Let’s celebrate the innovative movers and shakers making a difference in healthcare during Women in Medicine Month by highlighting these seventeen amazing women making their mark on the industry.
For centuries, women have been making strides toward social progress while changing the face of healthcare. Today, they’re nearly 80% of the world’s healthcare professionals, working as nurses, physicians, CEOs, medical directors, advocates, and more, innovating and improving the health system by using their extensive knowledge and leadership skills to improve patient outcomes.
Join us in celebrating these 17 influential women for their brilliance, curiosity, and global impact. We are grateful each of them took the time to share their collective wisdom and experience with us on the Raise the Line podcast.
Mary Jo Bondy, DHEd, MHS, PA-C
Mary Jo Bondy is the chief executive officer of the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA), whose mission is to advance the excellence of education, Physician Assistant (PA) education, leadership, and innovation. She has worked in orthopedics, internal medicine, emergency medicine, and family medicine. In addition to leading PAEA, Dr. Bondy is also an educational leader, clinician, and innovator. Her work as the CEO of PAEA helps physician assistants become valuable players in the healthcare industry while helping thousands of faculty members achieve excellence in PA education. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
Chelsea Clinton, PhD
The Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, Dr. Clinton is also an adjunct professor in health policy and management at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and serves on the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the Clinton Health Access Initiative boards. Some of the issues she has raised awareness about include health equity, vaccine hesitancy, and childhood obesity. In her work at the Clinton Foundation as vice chair, she focuses on promoting early brain and language development and uplifting female entrepreneurs and women-led businesses worldwide. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
Sheila Davis, DNP, ANP-BC, FAAN
Dr. Sheila Davis serves as the chief executive officer of Partners In Health (PIH), a non-profit social justice organization that brings the benefits of modern medical science to the poorest and sickest communities around the world. The organization’s goal is to ensure that the universal human right to quality healthcare is realized. Dr. Davis has worked tirelessly for the past decade, holding many roles at PIH. In 2010, she was instrumental in the planning and opening of Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais, a 300-bed teaching hospital in Haiti. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
Mia Finkelston, MD
Dr. Mia Finkelston is a board-certified family practice physician and the medical director of the successful telehealth platform Amwell. A pioneer in the telemedicine world, Dr. Finkelston incorporated it into her practice long before its use exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through her work encouraging elderly patients to schedule telehealth appointments, she has prevented many trips to the emergency room and has been better able to maintain continuity of care for patients who just needed to touch base with their providers. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
Maria Guevara, MD, MSc
With extensive experience in pulmonary and critical care medicine, along with providing medical care on the ground throughout Asia, Africa, and The Americas, Dr. Maria Guevara’s work makes a global impact. As a child, she was inspired by her parents’ volunteer medical missions in the Philippines, repairing cleft lips and palates. Today, she works with Médecins Sans Frontière (Doctors Without Borders) as the international medical secretary, providing health care for people in more than seventy countries who are affected by disease outbreaks, conflict, exclusion from health, and natural and human-made disasters. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
Patrice Harris, MD, MA
Dr. Patrice Harris led the way for many women of color as the first African American woman to be president of the American Medical Association (AMA) in 2020-2021. Currently a practicing psychiatrist, she’s trained in child/adolescent and forensic psychiatry and is an adjunct professor in the Emory Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Active in organized medicine her entire career, Dr. Harris has served on many boards and committees, including the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the governing council of the AMA Women Physicians Congress, and a variety of AMA work groups on health information technology, private contracting, and sustainable growth rate (SGR). She consults with public and private organizations on health service delivery and emerging trends in practice and health policy. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
Arianna Huffington, MEcon
Arianna Huffington is the founder of the Huffington Post and Thrive Global, as well as an advocate for health and wellness issues. She works with employers around the world to realize the benefits of a healthy employee work-life balance in managing stress and helping flatten the mental health crisis and chronic disease curves. Ms. Huffington is also making a difference with a not-for-profit organization called First Responders First, in partnership with the Harvard School of Public Health and the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), to address the needs of frontline healthcare workers. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
Elizabeth Iro, MHSc, MBA, RN, RM
A lifetime nurse and midwife, Elizabeth Iro was appointed chief nursing officer (CNO) of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2017. She helped launch the first State of the World’s Nursing Report that offered real data on nurses: where they were, where they had shortages, and what they were doing. Before being appointed CNO, Iro served as the health secretary for the Cook Islands, working hard to improve the healthcare system by implementing reforms and developing the country’s Health Clinical Workforce Plan, National Health Roadmap 2017-2036, and National Health Strategic Plan 2017-2021. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
NiCole Keith, Ph.D., FACSM
The 2020 President of the American College of Sports Medicine, Dr. NiCole Keith is a professor of Kinesiology and associate dean of faculty affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis. A research scientist at Indiana University Center for Aging Research, Dr. Keith focuses on healthy aging, healthy outcomes, and physical activity. She also advocates for those with fewer resources to live healthier lives. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
Vivian Lee, MD, PhD, MBA
Dr. Vivian Lee is one of the leading voices on healthcare reform in the United States. She’s the president of Health Platforms at Verily Life Sciences, which is part of the Google family of companies working to enable people to live healthier lives by applying digital solutions. Dr. Lee is also an author and senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School and Mass General Hospital, as well as a senior fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Her book, The Long Fix, focuses on how to create a healthier population with a less costly healthcare system. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
Donna Meyer, MSN, RN, ANEF, FAADN, FAAN
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN), Donna Meyer is also an executive leader in the National Education Progression in Nursing Collaborative (NEPIN). Before becoming CEO at OADN, she worked in pediatric nursing at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in the infectious disease unit, eventually becoming dean of health professions at Lewis and Clark Community College. As the CEO of OADN, Meyer runs the only organization focusing on two-year nursing programs to help get nurses out in the field. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
Lois Nora, MD, JD, MBA
Dr. Lois Nora is the president emeritus and dean of medicine emeritus at Northeast Ohio Medical University, as well as the former chief executive officer of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and a professor of neurology at Washington University’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. She has devoted her entire career to enhancing health education to improve the care of patients and the overall health of the population. Some of her awards and accomplishments include the Phillips Medal of Public Service from the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Association of Medical Colleges Group on Educational Affairs Merrel Flair Award in Medical Education, and the American Medical Women’s Association President’s Recognition Award. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
Anne Schuchat, MD
A former rear admiral and assistant surgeon general in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Dr. Anne Schuchat was the principal deputy director of the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) until she retired in 2021. For over 30 years, she combated everything from Swine Flu, AIDS, and meningitis to listeria, pneumonia, Ebola, and COVID-19. One of the most influential women in healthcare, Dr. Schuchat has played an instrumental role in many public health emergencies, and both the world and the CDC have benefitted from her work. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
Laura Turner, MS
Led by Executive Director Laura Turner, the Health Professional Student Association (HPSA) works to improve the availability of healthcare resources in underserved communities, encouraging people in those communities to become physicians and return home to provide care for their friends, family, and neighbors. Ms. Turner has also served as executive director of the Student Doctor Network (SDN), where she focused on providing new tools and resources to help students. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
Jannine Versi, MBA
Jannine Versi is the chief operating officer and a co-founder of Elektra Health, a platform that offers personalized care via telemedicine in addition to education to help women navigate perimenopause and menopause. Before founding Elektra, Versi worked at Google and served in President Obama’s White House and Commerce Department. After working in tech, Versi became interested in how tech and health could intersect, and this interest is what helped form Elektra. She believes women’s healthcare is deeply underserved, especially when it comes to the health of women over 40. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
LouAnn Woodward, MD
Dr. LouAnn Woodward is the vice chancellor of the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Mississippi, where she is a tenured professor. Mississippi has the fewest practicing physicians per capita in the United States, making the work that Dr. LouAnn Woodward does to better the state’s healthcare system of paramount importance to her community. She advocated for the Health Care Collaboration Act of 2017 and is currently leading a fundraising effort to expand pediatric specialty services and the children’s hospital at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
Sophia Yen, MD, MPH
Dr. Sophia Yen is board-certified in adolescent medicine and has over 20 years of experience in the field. After learning how many women are unable to access birth control, Dr. Yen co-founded Pandia Health to help break down the barriers to access by providing access to a reliable, online source for birth control prescriptions. She’s also co-founded three additional non-profits that aim to improve women’s lives, including the “Full” Campaign, the Silver Ribbon Campaign to Trust Women, and SheHeroes.org. In addition to her work with Pandia, she also serves as a Clinical Associate Professor at Stanford Medical School in the Department of Pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent Medicine. Listen to her Raise the Line Podcast interview.
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