Since 1987, the U.S. has recognized Women’s History Month as a celebration of the contributions that women have made in history and the impacts women have had on culture and society.
Evolving from an earlier “Women’s History Week,” the month of March is an essential recognition of past and present women. At UW Medicine, we take the opportunity to recognize the amazing women in health and science and the crucial contributions they’ve made in medicine. These women have received millions in grants for research, have been awarded Nobel Prizes and are continuing to make an impact today.
Women at UW Medicine are recognized on a national level. In 2021, a record number of women were elected into the National Academy of Sciences. Of the 59 women elected, five were affiliated with UW Medicine.
In addition to this, there are countless more women who have been recognized as thought leaders not only within UW Medicine, but on an international level. These women have claimed the Nobel Prize and other prestigious awards.
The Committee of Women in Medicine and Science
The contributions that women at UW Medicine make through their leadership and research continues to mold the community into what it is today. The Committee of Women in Medicine and Science is an organization within UW Medicine that addresses gender inequities in hiring, compensation and advancement among women faculty members.
According to the committee, their specific goals include:
- Increasing opportunities for promotion, tenure and leadership for women faculty in teaching, research, clinical care and administration
- Assessing departmental practices to ensure equity and transparency in hiring, salary and promotion
- Enhancing and developing programs to support women faculty through mentoring, career advising and education
- Advocating for women faculty in areas of professional and personal need including direct and indirect support for work-life integration
- Instituting educational programs and increasing awareness of implicit bias and means to counter it
- Actively working to sponsor the next generation of women in medicine and science
Dozens of women faculty members across departments in the School of Medicine are recognized through the awards they have received. This nonexhaustive list gives insight into those women in the School of Medicine:
Andrea Hartzler, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Bioinformatics and Medical Education, was awarded a $2.8 million grant to address implicit race bias in communication between parents and providers entitled, ”UnBIASED.”
Claudia Moreno, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, was named one of 100 inspiring Hispanic/Latinx scientists by Cell.
Kelly Stevens, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering, was awarded a $1 million Keck grant, has a paper accepted in Science and recently had a paper published in Cell (with her as co-author) called, ”Fund Black Scientists.” This paper has received national attention, including by the National Institutes of Health, who have consulted with Kelly on developing new initiatives. Stevens also recently received a national award from the Allen Foundation to fund her work.
Kelley Harris, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Genome Sciences and joint appointment with Herbold Computational Biology and Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutch, won the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution Early-Career Excellence Award.
Maitreya Dunham, PhD, professor in the Department of Genome Sciences, was elected to the Genetics Society of America Board of Directors.
Mary-Claire King, PhD, professor in the Departments of Genome Sciences and Medicine (Medical Genetics) has been appointed to the inaugural Science Council of the World Health Organization.
Celeste Berg, PhD, professor in the Department of Genome Sciences, is currently a member of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences advisory council at the National Institutes of Health.
Amber Sabbatini, MD, MPH, FACEP, assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Health Services, received $1.9 million in R01 funding from the National Institute of Aging to examine the unintended consequences of CMS’s Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program on outcomes for older adults. Sabbatini is the recipient of the 2021 Young Investigator Award from the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine.
Lauren Whiteside, MD, MS, FACEP, assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine received an R01 from the National Institute for Drug and Alcohol Abuse for her study entitled, ”Emergency Department Longitudinal Care (ED-LINC) Effectiveness Trial Targeting Opioid Use and Related Comorbidity from the ED.”
Tonya Palermo, PhD, professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Seattle Children’s Hospital, was appointed to hold the Hughes M. and Katherine Blake Endowed Professorship in Health Psychology.
Monica S. Vavilala, MD, professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine and director of the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center at Harborview Medical Center, was elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences.
Jennifer Rabbitts, MD, associate professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Seattle Children’s Hospital, was appointed section editor for Pain Medicine, Psychology, Psychiatry, and Brain Neuroscience, and appointed member of the Coalition Building Committee at the United States Association for the Study of Pain.
Kelly Michaelson, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, UW Medical Center – Montlake, was awarded a Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research Mentored Research Training Grant for her project titled, “Automated Assessment of Drug Administration in the Operating Room with Smart Eyewear Technology.”
Mitra Heshmati, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, was awarded a Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research Mentored Research Training Grant for her project entitled, “Dissecting Midbrain Connectivity in Anesthetic Emergence.”
Nathalia Jimenez, MD, MPH, associate professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine and vice chair for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Seattle Children’s Hospital, was appointed as the inaugural vice chair for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine.
Connie Celum, MD, MPH, professor of Global Health, Medicine, and Epidemiology (adjunct), was selected as the director of the UW/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research.
Pamela Collins, MD, professor of Global Health, Psychiatry, and Behavioral Sciences, was appointed to the National Institutes of Health/Department of Health and Human Services National Advisory Mental Health Council.
Alison Drake, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of Global Health, Epidemiology (adjunct), recently won $2.2 million dollars in grant awards. Her work focuses on HIV care, prevention and family planning.
Women’s History Month Resources
Learn more about some of the prominent influencers in women’s history by visiting a resource below.
- Listen to this podcast episode funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) on “Women at Work: A History.”
- Listen to this podcast episode funded by the NEH on “Shattering the Glass Ceiling,” featuring the stories of women who broke barriers.
- Read about Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to receive an MD from a U.S. medical school.
- Read about Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first African American woman to receive an MD.
- Read the biographies of several different important women throughout U.S. history.
- Watch these animated documentaries about women who changed the U.S.
- Learn about the Hidden Figures in science.
- Read about the foremothers of women’s suffrage and equality.
- Support women-owned businesses.
- Find a Women’s History Month event in the Seattle region.
- How to celebrate LGBTQIA+ women during Women’s History Month.
- 62 books to read by Women of Color.
- Watch the Lous And The Yakuza Tiny Desk concert.
- Watch the Sara Watkins Tiny Desk concert.
