Physician Division — Awards
Inspire 2022
The AMWA INSPIRE Award, given by the Leadership Council of the American Medical Women’s Association, honors women physicians who are inspirational and who demonstrate vision, integrity, collaboration and service. Awardees are announced in September during Women in Medicine month.
“The 2022 Honorees are exceptional women physicians who work in private practice, academia, or as hospitalists,” says Dr Connie Newman, Past President of AMWA and founding member of the AMWA Leadership Council. “We give this Award during Women in Medicine month to highlight the many contributions of women physicians to medical care, medical education and research
This year AMWA had an outstanding body of nominations for the AMWA INSPIRE Award. After a careful review process our Awards Review Committee selected fifty seven truly inspiring women to be honored. The honorees are MDs or DOs in an array of specialties from neurology to psychology to general practice. They work in a variety of settings from large academic centers and highly specialized centers of excellence to smaller community care centers dedicated to underserved populations. They were lauded for their skills and insights in practice, for impressive research and academic accomplishments, and for impact in supporting and advancing the culture and community of medicine.
One winner was described as thriving and gracefully pushing boundaries in a male-dominated specialty, advancing sometimes unpopular DEI initiatives, while remaining well-liked. One nominator conveyed gratitude for a mentor who lets her trainees into her internal dialogues on approaching challenging patient cases and navigating personal doubts, thereby allowing her students to more easily discuss their own difficult cases, challenges or doubts, and facilitating the process of learning and growth.
Respect and empathy were common themes. Winners are modeling these behaviors for trainees and colleagues alike as they work with families dealing with complex pregnancies and developmentally challenged children, as they care for chronically ill individuals who are socially isolated, survivors of trauma, discrimination, and stigma. One winner was described as leveraging the power of connection, narrative medicine, allyship, and inclusion to create safer and more courageous spaces. Another had inspired a nominator to not only dream bigger, but to take on and to achieve bigger things. Grace, ingenuity and bravery were called out among winners who helped their practices and communities to navigate the endless practical and emotional challenges that have accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic.
AMWA is proud and grateful for the work of each and every 2022 INSPIRE Award Winner. We thank this year’s nominators who shared the compelling stories of these truly inspiring women physicians who are making a difference in the advancement of medicine, in the lives of their colleagues and patients and in the culture of their workplaces.
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Rooman F. Ahad, MD
Assistant Professor, Pediatric Neurology
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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Christina Benedict, DO
Pediatric Hospitalist
Loyola University, Medical Center
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Brigid Sweeney Boland, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
UC San Diego Health
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Anna Mary Bona, MD
Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine
Indiana University
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Tina Byun, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic
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Martina T. Caldwell, MD, MS, FACEP
Medical Director of Diversity & Inclusion
Henry Ford Medical Group
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Maria Torroella Carney, MD, FACP
Associate Professor
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
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Cherilyn Cecchini, MD
Board Certified Pediatrician
Medical Director, LifeSci Communications
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Emily Church, MD, FACP
Internal Medicine Physician
The Alaska Hospitalist Group
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Mary Ann Adler Cohen, MD, FACLP, FACP, DLFAPA, FAAPDPP
Clinical Professor, Psychiatry
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
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Ivorie Coleman, MD, MBA
Internal Medicine Physician
Honor Health
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Angelique Collamer, MD
Chief Medical Officer
RAF Lakenheath
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Lora Denton, MD, FACP
Professor of Medicine
Mercer School of Medicine
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Alta J. DeRoo, MD, MBA, DFASAM, FACOG
Chief Medical Officer
Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
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Charlene M. Dewey, MD, MEd, MACP
Professor of Medical Education, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
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Heather Fields, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic
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Roberta E. Gebhard, DO
Assistant Professor
SUNY at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Science
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Lisa Graves, MD, CCFP (AM), FCFP, MCLSc
Interim Chair
Dept. of Family and Community Medicine, Western Michigan Univ. School of Medicine
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Farzanna S. Haffizulla, MD, FACP, FAMWA
Chair, Department of Internal Medicine, Dr. Kiran C. Patel, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University
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Nicole Hancock, MD
Internal Medicine Physician
Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas
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Despina Isihos, DO
Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Mariely Fernandez, MD, FAAP, DABAM
Chief Medical Officer
Center for Comprehensive Health Practice
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Sharon B. Kim, MD, FACP
Director of Physician Education
Dept. of Hospital Medicine
Kaiser Permanente
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Denise B. Klinkner, MD, MEd, FACS, FAAP
Associate Professor, Pediatric Surgery
Mayo Clinic
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Angela F. Koenig, MD, MPH
Academic Gynecologist
Dartmouth Health
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Susan W. Lane, MD, FACP
Professor of Medicine
Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
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- Suzanne H. Lester, MD, MS Director, Community and Population Health, Augusta Univ. /Univ. of Georgia Medical Partnership
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Tammy Lin, MD, MPH, FACP
Voluntary Assistant Professor
UCSD Health Sciences
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Margaret C. Lo, MD, FACP Professor of Medicine
University of Florida College of Medicine
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Gauri Luthra, MD
Maternal Fetal Medicine Physician
Dartmouth Health
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Pringl Miller, MD
Founder & Executive Director
Physician Just Equity
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Nicole E. Myers, DO, MS
Assistant Professor, Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Melissa Nothnagle, MD, MSc
Family Medicine Residency Director, Chief of Service
Natividad
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Modele O. Ogunniyi, MD, MPH
Assoc. Professor of Medicine, Div. of Cardiology, Emory Univ. School of Medicine
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Sarah Frederike Otter, DO
Family Medicine Physician
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Mukta Panda, MD, MACP F-RCP London
Prof. of Medicine and Assistant Dean for Well-Being and Student Education, Univ. of Tennessee, College of Medicine
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Marianne Parshley, MD, FACP
Vital Talk Faculty Member
University of Washington Palliative Care Training Center
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Nila Radhakrishnan, MD
Associate Professor and Chief, Hospital Medicine
University of Florida
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Shlomit Schaal, MD, PhD, MHCM
Prof. and Chair, Dept. of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, UMass Memorial Medical Ctr and Univ. of Mass. Medical School.
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Cecelia E. Schmalbach, MD, MSc, FACS
David Myers, MD Professor and Chair, Dept. of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University
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Biraj D. Shah, MD, FACP
Primary Care and Internal Medicine Residency Program Director
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Jenny R. Silberger, MD, FACP
Internal Medicine Physician
Northwest Permanente, P.C.
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E. Vanessa Spearman-McCarthy, MD
Associate Dean, Learner Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Augusta University
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Nancy D. Spector, MD
Executive Director
Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM)
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Rebecca Spiegel MD, MA, FAES Associate Professor, Neurology
The Stony Brook Level 4 Comprehensive Epilepsy Center
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Natasha K. Sriraman, MD, MPH, FAAP, FABM, PMH-C
Associate Professor, Pediatrics
Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters
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Kellie Lease Stecher, MD
Co-Founder & President
Patient Care Heroes
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Sarah Muguette Sukkar, MD
Resident Physician
University of Miami
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Vidya Sundareshan, MD, MPH
Professor and Chief of Infectious Diseases
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
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Kim Templeton, MD, FAAOS, FAOA, FAMWA
Professor and Vice-Chair for DEI, Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery, Assoc. Dean for CME, Univ. of Kansas Medical Center
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Alyssa M Thomas, MD, MPH
Emergency Medicine Physician
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Ruth E. Weissberger, MD, FACP
Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine
Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine
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Wendi Wills-El-Amin, MD Associate Professor, Family and Community Medicine
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
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Catherine R. Womack, MD, FACP
Associate Dean, Student Affairs and Admissions, Univ. of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine
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Amanda S. Xi, MD, MSE Critical Care Anesthesiologist
Massachusetts General Hospital
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Noriko Yoshikawa, MD
Senior Staff Physician, Head & Neck Surgery
Oakland Medical Center
