Women in Winship committee co-chairs Kristin Higgins, MD, Madhusmita Behera, PhD and Ragi Kudchadkar, MD.
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University is dedicated to supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion amongst its faculty, staff, and trainees.
The Women in Winship committee, a sub-committee of the Emory School of Medicine Mentorship Committee, was created by Winship radiation oncologist Kristin Higgins, MD, and Director of IT and Research Informatics Madhusmita Behera, PhD. Along with co-chair Ragini Kudchadkar, MD, their goals are to help address gender disparities that can exist in an academic environment and to promote career development for women at Winship.
The committee has created safe spaces for women to talk about their experiences and access mentorship resources through workshops and focus groups. Since its inception in 2017, Women in Winship has held nearly two focus groups a year in conjunction with Winship's Grand Rounds or Elkin Lectures. The focus groups, usually hour-long events, allow Winship faculty to connect with women leaders from other cancer centers and learn from their experiences. They also provide mentoring opportunities for Winship members who want guidance from women experts in their field and promote the visibility of women speakers.
For this reason, another key goal for the committee has been to increase the number of women nominated as speakers for Grand Rounds and Elkin Lectures and help raise the profile of women faculty at Winship by encouraging the committee’s network of women physicians, scientists, and researchers to nominate their peers for awards.
"I am proud of the work that we have accomplished and the network that we have created of supportive women," says Higgins. "We are looking forward to continuing our efforts to promote Winship's outstanding women faculty."
The Women in Winship Committee meets once a month, on Wednesday at 9:00AM.
