The University of Wisconsin held its 2023 Women in Medicine and Science Symposium Nov. 28 at the Health Sciences Learning Center. The UW chapter of the Group on Women in Medicine and Science organized this event. The event included keynote speakers, panel discussions and an awards presentation.
Dean of the School of Medicine and Public Health Dr. Robert Golden gave this year’s welcome remarks. He addressed an important theme — empowering change.
“[Empowering change] is critically important in academic medicine,” Golden said. “The School of Public Health embraces opportunities to advance women in academic medicine. In doing so, we are advancing our missions in the health and populations that we serve.”
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This year’s keynote speakers were Associate Director for Health Policy Research Dr. Ann Sheehy and professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics Sündüz Keleş.
Sheehy served as the Hospital Medicine Division Chief from 2010–23 and is currently the president of Population Health and UW Health, according to Associate Dean for Clinical Trials Dr. Nasia Safdar. She has won many awards, including a health policy fellowship in Washington, D.C., where UW helped frame the health policy of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
With a background in public health, and more specifiacally, equitable healthcare, Sheehy emphasized the importance of meaningful health policies — regardless of the politics surrounding them.
“There is no reason not to expand Medicaid,” Sheehy said. “From a healthcare delivery and access standpoint, even from a financial standpoint, essentially what we’re doing now is paying for other states’ Medicaid. It is a federal state match, and we are sending our dollars out the door and not receiving them back.”
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Keleş completed her Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of California at Berkeley. She has over 20 years of experience developing statistical and computational methods for genomics. She served as the principal investigator for the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements and pioneered statistical models for high-dimensional and high-throughput sequencing data analysis.
Keleş spoke of her research at Berkeley and her projects with genetic data during her time at UW.
The UW SMPH GWIMS was established in January 2021 and is a national organization by the American Association of Medical Colleges. Its activities are centered around educating, connecting and celebrating women in medicine and science. Membership is open to all faculty of the UW SMPH and all genders are welcome.
