & distinguished professor emeritus of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) Medical School. She is also former CEO of the RWJ Medical Group. Having started her career at Mayo Clinic as a resident physician, Dr. Gabriel continued there as a physician, researcher, educator, and leader for nearly 30 years, culminating in her promotion to dean of Mayo Medical School in 2012. She is dean and distinguished professor emeritus at Mayo Clinic.

Her research, largely funded by the National Institutes of Health, has resulted in more than 250 original, peer-reviewed publications addressing the costs, causes, and outcomes of rheumatic diseases. Dr. Gabriel is past president of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and has served on many national committees, including the NIH Advisory Council of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases; chair of the FDA Drug Safety and Risk Management Committee; and as founding chair of the Methodology Committee of the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. She is a member of the Association of American Physicians. Dr. Gabriel has received many honors and awards, including the ACR Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award and the Mayo Clinic Distinguished Educator Award.

Dr. Gabriel completed her undergraduate education at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and the College of Pharmacy at the University of Saskatchewan Medical School before earning her medical degree at the medical school. She completed her residency in internal medicine and her fellowship in rheumatology at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. She also holds a master’s in clinical epidemiology from McMaster University, and completed executive education courses at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, USF Health, and Vice Dean of Faculty Affairs, Morsani College of Medicine

In 1975, on the first day of Dr. Parisi’s residency in general surgery, residents were told to report to the surgeon’s lounge. When she did so with the other 13 male first-years, she was told to go to the nurse’s lounge instead. The nurses gave her a set of scrubs and sent her to the patient restroom to change. Needless to say, it was humiliating, and she never forgot the experience. This drove her passion for women to be visible and be heard in academic medicine.

Dr. Parisi joined USF Health in September 2015 as the senior associate vice president of academic affairs, and vice dean of faculty affairs, Morsani College of Medicine.

At age 16, Dr. Parisi entered the first seven-year medical degree class offered at Brown University and received her M.D. She completed her ob/gyn residency at Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and her maternal-fetal medicine fellowship at the University of Colorado. Her academic background is enhanced by an MPH in maternal and child health from the University of California-Berkeley School of Public Health, and an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler School of Business.

Among her many accomplishments as a nationally recognized leader in academic medicine, Dr. Parisi was the director of the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and director of the board from 1998-2008; chair of the University of North Carolina Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1997 to 2004; dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch from 2004-2006; vice dean of clinical affairs at Wayne State University School of Medicine in 2007; and dean and professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, at Wayne State University School of Medicine from 2009 until 2014. Dr. Parisi served as the chair of the American Board of Medical Specialties from 2014 to 2016. Dr. Parisi was the first woman to be named dean of a medical school in the state of Texas.

In 2010, Crain’s Detroit Business named her one of its “Women to Watch.”

Senior Scientist Emerita, Fogarty International Center, NIH
Former Director (Retired), Office of Research on Women’s Health, NIH

As the first full-time director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1991 until her retirement in 2011, Dr. Pinn worked to ensure the inclusion of women and minorities in NIH-funded research; to educate and impress upon the scientific community the importance of sex differences in research and health care; and to develop programs and policies to advance women in biomedical careers. She also was NIH’s associate director for research on women’s health from 1994-2011. At the time of her retirement, The Association of American Medical Colleges awarded her a Special Recognition Award for exceptional leadership over a forty-year career. After her retirement, she was named as Senior Scientist Emerita at the NIH Fogarty International Center. Before the NIH, Dr. Pinn was professor and chair of the Department of Pathology at Howard University, the third woman in the United States to chair an academic department of Pathology. Previously, she held teaching appointments at Harvard Medical School and Tufts University where she was also assistant dean for student affairs and an advocate for minority students.

After graduating from Wellesley College in 1962, she enrolled in medical school at the University of Virginia. As the only student of color and only woman in her class, she was doubly distinguished. She developed a passion for research during a summer internship at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where she later completed her postgraduate training as an NIH Research Fellow in immunopathology.

The recipient of numerous awards and honors, Dr. Pinn is past president of the National Medical Association. She received the Elizabeth Blackwell Award from the American Medical Women’s Association in 1995, the year she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine). She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Recently she received the 2020 American Medical Association’s Distinguished Service Award, the 2021 Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Pathology Chairs, and the Outstanding Achievement in Public Health Award from Research!America in 2022.

She served as an NAM (IOM) representative on the National Academies Committee on Women in Science, Engineering and Medicine from 2012-2017, and is currently a member of the National Academies Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Dr. Pinn serves on the Board of Trustees/Advisors of Thomas Jefferson University, the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, Tufts University School of Medicine and the KGI School of Medicine and is a Professor in the Institute for Advanced Discovery & Innovation at the University of South Florida.

President, Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation

Claire Pomeroy is president and CEO of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation which is dedicated to accelerating support for medical research. She is chair of the board of directors for CWAMS where she is an inspiring voice for the culture change needed to ensure that women thrive as leaders in academic medicine. As an infectious disease physician, she is passionate about caring for the underserved, strengthening public health infrastructure and addressing the social determinants of health.  Dr. Pomeroy was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine in 2011.

She currently serves on the Board of the Morehouse School of Medicine; Science Philanthropy Alliance; Science Communication Lab; and the Center for Women in Academic Medicine and Science. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Sierra Health Foundation, Haemonetics Corporation, and Embecta Corporation, positions for which she receives compensation.

Dr. Pomeroy received her medical degree from the University of Michigan and completed her residency and fellowship at the University of Minnesota. She earned an MBA from the University of Kentucky. She received honorary degrees from University of Massachusetts Medical School (2016) and the University of South Florida Morsani School of Medicine (2022). Previous positions include chief of infectious diseases and associate dean for research at the University of Kentucky. She was vice chancellor and dean of the University of California, Davis School of Medicine from 2005 – 2013. She became president of the Lasker Foundation in June 2013.

Dean Emerita, University of Minnesota Medical School

Dr. Powell is dean emerita of the University of Minnesota Medical School and professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, where she coordinates the medical school pathology curriculum. At the University of Minnesota, Dr. Powell instituted the medical school’s Flexible M.D. program, an individualized model of medical education designed to be more adaptable to students’ career and learning goals.

Dr. Powell served as chair of the AAMC Board of Directors from 2009-10 and was the first female chair of the AAMC Council of Deans in 2004. She received the AAMC 2013 Abraham Flexner Distinguished Service to Medical Education Award. She is currently working on a pilot study of a new model for training medical students who want to go into pediatrics in a competency-based model that combines UME and GME. It is being tested in four U.S. medical schools, currently including the University of Minnesota. Dr. Powell was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2000. Prior to moving to Minnesota, she was executive dean and assistant vice chancellor for clinical affairs at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. She also served as chair of the Department of Pathology at the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Powell has long been committed to supporting careers of women in academic medicine, mentoring both junior and senior women and as dean, involving Minnesota in the Brandeis C-Change project and working with AAMC Women in Medicine.

Former CEO, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System

Dr. Rappley has over 30 years of experience in academic medicine and health system administration. Most recently, she was CEO of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health System (2015-2020), where she oversaw the opening of two out-patient care facilities, initiated the construction of a new children’s hospital, and partnered with the State of Virginia to open the Virginia Treatment Center, which focuses on in-patient child and adolescent psychiatry. Dr. Rappley was also responsible for the School of Dentistry, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy as VCU’s Senior Vice President of Health Sciences. She was the first woman to serve in these roles at VCU.

Dr. Rappley previously held several administrative roles at Michigan State University’s (MSU) College of Human Medicine, where she became the first woman to serve as medical school Dean in Michigan. As Dean, she moved the medical school headquarters 60 miles to better position it for health system partnerships; established new campuses across the state, doubling the size; expanded the Rural Health Program; and established the Leadership in Medicine for the Underserved Program, all of which benefitted from her fundraising and resource partnership on behalf of MSU.

She has been recognized for her research in developmental and behavioral pediatrics and her institutional leadership. Currently, she is Chair of the LCME-AMA Council of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). Her prior service includes the FDA, the American Board of Pediatrics, the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, the Association Academic Health Centers, the VCU Health System, and the Greater Grand Rapids YMCA. She served as Chair of the Council of Deans and Chair of the Board of Directors of the AAMC.

Dr. Rappley earned her medical degree from MSU and completed her residency at the University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital. She also holds a nursing degree from the University of Michigan.

President and CEO, Morehouse School of Medicine

Dr. Montgomery Rice is the sixth president of Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) and the first woman to lead the free-standing medical institution. A renowned infertility specialist and researcher, she serves as both the president and CEO, and before that served as dean and executive vice president of MSM.

Prior to joining MSM, Dr. Montgomery Rice held faculty positions and leadership roles at various health centers, including academic health centers. Most notably, she was the founding director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry Medical College, one of the nation’s first research centers devoted to studying diseases that disproportionately impact women of color.

Dr. Montgomery Rice holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and an honorary degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Emory University School of Medicine and her fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Hutzel Hospital.

She holds membership in many organizations and boards, including the National Academy of Medicine; board of directors for Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine; board of directors for The Nemours Foundation; board of directors for UnitedHealth Group; and the Association of American Medical Colleges Council of Deans.

Dr. Montgomery Rice is married to a fellow Georgia Institute of Technology alumnus, Melvin Rice Jr. They have two children, Jayne and Melvin.

CEO and President, Colorado Longitudinal Study

Dr. Wise is CEO and president of the Colorado Longitudinal Study. She has been a passionate advocate for public research universities and the role they must play in meeting society’s greatest global challenges. With over thirty years of research funding from the National Institutes of Health, among other funding agencies, Dr. Wise’s research focuses on women’s health issues and how hormones influence learning and memory and protect the brain against neurodegeneration.

As chancellor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and interim president and provost at the University of Washington, she led the development of shared visions and strategic plans that positioned these institutions for future decades.

Dr. Wise received her bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. She holds honorary degrees from Swarthmore College and the University of Birmingham (England).  She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Wise has significant corporate and foundation board experience and has served on the boards of directors of Nike and the First Busey Corp. In the non-profit sector, she serves on the boards of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Children’s Hospital Colorado, and the RAND Health boards of advisors. She was recognized as a “Woman of Influence” by the Puget Sound Business Journal and has received several awards that recognize her leadership in education, including the Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education Leadership Award and the Chang-Lin Tien Educational Leadership Award.