i 

Women in 

Biomedical Research: 

Best Practices 

for Sustaining 

Career Success 

Meeting Proceedings 

March 4, 2008 

national institutes of Health 

Bethesda, Md 

Department of Health and Human Services 

National Institutes of Health 

Office of Research on Women’s Health
 

6707 Democracy B vl d. Suite 400 
 

Bethesda, MD 20892-5484
 

Phone: (301) 402-1770
 

FAX: (301) 402-1798
 

http://orwh.od.nih.gov/
 

NIH Publication No. 09-7366
 

Printed 2009
 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

ii 

this report was compiled as a joint effort between the national center for research 

resources and the office of research on Women’s health for the national institutes 

of health Working group on Women in biomedical careers. 
national institutes of health 

iii 

Acknowledgments 

the conference on “Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career 

success” was developed and coordinated as one of the key efforts of the larger national 

institutes of health (nih) Working group on Women in biomedical careers, co-chaired 

by dr. elias Zerhouni, director, nih, and dr. Vivian pinn, director, office of research 

on Women’s health (orWh). 

the committee members who developed the conference agenda and fully participated in 

all aspects of the program were: Kameha Kidd, national center for research resources 

(ncrr), Jennifer pohlhaus (orWh), louise ramm (ncrr), Joan schwartz (nih/od), 

Janine austin clayton (orWh), mona trempe, national institute of general medical sciences (nigms), and Kathryn Zoon, national institute of allergy and infectious diseases 

(niaid). sylvia parsons (ncrr) greatly facilitated the writing and editing of this report. 

the conference committee thanks the speakers who provided a broad spectrum of 

examples of “best practices” to include not only those at the nih and academic health 

centers, but also in private industry and in the military as well. 

We thank those stakeholders who provided thoughtful comments before and after the 

meeting, in addition to attending the conference. 

the issues and solutions discussed at the conference will provide opportunities to develop and disseminate best practices throughout the country to ensure a sustained and 

successful workforce that celebrates diversity. 

barbara m. alving, m.d., m.a.c.p. 

director 

national center for research resources 

national institutes of health 

national institutes of health 

v 

table of contents 

title page i
 

acknowledgements iii
 

foreword 1
 

executive summary 2
 

i. Welcome 5
 

ii. Keynote address 6
 

iii. panel one: framing the issues 10
 

iV. panel two: models for advancement in industry 13
 

V. military medical scientists: an air force perspective 16
 

Vi. the nih: promoting sustained career success for Women 17
 

Vii. panel three: developing Women leaders 18
 

Viii. panel four: models for advancement in academia 22
 

iX. panel five: best practices initiatives at nih 25
 

X. conclusions and next steps 30
 

appendix a: nih Working group on Women in biomedical careers 33
 

appendix b: Workshop planning committee 34
 

appendix c: Workshop agenda 35
 

appendix d: speaker biographies 38
 

appendix e: bibliography 48
 

national institutes of health 

foreword 

in response to the national academies’ report, “beyond bias and barriers, fulfilling the 


potential of Women in academic science and engineering,” dr. elias Zerhouni, director, 


national institutes of health (nih), initiated and chaired, with dr. Vivian pinn as co­


chair, the nih Working group on Women in biomedical careers. a highly informative 


and successful mentoring workshop (november 27-28, 2007) has already been one 


outcome of this committee and is now published. 


since the many barriers to the ongoing career advancement of women in biomedical 


research are well recognized, the committee developed the march 4, 2008, conference 


on “Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success” to 


highlight best practices that are in place or under development at academic health 


centers, as well as in the private sector and in the military. in this conference, speakers 


from private industry described how their firms recognized 15-20 years ago the changing 


workforce demographics and the need to retain and promote the increasing numbers of 


talented women employees, since attrition represented a large financial and competi­


tive cost. the speakers presented the systematic approaches to developing programs of 


mentoring, coaching, inclusion and buy-in by senior management that have resulted in 


the promotion of women and minorities to the most senior positions in their firms. 


as we move forward in exploring ways to ensure opportunities for sustained career suc­


cess, we recognize that multiple organizations and stakeholders must join together to co­


ordinate efforts and to initiate programs and pilot projects to determine what works well 


in specific settings. these organizations include the nih, the association of american 


medical colleges, the association of professors of medicine, academic health centers, 


as well as other professional societies and federal organizations. 


interactions and partnerships among these organizations can result in the widespread 


adoption of best practices that will stimulate future generations of women in biomedical 


research to see opportunities, rather than barriers, as they envision careers that extend 


from training to full partnership as leaders in their organizations. 


barbara alving, m.d., m.a.c.p.
 

on behalf of the nih planning committee for the march 4, 2008, conference
 

1 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

executive summary
 

Women now represent 50 percent of the medical school graduates and 50 percent of the 

ph.d.s in biomedical sciences in the united states each year, yet only 32 percent of the 

faculty in u.s. medical schools are women. recent studies point to a “leaky pipeline”; 

at every stage in the academic career ladder, there is a 10- to 15-percent attrition in 

the proportion of women to men. according to a recent national academy of sciences 

report, the problem stems from “unintentional biases and outdated institutional policies 

and structures.” for a variety of reasons, women in junior faculty posts are deciding that 

a tenure-track position in academic medicine isn’t a good choice for them. 

the solution begins with examining the culture of the institution. academic medicine 

needs to create a new culture and provide women with the mechanisms and support 

they need to seek and retain positions of leadership in biomedical careers. a useful first 

step is for the institution to conduct an honest and objective “equity check.” an assessment of current conditions will help guide the institution as it develops its own tailored 

plan for addressing the sustainability problem. 

models for addressing the need to recruit and retain women in high positions can be 

found in the private sector, which faced similar problems in attracting and retaining 

female “knowledge workers” 20 years ago. accounting firms like deloitte & touche 

and ernst & Young discovered that there is a business case to be made for retaining and 

promoting talented women – the company avoids the high costs of recruiting and training new workers. consequently, they adopted a variety of new policies and programs 

to meet their goals. bringing awareness of the problem to company employees and setting the right “tone at the top,” ensuring that there would be no negative consequences 

for breaks in service, providing mentorship programs for young women, spotlighting 

high-achieving women and helping them extend their reach are some of the ideas they 

adopted. as evidence that these measures work, women now represent 48 percent of 

the workforce and 51 percent of new hires at deloitte & touche, and 33 percent of the 

new partners at ernst & Young. 

the u.s. military biomedical services have also instituted successful programs to promote women to officer positions. through training opportunities, mentorship programs, 

and offering a clear path for advancement and increasing challenges, 30 percent of the 

officers at the naval institute for dental and biomedical research are now women. 

there are also model programs to recruit and retain women in several academic institutions. the association of american medical colleges has developed a worksheet to 

help leaders track their own expectations for women faculty, and its website contains 

resources addressing team building, mentoring and other diversity issues. With funding 

from the national science foundation, the university of Wisconsin at madison created 

a “Women in science and engineering leadership institute” to help advance women in 

science careers. the institute has held educational workshops and made changes in the 

culture of the university, which studies show have significantly improved the climate 

for women and increased the number of women in leadership positions over the last six 

years. morehouse school of medicine has three career development programs in the biomedical sciences to provide women with the skills and support they need at every stage 

2 
national institutes of health 

3 

of their careers: a clinical research and career development program for faculty early 

in their careers; a mid-career program focused on reducing attrition through mentoring 

and collaboration opportunities; and executive leadership in academic medicine and 

senior Women leadership development programs to support and retain senior women 

in biomedical careers. other examples of successful programs can be found at idaho 

state university, the university of california at san francisco and at davis, and Weill 

cornell medical college. 

nih, for its part, has created the Working group on Women in biomedical research 

careers with a mandate to “develop innovative strategies and tangible actions that can 

be implemented to promote the advancement of women in research careers both within 

the nih intramural community and throughout the extramural research community.” 

Women constitute only 23 percent of those applying for grants, although their success 

rate is almost identical to that of men. for extramural and intramural women alike, key 

issues include child care, parental leave, and workplace flexibility programs such as 

telework and flextime. 

participants at the “best practices for sustaining career success” workshop were not 

asked to make recommendations; however, a number of common features stood out 

from the presentations: 

» Analyze the programs currently being used for efficacy and “best practices” 

» Secure a strong personal commitment to change from top management 

» Employ open and transparent policies and processes for hiring, salary 

and promotion decisions 

» Reward success 

» Enlarge the recruiting pools by looking at non-traditional sources 

» Highlight the achievements of successful women and provide networking 

opportunities 

» Institute “family-friendly” policies 

» Look for points of commonality between women’s programs and broader 

diversity programs 

» Establish programs to address the needs of female faculty and scientists 

at each stage in their careers 

» Provide fair and equitable access to physical, financial and organizational 

resources 

» Include women on search committees 

national institutes of health 

5 

meeting proceedings 

i. Welcome and goals for the Workshop 

Barbara Alving, M.D., M.A.C.P., chair, “Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success,” director, national center for research resources, 

national institutes of health, bethesda, maryland 

dr. alving welcomed participants to the national institutes of health (nih) Working 

group on Women in biomedical careers workshop, “Women in biomedical research: 

best practices for sustaining career success,” and provided a brief introduction to the 

workshop. 

in 2006, the committee on science, engineering and public policy of the national academy of sciences issued the report, “beyond bias and barriers: fulfilling the potential of 

Women in academic science and engineering,” that documented what most women 

already knew by experience: women face barriers in hiring and promotion in many fields 

of science and engineering. the report called for immediate, comprehensive reform and 

decisive action on the part of university administrators, professional societies, government agencies, and congress. to respond to the report, elias a. Zerhouni, m.d., nih director, convened the nih Working group on Women in biomedical careers, which he 

co-chairs with Vivian W. pinn, m.d., orWh director. the Working group is composed 

of nih leadership, intramural investigators, and extramural scientists and administrators. 

the full listing of Working group members is available in appendix a. one of the first 

goals was to hold a workshop to identify “best practices” for recruiting and retaining 

women in biomedical careers. representatives from academia, the military, nih, and 

other institutions have been invited to share their research and approaches for promoting 

the sustained career success of women and minorities in the biomedical sciences. 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

6 

ii. 

Keynote address
 

Progress AnD ProMise: WoMen in ACADeMiC MeDiCine 

nancy C. Andrews, M.D., Ph.D., Vice chancellor and dean, duke university school 

of medicine, durham, north carolina 

dr. andrews, the first woman dean of a top 10 medical school, was introduced by Vivian 

W. pinn, m.d., nih associate director for research on Women’s health; director, office 

of research on Women’s health (orWh), who highlighted dr. andrew’s 2007 article 

in the new england Journal of medicine in which she shared her own reflections on the 

“newsworthiness” of her appointment and the continuing barriers to the full participation 

of women in academic medicine. 

the scope of the problem becomes evident when one compares the rate of the increase 

of the number of women on medical school faculties with the number of female medical 

school graduates over the last 30 years. in 1972, congress passed title iX, which made 

it illegal to deny equal participation in educational programs receiving federal funds. 

according to data provided by the association of american medical colleges (aamc), 

by 2006, the percentage of female medical school graduates had reached close to 50 

percent; however, the percentage of female medical school faculty grew much more 

slowly, reaching only 32 percent the same year. in addition, the percentage of women 

fell as the level of faculty positions increased, so that only 8.5 percent of department 

chairs were women, as of 2007. the goal may be parity, but the pipeline to reach parity 

may not be present. 

dr. andrews referred to comments made by lawrence summers, ph.d., former harvard 

university president, who suggested three theoretical reasons for this pattern: women are 

unwilling to make the sacrifices demanded for success, they are unable to compete with 

men at the top levels of academic medicine, or they face continuing discrimination in an 

industry that was created by men with no consideration for the needs of women. 

the challenges that women face in academic medicine are familiar: feeling invisible 

and underestimated, feeling isolated in a culture without women, and questioning one’s 

perception of reality. these pressures increase over time, the pattern repeats, and the 

discrimination persists. 

dr. andrews detailed strategies to address these problems, which included understanding, acknowledging and communicating the needs and barriers that prevent women 

from succeeding in academic medicine. the competing demands of work and family 

are a major factor, but it’s “not just the daycare.” What’s needed is to establish a new culture, one that is open and transparent, where teamwork is valued, where family-friendly 

values are promoted, and where women have a safe place to tell their stories. Women 

also need a new set of supports, like the networks that men have, where they can learn 

survival skills and methods for achieving success. it is important that institutions be open 

about the gaps between men and women and take real action to close them. 
national institutes of health 

7 

good practices in this effort begin with each institution conducting an honest and objective equity check – do women really get equal access to space, resources and responsibilities? are they consulted and included in decision-making? other good practices 

include a transparent decision process for hiring and promotion; accountability at the 

personal and institutional levels; establishment of a culture where women feel comfortable speaking out and challenging insensitive or demeaning comments; and deliberate recruitment and empowerment of senior women, who often experience a gradual 

marginalization as they rise up the academic ladder. Women should be on every search 

committee, and departments should enlarge their recruitment pools by keeping lists of 

female candidates for key roles. institutions should also develop reentry programs for 

returning mothers and nontraditional candidates. until such actions are taken, discrimination will continue, and academic medicine – as well as the patient and the nation 

– will pay a high price for not making use of this talent pool. 

a good model for this kind of institutional equity check was developed by the massachusetts institute of technology (mit) in the late 1990s and published in 1999 as, “a study 

on the status of Women faculty in science at mit.” in the introduction to the report, the 

authors noted: 

» unequal treatment of women faculty impairs their ability to perform as educators, 

scientific leaders, and role models, and impairs their quality of life 

» discrimination starts during the hiring process 

» discrimination is largely unconscious 

» discrimination is difficult to prove because “any one case, no matter how disturbing or aberrant, can usually be ascribed to its special circumstances” 

» safeguards are needed “to prevent, detect and promptly correct the experiences 

that together constitute gender discrimination” 

» “the heart of the problem is [that] equal talent and accomplishment are viewed 

as unequal when seen through the eyes of prejudice” 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

ii. 

Keynote Address 

8 

dr. andrews presented and elaborated on the remedial actions recommended 

in the report: 

» deliberately make it easier for women to “learn the culture,” thereby preventing 

junior women from becoming isolated 

» provide a safe way for women to speak out, tell their stories and be heard by 

enlightened people with clout 

» be transparent about the decision process used to determine salary, space, award 

nominations, committee service, and advancement 

» collect the data, show the data, and hold leaders accountable for the data 

» deliberately recruit women for influential leadership positions at every level 

(program heads, department chairs, administration, chairs of key committees) 

» replace administrators who don’t have a good track record for inclusiveness, 

fairness and equity 

» anticipate the gradual marginalization of women faculty as they rise in the system 

and take action to prevent it 

» communicate the message that diversity is not only the right way to do business, 

it is also the most successful way to do business 

» solve the childcare problem for junior faculty (of both sexes) 

» acknowledge that work/family balance can be difficult but important, 

and promote “family-friendly” policies (for both sexes) 

» celebrate successful women in order to make role models visible 

» educate search committees, populate them with women, and make it comfortable 

for those women to speak out 

» enlarge recruitment pools by actively searching in unusual places 

» assume that measures to promote fairness, inclusiveness and equity will need 

to be continued indefinitely 

» provide for unusual entry and reentry pathways 
national institutes of health 

9 

DisCussion 

in the discussion that followed, dr. andrews suggested that there was no problem with the pipeline per se – women 

are going to medical school and completing residency and fellowship training – but there are serious leaks in the 

pipeline at every stage, and it is vital to 

plug those leaks. the mit study found 

that junior women felt included in their 

departments in the science schools at 

mit, but as they increased in seniority, 

they were less likely to be consulted or 

given important roles than their male 

counterparts. their laboratory space did 

not increase in parallel with that of the 

men. by the time they were senior, they 

felt very isolated. 

Figure 1: The percentage of women in leadership 

positions in U.S. medical schools drops as the level 

of position increases. Source: AAMC 

in response to a comment from the 

audience, dr. andrews added that minority women, and minorities generally, face many of the same challenges; 

better data are needed on the scope of the problem, but open discussion and concerted action will be needed to reverse the situation. duke university has one of the best 

records in the country for recruiting underrepresented minority students and faculty, 

but measures that help women may or may not help members of underrepresented minority groups – the problems are not identical. it’s not clear that minorities or women 

only need mentors who are minority or female; mentors of diverse backgrounds who 

are committed to promoting the careers of their mentees and who are in positions to 

do so can also be effective. 

confidence can be a significant issue for women; it affects which jobs they seek, how 

much research funding they apply for, and the manner in which they deal with failure. an 

audience member described a talent management program that coaches junior women 

on how to move into leadership positions, something that business does very well. dr. 

andrews agreed that such programs are vital. perhaps most importantly, women need 

an opportunity to have their voices heard in committees. other participants suggested 

creating opportunities that celebrate the achievements of successful women, presenting 

them as role models for younger women. for example, it would be valuable to generate 

a national list of women who are available to speak at major engagements. 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

10 

iii. 

panel one: framing the issues 

Barbara Alving, M.D., M.A.C.P., moderator. Panel speakers described the trends of 

women in biomedical research careers and the implications for the field of biomedical research. 

DeMogrAPhiCs of WoMen in BioMeDiCAl reseArCh: 

WhAt is the Current reAlity? 

timothy ley, M.D., associate director of basic science, alvin J. siteman cancer center; 

alan a. and edith l. Wolff professor of medicine, Washington university medical school, 

st. louis, missouri 

dr. ley presented data from the american medical association (ama) and the aamc on 

the demographics of women in biomedical research. although ama data show that the 

number of physician-researchers has remained fairly constant in recent years, nih data 

reveal that the average age of researchers funded by nih is increasing. although aamc 

data indicate that women now represent about half of all medical school students, there 

has been a much smaller change in the proportion of female medical faculty. according 

to the aamc, there is a 10- to 15-percent reduction in the number of women at each 

stage of the academic ladder. at the current rate of improvement, dr. ley calculated that 

it may take another 50 years before women achieve full equity at the highest levels of 

academic medicine. 

dr. ley emphasized the importance of studying the timing of female attrition. aamc 

data show that over the past 16 years, women’s verbal scores on the medical college 

admission test (mcat) are the same as men’s, but there is a persistent, one-point and 

half-point gap in the physical and biological sciences, respectively. these data also show 

that the recent growth in enrollment in m.d./ph.d. degree programs reflects an increase 

in the number of women students, while the number of men has remained roughly the 

same. dr. ley then presented his analysis of data from the nih office of extramural 

research. citing the nih loan repayment program as an indicator of the early fellowship career stage, he noted that men and women have equal success rates, and women 

represent about half of the m.d. applicants in the program, but represent two-thirds 

of the ph.d. applicants. using mentored career development awards as indicators of 

the late fellowship career stage, he noted that application and success rates for men 

and women are identical for K23 grants (mentored patient-oriented research career 

development award). although the pool of women applicants for K08 grants (mentored 

clinical scientist research career development award) is half as large as that of men, 

the success rates for men and women are equal. turning to the “first-time” applicant pool 

for research program grants (r01 and others) as an indicator of the early independent 

investigator career stage, he noted again that while only half as many women as men 

apply for these grants, their success rates are equal. finally, dr. ley presented data on 

application and success rates by previously funded investigators as an indicator of the 

experienced investigator career stage. only one-third as many women as men apply for 

a second or subsequent r01, although once again the success rate for women who do 

apply is equal to that of male applicants. 
national institutes of health 

11 

Figure 2: There are progressively fewer women 

holding NIH research project grants as their age 

increases. Source: NIH 

in summary, dr. ley said that the total 

number of physician-scientists is at a 

steady-state, but there is a core attrition 

for women that begins at the late postdoctoral stage and continues along the 

entire career path, until men outnumber 

women by margins of two or three to 

one. because women compete as well 

as men at all levels, this attrition appears 

to occur because the career path was 

created by men, for men, and has not changed in response to the need for more researchers. in dr. ley’s opinion, a dramatic change in the culture of academic medicine 

will be required to reverse this trend. 

the reAlity of the DAtA: eMPloyMent of WoMen With 

PhDs in BioMeDiCAl sCienCe 

Phoebe leboy, Ph.D., president, association for Women in science (aWis), and professor, university of pennsylvania school of dental medicine, philadelphia, pennsylvania 

dr. leboy reported that, according to the national science foundation’s (nsf) survey of 

earned doctorates, women received about half of the ph.d.s in the biomedical sciences 

in 2006 (up from 39 percent in 1987), compared with 20 percent in engineering and 

18 percent in physics. as a result, academic medical centers should have no problem 

recruiting women for faculty positions, except perhaps for women of color. however, 

according to data provided by the federation of american societies for experimental 

biology (faseb), the proportion of women faculty in basic science medical departments 

plateaued at about 60 percent and is now falling. the reason for this disparity, according to the available data, is that qualified women are choosing not to seek tenure-track 

faculty appointments. 

in general, the current “availability pool” for junior faculty positions includes women 

who received their degrees from 1996 to 2005, and the pool of women who are associate or full professors generally includes those who received ph.d.s between 1986 and 

1995. but while women represent 50 percent of those qualified for biomedical faculty 

positions, lower percentages appear at every subsequent stage of the career path. dr. 

leboy doesn’t think this is simply a leaky pipeline, but rather attributes this phenomenon 

to women perceiving a non-level playing field. dr. leboy suggested several possibilities 

to explain why there are so few women in tenure-track positions. some departments 

still don’t hire women, and many women simply don’t apply. a study carried out by 

the association for Women in science (aWis) found that only 18 percent of applicants 

for assistant professor positions in biochemistry and molecular biology departments in 

medical schools were women. the non-level playing field is exemplified by the statistics 

provided by the nih office of extramural research which show that although women 

are competing exceptionally well for peer-reviewed grants and initial awards, they tend 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

iii. 

Panel one: framing the issues 

12 

to have fewer grants, fewer dollars per grant, lower success rates at renewal, and fewer 

of the large nih grants. meanwhile, medical schools are increasingly emphasizing grant 

funding as a way to support faculty salaries. 

clearly, many female junior faculty members are deciding that tenure-track positions are 

not a good choice for them. according to a survey of nih postdoctoral fellows, women 

report a lack confidence and tendency to underestimate their own capabilities. they 

also find that institutional structures and practices are unsupportive of women, or they 

encounter low prestige and unconscious bias, all of which have a negative effect on their 

publication rate and ability to compete for grants. in some cases, the very assertiveness 

that would be necessary to overcome these barriers is perceived as unacceptable female 

behavior. solutions need to be found for these problems, which are both structural and 

cultural. dr. leboy concluded on a positive note, pointing out that there are excellent 

women role models in academic medicine and biomedical research. 

DisCussion 

a participant pointed out that there is not one woman principal investigator (pi) among 

the 20 largest nih center grants. dr. leboy hypothesized that this could be due to the 

fact that the pis of large center grants are chosen by their institutions. another audience 

member agreed that lack of confidence and assertiveness among women scientists are 

major problems and believes that this often has its roots in middle school. 
national institutes of health 

13 

iV. 

panel two: models for advancement

in industry 

Joan Lakoski, Ph.D., moderator. Speakers from the business community addressed 

how they improved opportunities for women to have sustained career development 

and success. 

Deloitte’s exPerienCe With the WoMen’s initiAtive 

(Win) 

Asif Dhar, M.D., deloitte consulting, llp, mclean, Virginia 

dr. dhar reported that the professional services industry began to note many of the 

problems described in this conference 15 to 20 years ago. there was a shrinking “availability pool” of potential managers and 

highly skilled workers, as well as changes in family structure, that placed more 

women in the workforce. trends showed 

that more and more women were entering the workforce with professional degrees, which was increasing the number 

of women qualified for management 

positions. 

in response, deloitte launched its initiative for the retention and advancement 

of women (Win) in april 1993, with the 

goals of creating a more inclusive environment, attracting the best talent, and 

building the intellectual capital needed 

to serve its clients. since then, the firm 

has implemented such innovations as 

formal flexible work arrangements, paid 

parental leave, gender awareness seminars (for men and women), women’s networking forums, research on the art and 

science of mentoring, and annual surveys of workplace culture and women’s retention, 

advancement and leadership. more recently, these initiatives have been formalized in 

the “mass career customization” program (cathleen benko and anne Weisberg, mass 

career customization; aligning the Workplace with today’s nontraditional Workforce. 

boston: harvard business press, 2007), which allows individuals unprecedented freedom 

in defining when, how, and where their work gets accomplished and what trajectory 

their personal careers will follow. 

Figure 3: Deloitte and Touche’s “Women’s Initiative” 

(WIN) to Retain and Advance Women. Source: 

Deloitte and Touche 

the keys to success in these efforts, according to dr. dhar, include the commitment of 

Jim Quigley, chief executive officer and cathy benko, national managing director, 

initiative for the retention & advancement of Women. leadership from the top is critical 

to the success of these initiatives. there is a business case to be made for these changes, 

which are taken not merely as a courtesy to workers, but as a marketable improvement 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

iv. 

Panel two: Models for Advancement in industry 

14 

in the services that deloitte can deliver to its customers. in 1992, only four of fifty candidates for partner were women. today, deloitte has the highest percentage of women 

directors, partners and principals among the big four accounting firms. Women now 

represent 47 percent of the firm’s hires, 54 percent of its rehires, and it has eliminated 

the gender gap in turnovers, retaining as many women as men. 

CreAting A flexiBle AnD inClusive Culture 

Jo ellen helmer, B.B.A., partner, health sciences, ernst & Young, llp, chicago, illinois 

ms. helmer reported that ernst & Young faced many of the same challenges 20 years 

ago – demographics, competition for quality workers, and client expectations – and responded in the late 1990s with a “people first” initiative designed to change the culture 

of ernst & Young. specific features included flexible work arrangements, increased communications and transparency, greater access to training and coaching, and “concierge” 

services to make life easier for all employees. 

success factors have included commitment from top executives, engagement of all employees, and an emphasis on measurable results. flexibility and inclusiveness are business imperatives and avenues to greater productivity. every partner has inclusiveness 

goals for his or her practice, and each one receives report cards that affect salary and 

resources. ms. helmer noted that it was particularly important to “engage the men” 

who have learned that they, too, can benefit from the new flexibility and inclusiveness 

of the workplace. promising women need both men and women as mentors. greater 

flexibility has proven to be the route to greater productivity and competitiveness for all 

employees. these initiatives and others have resulted in a stronger pipeline with fewer 

leaks: in 2007, 33 percent of new partners at ernst & Young were women. 
national institutes of health 

15 

Figure 4: Ernst and Young Develop Successful 

Strategy to Recruit and Retain Women. Source: 

Ernst and Young Flexible Work Arrangements 

(FWAs). 

DisCussion 

in the discussion that followed, several audience members said that they admired the 

range of initiatives and services that were available in these accounting firms, but they 

weren’t sure how to make the case for them in biomedical research. both dr. dhar 

and ms. helmer responded that “big medicine” is also “big business,” and the business case for these initiatives involves the financial savings resulting from the recruitment and retention of talented workers, as well as avoiding the loss of organizational 

time and knowledge when a key worker is lost to attrition. in addition, many of their 

customers insist that they can’t grow their business unless they meet these expectations. nih may be in a position to exert similar pressure on academic medical centers. 

many of these same initiatives can also be successful in addressing the challenges that 

face minority women, and indeed there is a growing trend for women’s and diversity 

programs to merge. 

Vision alone is not enough; success requires the commitment of people at the top, 

meaningful incentives and disincentives at all levels, and measurable outputs to ensure 

accountability. 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

16 

V. 

military medical scientists: 

an air force perspective 

Col. Debra niemeyer, Ph.D., deputy assistant surgeon general for modernization, 

office of the surgeon general, u.s. air force, falls church, Virginia. 

col. niemeyer began her talk by noting that her supervisor, brigadier general theresa 

casey, is one of the few female general officers on active duty in the u.s. military. the 

military hasn’t always recognized the need for or contributions of women in the medical 

sciences, and women didn’t have an official home until the creation of the Women’s 

medical specialists corps in 1945, which eventually evolved into the air force biomedical science corps (bsc). today the bsc provides a formal career development and 

advancement path for female officers in 19 different biomedical specialties. Women represent 37 percent of bsc personnel; the navy equivalent, the naval institute for dental 

and biomedical research, is 30 percent female. 

the air force encourages career development through a combination of clear and transparent requirements, continuous mentoring, and professionally challenging assignments, 

all with steady feedback and advice. success factors in recruiting, retaining, and promoting women include vision and leadership from top officers, a clearly defined career track 

with delineated steps for advancement, and personal recognition for their achievements. 

they also have a network of mentors, as well as role models, available to work with 

them. nevertheless, family issues and relocations do still play a role in the decision to 

separate from the service. 
national institutes of health 

17 

Vi. 

the nih: promoting sustained career

success for Women 

elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., director, nih, bethesda, maryland 

dr. Zerhouni explained that nih’s interest in the retention and advancement of women 

in biomedical research is part of the government’s larger concern with the competitiveness of the united states in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem), 

in which the u.s. now ranks between 25th and 29th among the 40 nations of the organization for economic cooperation and development. from a systems perspective, this 

problem involves three components of the biomedical enterprise – nature, nurture and 

culture – and the solution must address all three components, as well. it is well known 

that anonymous systems are less biased; how can we make academic medicine more 

anonymous? 

dr. Zerhouni noted that these problems are not new, and they are not limited to nih. 

he shared an experience that occurred shortly after he and his wife immigrated to baltimore from algeria in 1975. his wife wished to make contacts with her fellow students 

at the Johns hopkins university school of medicine, so he asked the registrar for a list 

of all the third year medical students. both dr. Zerhouni and his wife were astonished 

to learn that in a class of 120, there were only seven women. dr. Zerhouni posited that 

although we are still living with the echo of that inequality and there is still work to be 

done, progress is being made in the recognition and promotion of women. he pointed 

out that currently, there are six women among the directors of nih’s 27 institutes and 

centers, five of whom have been appointed in the past five years. change will not come 

without changes in the system, but the system is not homogeneous – women are far 

better represented in some fields, such as pediatrics, than others. he acknowledged 

that multiple solutions are needed to address the diverse cultures that exist within the 

system, and he emphasized the importance of leadership development programs and 

establishment of sustainable support networks or “fan clubs” to advocate for emerging 

women leaders. 

the nih office of research on Women’s health (orWh) functions as such a fan club, 

championing not only the cause of research on women’s health, but also the role of 

women in conducting that research and in managing the research enterprise. he cited 

the building interdisciplinary research careers in Women’s health (bircWh) program, 

which pairs junior faculty with mentors in multiple fields of basic and clinical research, 

as a very successful experiment in promoting women in science, as 75 percent of the 

bircWh scholars are women. he also pointed to the orWh reentry program that has 

helped 125 women and men reestablish their careers after taking time off because of 

family responsibilities. 

dr. Zerhouni appealed to the participants to be bold in identifying innovative concepts 

involving industry, the government, and academia and to be courageous in implementing them across sectors. in closing, he pointed out that the influence of the six women 

institute and center directors has fostered a positive change in culture at the nih and 

that only by supporting emerging women leaders will a sustainable change throughout 

the stem fields be achieved. 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

18 

Vii. 

panel three: developing Women leaders 

Diane Magrane, M.D., moderator. Speakers described models of systems and actions 

for creating organizational change in academic health centers and institutions conducting biomedical research. 

CreAting systeMs of orgAniZAtionAl vitAlity– 

ACtions for leADers 

Diane Magrane, M.D., associate Vice president for faculty development and leadership, association of american medical colleges (aamc), Washington, d.c. 

dr. magrane offered a definition of leadership as “a process that ordinary people use 

when they are bringing forth the best from themselves and others.” (James h. Kouzes 

and barry Z. posner. the leadership challenge. san francisco: Jossey-bass publishing, 

2007). she described how eleanor roosevelt recreated herself as a change agent, and 

dr. magrane called on women leaders in academic medicine to do the same. a recent 

aamc report on u.s. medical school faculty retention shows that approximately 43 

percent of all faculty and 45 percent of women faculty have departed from academic 

medicine within 10 years of their first appointment. a query of the same database to discern the outcome of 35 md/phds and 254 phd women assistant professors appointed in 

1997 showed that within 10 years of their first appointment, only 35 percent of the phds 

and 20 percent of the md/phds remained in academic medicine. the loss of faculty over 

time represents the loss of substantial financial and organizational investments made by 

their institutions. conscious and systematic effort is needed to reverse this trend as a first 

step in the change process. 

the aamc, through the section on faculty development and leadership, has developed 

a framework for comprehensive professional development. it recognizes the reciprocity 

of institutional support for programs and information that leaders provide to help women 

achieve the goals of leadership, and the individual contributions that women faculty 

must make to ensure their own success in light of institutional goals. in this scheme, the 

components of “organizational vitality” are: professional responsibility, personal capability, and community of practice, each of which must be addressed by both the institution 

and the individual. for example, it isn’t enough for institutions to expect faculty to obtain 

grants, conduct research and publish the results; they must also provide them fair access 

to protected time and laboratory resources, assistance in grant submission and compliance oversight, bridge funding between grants, and awards that recognize their achievements. the same applies to committee assignments, access to mentors and mentees, and 

opportunities to participate in collaborations and professional development programs. 

data collected by aamc show that retaining women faculty to the associate professor 

level greatly increases the chances of keeping them in academic medicine, but that they 

need executive training to rise to higher levels. 
national institutes of health 

19 

Figure 5: AAMC Works to Retain Men and Women 

in Assistant Professor Positions. 

a new resource on the aamc website 

is the on-line publication, faculty Vitae 

(www.aamc.org/facultyvitae), which addresses a variety of faculty development 

issues, such as team work, educational 

scholarship, mentoring, and diversity. 

the aamc portfolio of programs ranges 

from early stage women in medicine 

programs to executive development and, 

most recently, a longitudinal program to enhance the work of teams of scientists, educators, and clinicians in medical schools and teaching hospitals. 

enhAnCing DePArtMentAl CliMAte to ProMote the 

DeveloPMent of WoMen leADers in ACADeMiA 

Jennifer sheridan, Ph.D., executive director, Women in science and engineering 

leadership institute (Wiseli), university of Wisconsin at madison 

dr. sheridan described several interventions instituted by the university of Wisconsin at 

madison to change the organizational climate for female faculty. in this case, “climate” 

was defined as the organization’s structures, policies and practices; the demographics of 

its membership; the attitudes and values of its members and leaders; and the quality of 

their personal interactions. a preliminary survey of faculty in 26 biological and physical 

science departments taken in 2003 found that while 70 percent of female faculty thought 

that the climate for women was good in their departments, 90 percent of male faculty 

and 95 percent of department chairs thought it was positive. 

to address this disparity, Wiseli implemented two organizational interventions. the first 

was a series of workshops for search committees, introducing them to the literature on 

unconscious bias and giving practical tips on how to broaden the pool of candidates 

and overcome assumptions about female candidates. over 250 faculty members from 

79 departments throughout the university have participated in these workshops over the 

past four years. the second intervention targeted department chairs, involving them in 

three small-group sessions that focused on concrete actions to improve the climate for 

women. twenty-six departments have participated in these sessions, including over a 

third of the stem departments. 

repeat surveys taken in 2006 showed a slight improvement in the perception of the 

organizational climate for women in departments whose chair participated in these 

workshops. more importantly, perhaps, there was less gender disparity in these perceptions: female faculty members reported a better climate for women, and male faculty 

and chairs seemed to have a more realistic assessment of the climate for women in their 

departments. significantly, the proportion of female department chairs in the biological 

and physical sciences rose from 5 percent in 2004 to over 20 percent in 2007. 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

vii. 

Panel three: Developing Women leaders 

20 

Figure 6: There is a Disparity in Responses among 

Men and Women Faculty and Department Chairs 

Regarding Climate for Women at the University 

of Wisconsin 

Figure 7: The Percentage of Women Department 

Chairs in the Biological and Physical Sciences is 

Going Up. Source: University of Wisconsin 
national institutes of health 

21 

fostering leADershiP – 
 

leArning froM tWo institutions
 

W. sue shafer, Ph.D., consultant, Women’s careers in science, san francisco, 

california 

dr. shafer described initiatives at idaho state university (isu) and the university of 

california-san francisco (ucsf). the isu program, like Wiseli in Wisconsin, was funded 

by a grant from the nsf adVance program. the ucsf program was funded by the 

institution. at isu, a study group met for six months to identify problems and possible 

solutions, which were then submitted to focus groups for validation and refinement. the 

resulting interventions included an annual research symposium to showcase the research 

activities of female faculty in stem departments, organization of meetings between 

female candidates and female faculty, and awareness-raising receptions that included 

small-group discussions of mentoring, child care, parental leave, and spousal accommodations. the results included a burst of research proposals and publications and an 

increase in the number of female full professors from three to seven. 

at ucsf, the chancellor commissioned a third-party survey of organizational climate, 

which found that women were more likely than men to feel that they have fewer resources and leadership opportunities, receive less mentoring and less support for life 

outside of work, and experience sexual harassment or discrimination. a faculty committee recommended ten systemic actions to address these findings, all of which have 

been enacted by the chancellor: 

1. provide high-level support 

2. establish a chancellor’s council on faculty life 

3. improve the search process 

4. provide social welcoming and orientation for new faculty 

5. improve mentoring 

6. foster leadership opportunities 

7. improve understanding of review and promotion 

8. address work/life balance issues 

9. acknowledge and properly credit collaborative research 

10. achieve salary equity 

ucsf will repeat the faculty climate survey in a few years to determine if these interventions are making the expected improvements. taken together, the isu and ucsf 

initiatives are interesting experiments in creating or modifying a faculty climate to make 

it more inclusive and supportive for women and better able to prepare women for leadership roles. dr. shafer closed by listing the guidelines that these two initiatives had in 

common: 

» collect data that outline the problems and that can be 

used to convince the skeptics 

» Know which problems you’re trying to solve 

» obtain support from the top. (this is crucial) 

» involve the faculty themselves in finding solutions 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

22 

Viii. 
 

panel four: 
 

models for advancement in academia
 

Judith Bond, Ph.D., moderator. Speakers described how academia and scientific 

and professional societies can promote the career success of women in biomedical 

research. 

Progress in reCruiting AnD retAining WoMen in 

reseArCh At uC DAvis: A DeCADe of Defining, refining 

AnD iMPleMenting Best PrACtiCes 

Barry Klein, Ph.D., Vice chancellor for research, university of california-davis

Figure 8: Report of the UC Davis Chancellor and 	 

Provost Task Force on Faculty Recruitment. Source: 	 

University of California, Davis	 

dr. Klein reported that his institution has 

been successful in increasing faculty diversity in some fields, such as engineering and 

veterinary science, but not as successful in 

others, such as the biological sciences. in 

2000, a task force on faculty recruitment proposed several initiatives designed to increase 

diversity, with incentives for success and consequences for failure. these programs have 

been particularly successful at the uc davis 

school of medicine, which has significantly 

increased the number of female, black and 

latino hires. general best practices include 

hiring at the junior level, hiring in clusters, 

and monitoring the recruitment process to 

address issues early. it is also important to address work/life issues through programs such 

as extending the tenure clock (e.g. for child 

bearing or rearing), modifying active service 

to accommodate family needs, providing opportunities for partners, and initiating career 

reviews to ensure equity and fairness. successful best practices also include obtaining 

support from the top, listening to the points of view of female faculty, and offering 

women more administrative opportunities. experience has shown that female chairs and 

deans serve as magnets for other women academic professionals and students. 
national institutes of health 

23 

WoMen in BioMeDiCAl reseArCh 

Andrew schafer, M.D., chair, department of medicine, Weill cornell medical college, 

new York, new York 

dr. schafer, who is the chair of the association of professors of medicine (apm) research 

committee, described the elements of the physician-scientist initiative launched in 2007 

by apm. beginning with a series of surveys, focus groups, and a consensus conference, 

apm has formulated strategic goals and timetables and is currently building coalitions 

to implement the plan. an important element was an application for an nih r13 conference grant, which was funded and cosponsored by 13 nih institutes and centers, to 

support a national consensus conference on november 15, 2007. 

the results of apm’s survey of 880 chairs of clinical departments and members of 

professional societies (published in June 2008 and available at http://www.im.org/ 

policyandadvocacy/policyissues/research/psi/pages/physician-scientistinitiativerecommendationsforrevitalizingthenation’sphysician-scientistWorkforce1.aspx) show 

that women are not as interested in the physician-scientist career path as men: women 

respondents tended to be more pessimistic about considering such a career, citing problems with lifestyle, salary, and job security. on the other hand, women respondents were 

more positive about initiatives that would increase job security, permit part-time work, 

extend the tenure clock, and provide bridge funding. one major recommendation that 

came out of the 2007 consensus conference was that reducing the attrition of female 

physician-scientists will require earlier and more coordinated efforts to identify and 

prepare those female investigators who have a commitment to biomedical research careers. in some cases, this may require greater flexibility in time-based promotion review 

and tenure decisions, and gender equity in research support, including protected time, 

laboratory space, startup packages, and bridge funding. 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

24 

WoMen in BioMeDiCAl reseArCh: 
 

Best PrACtiCes for sustAining CAreer suCCess
 

elizabeth ofili, M.D., M.P.h., associate dean for clinical research, morehouse 

school of medicine (msm), atlanta, georgia 

Figure 9: Morehouse School of Medicine 

(MSM): Models for Biomedical Scientist Career 

Development. Source: Morehouse School 

of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 

dr. ofili discussed her experience with three programs 

for biomedical science career development: 

1. msm’s clinical research and career development 

program identifies highly motivated minority physicians 

for curriculum-based training in clinical research, resulting in an accredited ms in clinical research. enrollment is 75 percent women, and 95 percent of students 

continue their careers at msm. dr. ofili noted that this 

program provides an excellent opportunity to encourage young minority physicians who don’t see any other 

entrée into research to pursue a career as a physicianscientist. she explained that msm has built upon this 

program to enter into a partnership with other universities and obtain nih funding from the atlanta clinical and translational science institute (actsi), which further expands opportunities for 

students and faculty at msm. 

2. team Works, developed by the association of american medical colleges (aamc) 

with support from the robert Wood Johnson foundation, is a six-month professional 

development curriculum that focuses on team-building and collaboration in research, 

teaching and clinical settings. While msm has committed to providing funds for the 

entire women faculty who are in leadership positions within the actsi to participate in 

this program, many smaller institutions may not have the resources available to allow 

their faculty to do so. 

3. executive leadership in academic medicine (elam), sponsored by the drexel university college of medicine in philadelphia, is a one-year program that provides senior 

female faculty with the personal and professional skills they need to move into positions 

of institutional leadership. elam is the only one of these programs that specifically targets female faculty; dr. ofili emphasized the importance of such programs for developing the professional networks that are so important for career advancement. 

dr. ofili concluded that these programs, taken together, cover the entire timeline of an 

academic career: the morehouse program helps physician-scientists start their careers in 

a very supportive environment, teamWorks offers midcareer scientists the support they 

need to reduce the attrition seen in the aamc data presented earlier in the day, and elam 

helps prepare senior women faculty to transition into and excel in leadership roles. 
national institutes of health 

25 

iX. 

panel five: best practices initiatives at nih 

Kathryn Zoon, Ph.D., moderator. In this panel session, speakers from NIH discussed 

the development of programs for the intramural and extramural communities to ensure 

opportunities for the sustained career success of women in biomedical research. 

BuilDing An eviDenCe BAse to ADDress ChAllenges in 

the CAreers of WoMen in sCienCe 

raynard Kington, M.D., Ph.D., deputy director, nih, bethesda, maryland 

dr. Kington reported on the task of building an evidence base to address the challenges 

in the careers of women in science. he stated that the nih subcommittee on research 

on the efficacy of programs to reduce gender bias has gathered information on a wide 

variety of programs that address career development for female faculty and scientists, 

ranging from local to national and from the small and modest to the large and ambitious. however, most of these programs are relatively new, and there has been little or 

no rigorous analysis of their efficacy or results. dr. Kington then posed the question of 

what we can learn from examining current patterns of career choices. he pointed to the 

extraordinary increases in the proportion of women faculty in psychiatry and students 

in the veterinary sciences in recent years, and contrasted these changes to the stagnant 

proportion of female faculty in engineering and computer science. he noted that there 

has been little rigorous analysis of why these trends have emerged. 

dr. Kington addressed the question of inherent bias in existing measures of success and 

the need to develop alternative measures of scientific impact, noting that, on average, 

women publish fewer papers than men do, but the papers they do publish tend to be 

more widely cited. he pointed out that there are many disparities in awards and honor 

society membership, as well. another factor that has been purported to play a role in 

career disparities is time spent on service. dr. Kington pointed to a 2003 faculty climate 

survey from the university of california–berkeley which indicated that women value 

mentoring and community building more highly than men do and may focus more 

of their time there. he also shared a preliminary analysis of a 1999 national survey of 

post-secondary faculty that specifically addressed committee service but noted that as 

of yet, they were not able to document striking differences between the service of men 

and women. 

to address the lack of data, 18 nih institutes, centers, and offices have signed on to a 

request for applications published by the national institute of general medical sciences 

entitled, “research on causal factors and interventions that promote and support the 

careers of Women in biomedical and behavioral science and engineering,” the goal of 

which is to build the evidence base to help inform policy and the development of effective interventional strategies. dr. Kington closed by insisting that evidence matters, both 

in making a case and in documenting results. 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

ix. 

Panel five: Best Practices initiatives at nih 

26 

CAreer-relAteD extrAMurAl PoliCies AnD ACtivities 

Walter schaffer, Ph.D., senior scientific advisor for extramural research, 

nih, bethesda, maryland 

Figure 10: Women are Gaining But Have Not Yet 

Reached Parity in NIH Grant Awards. Source: NIH 

dr. schaffer presented data from the office of extramural research (oer) on the participation of women in 

nih extramural research. the data, which are available 

on the oer website noted on the slide, indicate that 

women are participating at increasing rates in pre- and 

post-doctoral programs, and they represent a steady 

but not equal number of recipients of more advanced 

grant support. the proportion of r01 grants awarded 

to women has risen from 21 to 25 percent since 1998, 

women’s success rates are almost identical to those of 

men, and the size of initial grants made to women is 

slightly larger. however, the success rate of women on 

their first renewal is slightly lower than for men. a few 

important policy questions to emerge in recent years are 

whether the indirect portion of nih research grants can 

be used to cover child and family care costs, whether 

grant funds to attend conferences can be used to cover 

child care, and whether parental leave can be extended 

to cover national research science award training grants. in each case, policies are 

driven by federal cost accounting standards. such expenditures must be aligned with 

those of the home institution. the oer web site now features an faQ which clarifies the 

answers to many of these questions (http://grants.nih.gov/training/faq_childcare.htm) 
national institutes of health 

27 

nAtionAl liBrAry of MeDiCine Pilot ACtivities to 

enhAnCe BioMeDiCAl CAreers 

valerie florance, Ph.D., deputy director for extramural programs, national library of 

medicine (nlm), nih, bethesda, maryland 

Figure 11: National Library of Medicine Pilots 

Caregiver Support to Staff. Source: National Library 

of Medicine 

dr. florance described the lessons learned from 20 

years of nlm-supported biomedical informatics research training programs at 20 different sites, five of 

which are run by women. nearly 40 percent of their 

trainees are women. nlm has tested a pilot program 

for caregiver support at its training programs, with the 

following results: 

»	 extended leave for childbirth or adoption. the 

specific policies vary from site to site, but in most 

cases, nlm trainees would be permitted to take up 

to 60 days of unpaid leave after the birth or adoption of a child. this program was implemented in 

July of 2007. 

»	 caregiver leave (30 days at half pay). again, the 

policies vary at different organizations, and in 

some case there was no policy that addressed this type of program; however, program managers indicated that this would be a beneficial option, so the program was 

implemented in July of 2007. 

»	 child care at conferences. although program directors didn’t see the need for such 

a program and other complications arose preventing implementation of a program 

to provide child care at nih training conferences, nlm is working with all parties 

to address what is widely seen as a pressing need. 

»	 primary care technical assistance (ptca) supplements. this national institute of 

allergy and infectious diseases (niaid) program provides supplemental funding 

for postdoctoral research scientists who are taking care of a child or sick family 

member. these funds enable niaid r01 grantees to hire a mid-to-senior level technician to fill in while the caregiver needs to be away from the laboratory. nlm is 

considering implementing such a program for its grantees, as well. 

in short, local program directors and administrators play a key role in the success of 

new initiatives, but diverse institutional regulations and the absence of staff awareness 

of problems are important limiting factors. 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

ix. 

Panel five: Best Practices initiatives at nih 

28 

intrAMurAl nih initiAtives 

Joan schwartz, Ph.D., assistant director, office of intramural research, nih, 

bethesda, maryland 

dr. schwartz described various initiatives that have been proposed or implemented 

to assist nih intramural researchers. nih has two on-campus child care facilities at 

its main campus and two centers at satellite campuses, but with over 1,000 names on 

the waiting list, nih is looking for ways to expand the service. a new child care center 

has been designed but has not yet been funded. nih has a subsidy program that helps 

lower-income employees pay for off-campus day care and is looking at the possibility 

of reserving space at off-campus child care facilities. to address the need for family 

leave, nih has a voluntary leave transfer program that allows colleagues to contribute 

their annual leave to a worker who has a family or health emergency, and there is a proposal to create a leave bank, offering more flexibility, for the same purpose. finally, dr. 

schwartz presented a program similar to the pctas (funded through niaid) in which a 

tenure-track or tenured investigator may hire a temporary laboratory manager while he/ 

she is on extended leave. 

to assist in recruiting dual-career couples, nih has helped establish a regional consortium of universities and research institutions to assist in spousal/partner employment 

called the mid-atlantic higher education recruitment consortium or m-a herc. nih 

is developing an information package on flexibility programs, such as telework and 

alternative work schedules, and the infrastructure to encourage use of these programs. a 

trans-nih committee is addressing mentoring in the intramural program, including how 

to ensure that all employees have mentoring opportunities, how to evaluate the effectiveness of individual mentors, and how to strengthen mentoring skills. courses are also 

available on leadership skills, assertiveness training, and how to succeed at nih. 

Responder: Jeremy Berg, Ph.D., director, national institute of general medical studies, 

nih, bethesda, maryland 

dr. berg cautioned researchers not to underestimate the power of data, both in convincing skeptics and in convincing leadership. after all, the challenge is to encourage leaders to take decisive actions rather than conduct yet another study. he also agreed that 

women’s problems are part of the larger issue of diversity. With millions of baby boomers 

retiring in the near future, there will be a large number of open positions at the top, and 

it behooves the community to be ready to take advantage of this opportunity. 
national institutes of health 

29 

Responder: Joan goldberg, executive director, american society for cell biology 

(ascb), bethesda, maryland 

ms. goldberg advised nih to learn what it can from professional and scientific societies 

like ascb, which has 30 years’ experience in mentorship and recognition programs that 

help to create a more welcoming climate for women in science. ascb programs provide 

mentoring support, career advice, recognition awards, and referral of speakers and award 

candidates – activities that enhance the environment and career development for both 

male and female students. it is very important to provide information on how to succeed 

and to help women overcome their sense of isolation. a critical mass of women is also 

needed on committees and nih study sections, both for women to feel comfortable 

making their opinions known and for them to be heard. 

DisCussion 

Women make up 30 to 35 percent of the members of study sections that perform peer 

review for nih grants, compared with only 25 percent of the grant recipients. the major 

bottleneck for women seems to be at the transition from postdoctoral scientist to first 

faculty appointment, in large part because female postdoctoral scientists don’t apply for 

the positions. dr. schwartz noted that a survey of postdoctoral fellows at the nih revealed 

that female postdoctoral scientists are less confident than male postdoctoral scientists, although they rate themselves just as highly. however, this doesn’t seem to hold for foreign 

female postdoctoral scientists, for reasons that are just beginning to be examined. 

the national institute of general medical sciences is currently developing a strategic 

plan that will address, among other things, individual careers and the distribution of 

bridge funding by grantee institutions. it might be useful to include these and other strategies in the strategic plans of other institutes or for nih as a whole. to avoid duplication 

of effort, this strategic plan should be based on a central library or collection of existing 

programs, as well as rigorous analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. 

panelists agreed that it would be useful to determine the alternate choices being made 

by women who are not continuing in an academic career and the reasons for their 

choices. 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

30 

X. 

conclusion and next steps
 

Dr. Barbara Alving stressed the importance of having the participants leave this conference with a goal to creating change. She summarized the remarks from the presenters, 

panelists, and participants. 

1.	 Get a strong personal commitment from top management 

» ensure accountability at both the personal and institutional levels 

» provide incentives for positive results, consequences for non-compliance, 

and metrics for objectives 

2.	 Understand, acknowledge, and communicate the needs and barriers 

that prevent women from succeeding in academic medicine 

» start with an objective equity check or faculty survey 

» involve the faculty in finding solutions. state clearly what problems are being 

addressed and how the interventions will work 

» offer gender awareness seminars for men as well as women, and especially 

for department chairs 

» conduct repeat surveys to track progress and target remaining problems 

» establish meaningful, quantifiable metrics with which to measure success 

» make the business case – what are the costs of attrition and the cost savings 

of the proposed intervention? 

» “never underestimate the power of evidence” (Jeremy berg, director, 

nigms) 

3.	 Employ transparent policies and decision processes for hiring, salary, 

and promotions 

» conduct equity workshops for search and tenure committees 

» include more women on hiring and tenure committees 

» conduct a survey of what the department expects of female faculty, and 

what programs or information it provides to help them achieve those goals 

» give women a clearer sense of what it will take to survive, thrive, and 

succeed in academic medicine 

» strive for salary equity 

4.	 Enlarge the recruiting pools 

» maintain lists of qualified women candidates
 

» institute reentry programs
 

» hire women at the junior level and in clusters
 

» monitor recruiting carefully
 
national institutes of health 

31 

5.	 Create mechanisms to celebrate the achievements of successful women 

and help them network with other women 

» maintain referral lists of women for research symposia speakers
 

» organize meetings between female candidates and female faculty
 

» hold social welcoming and orientation sessions for new faculty
 

» conduct awareness-raising symposia
 

» ensure proper acknowledgement and credit for collaborative research
 

6.	 Institute a wide range of programs to address the needs of female 

faculty at each stage in their careers 

» provide focused training in clinical research for young faculty 


» engage women in team building and other professional development 


in mid-career 


» encourage leadership training to prepare more senior women for management 


and administrative positions 


7.	 Address “lifestyle” issues that impact work such as: 

» flexible hours and telework opportunities
 

» paid parental leave
 

» child and family care
 

» concierge service for all employees
 

» tenure clock extension
 

» spousal hiring opportunities
 

8.	 Look for points of commonality between programs for women and 

broader diversity programs such as: 

» recruiting
 

» training
 

» sustaining workforce
 

9.	 Provide fair and equitable access to physical, financial, and organizational 

resources and support which include: 

» office and laboratory space, graduate assistants
 

» proposal submission, financial monitoring
 

» bridge financing, matching grants
 

10. Continue studying the issues but don’t let that stand in the way of action 

»	 conduct research on the best ways to increase women’s confidence 


and assertiveness in developing their careers in biomedical research 


and continue to identify the psychosocial forces that are playing a role 


in their choices and success 


»	 evaluate the effectiveness of interventions 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

x. 

Conclusion and next steps 

32 

dr. alving noted that the organizations involved in workforce development need to 

continue to publish what private and public institutions, including nih, are doing to 

promote a diverse workforce. she reiterated the need to recognize that women and 

minorities share common workforce issues and that minority women face particular 

challenges. she noted the benefits of consolidating efforts that address the needs of all 

under-represented groups at once. dr. alving concluded by emphasizing that development of a strong and diverse workforce is an economic and competitiveness issue for the 

u.s. and requires ongoing, active collaborations among nih and other federal agencies 

in partnership with professional organizations and academic health centers. 
national institutes of health 

33 

APPENDIX A 

nih Working group on

Women in biomedical careers 

Co-chairs 

Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. 

director, nih 

Vivian W. Pinn, M.D. 

director, office of research on Women’s health; 

associate director for research on Women’s health, nih 

Institute and Center Directors 

Barbara Alving, M.D., M.A.C.P. 

director, national center for research resources 

Jeremy Berg, Ph.D. 

director, national institute of general medical sciences 

Patricia Grady, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N. 

director, national institute of nursing research 

Story Landis, Ph.D. 

director, national institute of neurological disorders and stroke 

Donald Lindberg, M.D. 

director, national library of medicine 

Lawrence Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D. 

director, national institute of dental and craniofacial research 

Office of the Director 

Raynard S. Kington, M.D., Ph.D. 

deputy director, nih 

Ruth L. Kirschstein, M.D. 

senior advisor to the director, nih 

Janine Austin Clayton (formerly Smith), M.D. 

deputy director, office of research on Women’s health 

Catherine Manzi, J.D. 

attorney advisor, public health division, dhhs, 

office of the general counsel 

Joyce Rudick 

director, programs and management, 

office of research on Women’s health 

Lawrence Self 

director, office of equal opportunity and diversity management 

(ex-officio) 

Intramural Research 

Michael Gottesman, M.D. 

director, office of intramural research; 

deputy director for intramural research, nih 

Joan Schwartz, Ph.D. 

assistant director, office of intramural research 

Edward Giniger, Ph.D. 

investigator, national institute of neurological disorders and stroke 

Catherine Kuo, Ph.D. 

postdoctoral fellow, cartilage biology and orthopedics branch, 

national institute of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases 

Elaine Ostrander, Ph.D. 

chief & senior investigator, cancer genetics branch, 

national human genome research institute 

Ira Pastan, M.D. 

chief, laboratory of molecular biology, national cancer institute 

Kathryn Zoon, Ph.D. 

scientific director, national institute of allergy and 

infectious diseases 

Extramural Research 

Norka Ruiz Bravo, Ph.D. 

director, office of extramural research; 

deputy director for extramural research, nih 

Walter Schaffer, Ph.D. 

senior scientific advisor for extramural research, 

office of extramural research 

J. Taylor Harden, Ph.D. 

assistant to the director for special populations, 

national institute on aging 

Pamela Marino, Ph.D. 

program director, pharmacology, physiology, and biological 

chemistry division; co-director, pharmacology research associate 

program, national institute of general medical sciences 

Belinda Seto, Ph.D. 

deputy director, national institute of biomedical imaging 

and bioengineering 

Staff to Working Group 

Amy Bany Adams, Ph.D. 

special assistant to the nih director 

Joslyn Yudenfreund Kravitz, Ph.D. 

aaas science & technology policy fellow, 

office of research on Women’s health 

Jennifer Reineke Pohlhaus, Ph.D. 

aaas science & technology policy fellow, 

office of research on Women’s health 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

34 

APPENDIX B 

Workshop planning committee 

Chair: 

Barbara Alving, M.D., M.A.C.P. 

director, national center for research resources, nih 

Members: 

Janine Austin Clayton (formerly Smith), M.D. 

deputy director, office of research on Women’s health, nih 

Kameha Kidd, Ph.D. 

health science policy analyst, 
 

national center for research resources, nih
 

Joslyn Yudenfreund Kravitz, Ph.D. 

aaas science & technology policy fellow, 
 

office of research on Women’s health, nih
 

Jennifer Reineke Pohlhaus, Ph.D. 

aaas science & technology policy fellow, 
 

office of research on Women’s health, nih
 

Louise Ramm, Ph.D. 

deputy director, national center for research resources, nih 

Joyce Rudick 

director of programs and management, 
 

office of research on Women’s health, nih
 

Joan Schwartz, Ph.D. 

assistant director, office of intramural research, nih 

Mona Trempe, Ph.D. 

office of scientific review, 
 

national institute of general medical sciences, nih
 

Kathryn Zoon, Ph.D. 

scientific director, national institute of allergy 
 

and infectious diseases, nih
 
national institutes of health 

35 

APPENDIX C 

Workshop agenda 

8:00 – 8:15 a.m. WELCOME AND GOALS FOR THE WORKSHOP 

barbara alving, m.d., m.a.c.p., director, national center for research resources, 

national institutes of health 

8:15 – 9:15 a.m. KEYNOTE ADDRESS 

Introduction of Speaker 

Vivian pinn, m.d., director, office of research on Women’s health; and associate director for research 

on Women’s health, national institutes of health 

Progress and Promise: Women in Academic Medicine 

nancy andrews, m.d., ph.d., dean, duke university school of medicine 

9:15 -10:00 a.m. PANEL: FRAMING THE ISSUES 

Panel Chair: 

barbara alving, m.d., m.a.c.p., director, national center for research resources, 

national institutes of health 

Panelists: 

Demographics of Women in Biomedical Research: What is the current reality? 

timothy ley, m.d., associate director of basic science, alvin J. siteman cancer center; and alan a. and 

edith l. Wolff professor of medicine, Washington university medical school 

The Reality of the Data: Employment of Women with PhDs in Biomedical Science 

phoebe leboy, ph.d., president, association for Women in science; and professor of biochemistry, 

university of pennsylvania school of dental medicine 

10:00-10:30 a.m. break 

10:30-11:30 a.m. PANEL: MODELS FOR ADVANCEMENT IN INDUSTRY 

Discussion of why and how businesses are ensuring career success of women 

Panel Chair: 

Joan lakoski, ph.d., associate Vice chancellor for academic career development, 

university of pittsburgh schools of the health sciences 

Panelists: 

Deloitte’s Experience with the Women’s Initiative (WIN) 

asif dhar, m.d., deloitte consulting, llp 

Creating a Flexible and Inclusive Culture 

Jo ellen helmer, partner, health sciences, ernst & Young, llp 

11:30-12:00 a.m. MILITARY MEDICAL SCIENTISTS: AN AIR FORCE PERSPECTIVE 

col. debra niemeyer, ph.d., deputy assistant surgeon general, modernization and consultant 

for biomedical research, office of the surgeon general, u.s. air force 

12:00–1:00 p.m. lunch 

1:00–1:20 p.m. THE NIH: PROMOTING SUSTAINED CAREER SUCCESS FOR WOMEN 

elias Zerhouni, m.d., director, national institutes of health 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

36 

appendix c: Workshop agenda 

1:20-2:20 p.m.	 PANEL: DEVELOPING WOMEN LEADERS 

Panel Chair: 

Creating Systems of Organizational Vitality – Actions for Leaders 

diane magrane, m.d., associate Vice president, faculty development and leadership, association of 

american medical colleges 

Panelists: 

Enhancing Departmental Climate to Promote the Development of Women Leaders in Academia 

Jennifer sheridan, ph.d., executive director & research director, Women in science and engineering 

leadership institute (Wiseli), university of Wisconsin at madison 

Fostering Leadership – Learning from Two Institutions 

W. sue shafer, ph.d., consultant, Women’s careers in science 

2:20-3:20 p.m.	 PANEL: MODELS FOR ADVANCEMENT IN ACADEMIA 

Discussion of how academia is ensuring career success of women in biomedical research 

Panel Chair: 

Judith bond, ph.d., professor and chair, biochemistry and molecular biology, pennsylvania state 

college of medicine 

Panelists: 

Progress in Recruiting and Retaining Women in Research at UC Davis: 

A Decade of Defining, Refining and Implementing Best Practices 

barry Klein, ph.d., Vice chancellor for research and professor of physics, 

university of california – davis 

Women in Biomedical Research 

andrew schafer, m.d., chair and e. hugh luckey distinguished professor of medicine, 

department of medicine, Weill cornell medical college 

Women in Biomedical Research: Best Practices for Sustaining Career Success 

elizabeth ofili, m.d., m.p.h., associate dean for clinical research and director, clinical research 

center; chief of cardiology and professor, morehouse school of medicine 

3:20-3:50 p.m.	 break 
national institutes of health 

37 

appendix c: Workshop agenda 

3:50-4:50 p.m.	 PANEL: BEST PRACTICES INITIATIVES AT THE NIH 

Discussion of NIH activities both intramural and extramural to ensure career success of women in 

biomedical research 

Panel Chair: 

Kathryn Zoon, ph.d., director, division of intramural research, national institute of allergy and 

infectious diseases, national institutes of health 

Panelists: 

Building an Evidence Base to Address Challenges in the Careers of Women in Science 

raynard Kington, m.d., ph.d., deputy director, national institutes of health 

Career-Related Extramural Policies and Activities 

Walter schaffer, ph.d., senior scientific advisor for extramural research, national institutes of health 

National Library of Medicine Pilot Activities to Enhance Biomedical Careers 

Valerie florance, ph.d., deputy director for extramural programs, national library of medicine, 

national institutes of health 

Intramural NIH Initiatives 

Joan schwartz, ph.d., assistant director, office of intramural research, national institutes of health 

responder: Jeremy berg, ph.d., director, national institute of general medical sciences, national 

institutes of health 

responder: Joan goldberg, executive director of the american society for cell biology 

4:50-5:20 p.m.	 WRAP UP AND NEXT STEPS 

barbara alving, m.d., m.a.c.p., director, national center for research resources, 

national institutes of health 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

38 

APPENDIX D 

speaker biographies 

Barbara M. Alving, M.D., M.A.C.P. 

director, national center for research resources, 

national institutes of health 

dr. barbara m. alving is the director of the national center for research 

resources (ncrr) at the national institutes of health. ncrr provides 

laboratory scientists and clinical researchers with the environments and 

tools they need to understand, detect, treat, and prevent a wide range of 

common and rare diseases. dr. alving earned her medical degree cum 

laude from georgetown university school of medicine, where she also 

completed an internship in internal medicine. she received her residency training in internal medicine at the Johns hopkins university hospital, followed by a fellowship in hematology. dr. alving then became 

a research investigator in the division of blood and blood products at 

the food and drug administration (fda). in 1980, she joined the department of hematology at the Walter reed army institute of research 

and became chief of the department in 1992. she left the army at the 

rank of colonel in 1996 to become the director of the medical oncology/hematology section at Washington hospital center in Washington, 

d.c. in 1999, she joined the national heart, lung, and blood institute 

(nhlbi), serving as the director of the extramural division of blood 

diseases and resources until becoming the deputy director of the institute in september 2001. from september 2003 until february 1, 2005, 

she served as the acting director of nhlbi. in march 2005, she became 

the acting director of ncrr and was named director in april 2007. dr. 

alving is a professor of medicine at the uniformed services university 

of the health sciences in bethesda, a master in the american college 

of physicians, a former member of the subcommittee on hematology 

of the american board of internal medicine, and a previous member of 

the fda blood products advisory committee. she is a co-inventor on 

two patents, has edited three books, and has published more than 100 

papers in the areas of thrombosis and hemostasis. 

Nancy Andrews, M.D., Ph.D. 

Vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean, 

duke university school of medicine 

dr. nancy andrews was appointed vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of the duke university school of medicine on october 

1, 2007. she is also a professor in the departments of pediatrics and 

pharmacology & cancer biology. andrews received her b.s. and m.s. 

degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale university, 

her ph.d. in biology from the massachusetts institute of technology, and 

her m.d. from harvard medical school. she completed her internship 

and residency in pediatrics at children’s hospital boston, and her pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship at children’s hospital and the 

dana-farber cancer institute. after she completed her training, dr. andrews stayed on at harvard and children’s hospital, rising through the 

academic ranks to become the george richards minot professor of pediatrics at harvard, senior associate in medicine at the children’s hospital 

boston, and a distinguished physician of the dana-farber cancer institute. she served as an attending physician in hematology and oncology 

at children’s hospital until 2003. she was director of the harvard-m.i.t. 

m.d.- ph.d. program from 1999 to 2003 and dean for basic sciences 

and graduate studies at harvard medical school from 2003 to 2007. 

dr. andrews has maintained an active nih-funded research laboratory, 

studying mouse models of human diseases. she was an investigator 

of the howard hughes medical institute from 1993 to 2006. she has 

authored well over 100 peer-reviewed articles and 16 book chapters 

and has received many awards and honors for her research, including 

membership in the institute of medicine of the national academies and 

in the american academy of arts and sciences. she is president of the 

american society for clinical investigation. 

Jeremy M. Berg, Ph.D. 

director, national institute of general medical sciences, 

national institutes of health 

dr. Jeremy m. berg became director of the national institute of general medical sciences (nigms) in november 2003. he oversees a $1.9 

billion budget that funds basic research in the areas of cell biology, 

biophysics, genetics, developmental biology, pharmacology, physiology, 

biological chemistry, bioinformatics, and computational biology. the 

institute supports more than 4,500 research grants—about 10 percent of 

the grants funded by nih as a whole—as well as a substantial amount 

of research training and programs designed to increase the number of 

minority biomedical scientists. prior to his appointment as nigms director, dr. berg directed the institute for basic biomedical sciences at the 

Johns hopkins university school of medicine in baltimore, maryland, 

where he also served as professor and director of the department of biophysics and biophysical chemistry. in addition, he directed the markey 

center for macromolecular structure and function and co-directed the 

W.m. Keck center for the rational design of biologically active molecules at the university. dr. berg’s research focuses on the structural and 

functional roles that metal ions, especially zinc, have in proteins. he 

has made major contributions to understanding how zinc-containing 

proteins bind to the genetic material dna or rna and regulate gene 

activity. his work, and that of others in the field, has led to the design 

of metal-containing proteins that control the activity of specific genes. 

these tailored proteins are valuable tools for basic research on gene 

function, and such proteins could one day have medical applications 

in regulating genes involved in diseases, as well. dr. berg has also made 

contributions to our understanding of systems that target proteins to specific compartments within cells and to the use of sequence databases for 

predicting aspects of protein structure and function. dr. berg served on 

the faculty at Johns hopkins from 1986-2003. immediately before his 

faculty appointment, he was a postdoctoral fellow in biophysics at the 

university. his honors include a presidential Young investigator award 
national institutes of health 

39 

(1988-1993), the american chemical society award in pure chemistry (1993), the eli lilly award for fundamental research in biological 

chemistry (1995), and the maryland outstanding Young scientist of the 

Year (1995). he also received teaching awards from both medical students and graduate students and has served as an advisor to the Johns 

hopkins postdoctoral association since its founding. dr. berg received 

b.s. and m.s. degrees in chemistry from stanford university in 1980 and 

a ph.d. in chemistry from harvard university in 1985. he is a coauthor 

of more than 130 research papers and three textbooks, principles of 

bioinorganic chemistry, biochemistry (5th edition and 6th edition), and 

a clinical companion to accompany biochemistry. 

Judith S. Bond, Ph.D. 

professor and chair, department of biochemistry and molecular 

biology, pennsylvania state university college of medicine 

dr. Judith s. bond is professor and chair of biochemistry and molecular 

biology at pennsylvania state college of medicine in hershey, pennsylvania. she is an associate editor of the Journal of biological chemistry and a past president of the american society for biochemistry and 

molecular biology. dr. bond received a b.s. degree in science from 

bennington college in Vermont in 1961, and m.s. and ph.d. degrees 

in biochemistry and physiology from rutgers university in 1962 and 

1966. she did postdoctoral work at Vanderbilt university until 1968, 

and then joined the faculty of the department of biochemistry at the 

medical college of Virginia, Virginia commonwealth university. she 

moved to Virginia polytechnic institute as professor and head of the 

department of biochemistry and nutrition in 1988, and then to pennsylvania state university college of medicine as chair of biochemistry 

and molecular biology in 1992. dr bond’s research on proteolysis, and 

particularly on unique and complex metalloproteases called meprins, 

has been funded continuously by the nih for 32 years. she has authored over 150 refereed papers and given over 140 invited lectures 

throughout the world. dr. bond has a sustained interest in graduate 

education, having trained 16 ph.d., 4 m.d./ph.d., and 4 m.s. students. 

she currently has 2 ph.d. students. she has also trained 18 postdoctoral 

fellows. she was director of the medical scientist training program at 

pennsylvania state university hershey campus, and obtained federal 

funding for this program. she served as assistant dean for graduate 

education from 1996-99, co-director of graduate education for the life 

sciences consortium from 1995-2000, and co-director of the chemical 

biology option of the integrative biosciences graduate program from 

1996 to 2003. she served on several association of american medical 

colleges committees and is currently on the scientific foundation for 

future physicians committee. dr. bond’s service includes membership 

on the nih biochemistry study section 1987-91, which she chaired 

from 1989-91, and on the national institute of diabetes and digestive 

and Kidney diseases advisory council of the nih from 1996-2000. dr. 

bond was elected president of the association of medical and graduate 

departments of biochemistry 1996-97, the council of the international 

proteolysis society 1997-2001, and the council of the american society 

for biochemistry and molecular biology 1996-99 and 2002-04. she was 

named YWca outstanding Woman in science and health in Virginia 

in 1989 and Virginia’s outstanding scientist in 1988 and was an nih 

merit awardee 1989-96. in 2008, she was honored by the international proteolysis society and by pennsylvania state university with the 

title of university distinguished professor. 

Asif Dhar, M.D, M.B.A. 

federal biomedical informatics practice leader, deloitte consulting 

senior fellow, deloitte center for health solutions 

dr. asif dhar leads deloitte’s federal biomedical informatics practice. his teams develop innovative strategies to improve clinical outcomes and therapeutic discovery. dr. dhar is also a senior fellow with 

the deloitte center for health solutions. his translational informatics 

work is helping discover new approaches to optimize clinical r&d 

with breakthrough informatics tools. dr. dhar is also doing research to 

delineate the barriers and benefits for adopting personalized medicine. 

dr. dhar has deep functional and management experience that spans 

public and private sector clients. he has provided senior leadership 

for numerous electronic health record (ehr) implementations in the 

us, canada, and the uK. dr. dhar has also helped design enterprise 

data warehousing solutions, clinical discovery applications, and quality 

improvement programs at large integrated delivery networks and academic medical institutions. dr. dhar has a deep interest in advancing 

public sector clinical and research programs. he has provided biomedical informatics advisory services for the national institutes of health 

(nih) national cancer institute (nci) and testing advisory services for 

the department of defense (dod). dr. dhar has served on study sections for the nih national human genome research institute. prior to 

joining deloitte consulting, dr. dhar served as a management consultant with booz allen hamilton and as a physician executive with the 

cerner corporation. he holds a medical degree from the university of 

illinois, a masters in business administration degree from the university 

of chicago graduate school of business, and a bachelor of arts degree 

from the university of chicago. deloitte has a deep commitment to 

advancing diversity and women in the workplace. after launching the 

Women’s initiative (Win), deloitte was recognized with nine national 

awards. Win was also featured in more than 100 major news stories. in 

2007, deloitte was rated by business Week as the “best place to start 

a career.” 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

appendix d: speaker biographies 

40 

Valerie Florance, Ph.D. 

deputy director, extramural programs, national library of medicine, 

national institutes of health 

dr. Valerie florance is deputy director of extramural programs at the 

national library of medicine (nlm), national institutes of health. she 

is responsible for a portfolio of advanced research topics in biomedical 

informatics and information sciences and for nlm’s university-based 

informatics training program. before coming to nlm in february 2001, 

she spent 3 years as project director for better_health @ here.now at 

the association of american medical colleges (aamc), leading two 

expert committees in the development of a roadmap for the use of information technologies in health care and biomedical research activities. 

between 1986 and 1998, she held various faculty and administrative 

positions at the university of rochester medical center, Johns hopkins 

medical institutions, and the university of utah, with responsibilities 

that included oversight of library and computing services, development 

of digital information resources, and teaching information skills and 

informatics concepts to faculty and students in the health sciences. dr. 

florance received graduate degrees in medical anthropology and library 

sciences. she completed her doctoral studies in information sciences at 

the university of maryland, college park. her dissertation centered on 

knowledge representation for clinical problem solving. she twice won 

the medical library association’s ida and george eliot prize for her 

articles about knowledge management in biomedicine. she has been 

a member of nlm’s biomedical library review committee, and was 

a member of the national research council/national academy of sciences study that published its report “networking health: prescriptions 

for the internet” in June 2000. in 2005, she was elected as a fellow to 

the american college of medical informatics. 

Joan R. Goldberg 

executive director, american society for cell biology 

Joan r. goldberg is executive director of the american society for cell 

biology (ascb) in bethesda, maryland. she has also held leadership 

positions for the american society for bone and mineral research and 

the national sleep foundation. during the last 30 years her work has 

focused on advancing biomedical research. ms. goldberg has developed award-winning public and congressional educational initiatives 

emphasizing research’s impact on human health. at ascb, ms. goldberg oversees an innovative portfolio of educational, career development, public policy, and publications programs. she works closely with 

the society’s Women in cell biology and minorities affairs committees 

on columns and books, web-based materials, workshops, awards, and 

outreach efforts. several of these programs have been, and continue to 

be, supported by the office of research on Women’s health and the 

national institute of general medical sciences. she has also presented 

new approaches for program evaluation, strategic planning, and conflict 

of interest management. in 2007 she presented at the first aspen health 

forum and served on the conflict of interest coalition for the federation of american societies for experimental biology. she is the author 

of three books, including high-tech career strategies for Women, and 

hundreds of articles. 

Jo Ellen Helmer, B.B.A. 

audit and risk advisory partner 

Jo ellen helmer has more than 19 years’ experience, in chicago, serving 

major health science clients (pharmaceutical/medical device companies 

and large academic medical centers), in both an external audit and 

business/risk advisory capacity. organizations she has served include 

baxter international, Zimmer holdings, inc., promega corporation, 

optobionics, mayo clinic, university of pittsburgh medical center 

(upmc), national surgical hospitals and northwestern memorial hospital. ms. helmer has deep experience with technical and financial 

reporting issues. she has experience with section 404 of the sarbanes 

oxley act, debt offerings, acquisitions and divestitures. she also serves 

as a liaison to the global pharma/med tech centers of excellence for 

risk advisory services. in this capacity she brings thought leadership 

and insights to local teams. additionally, she has coordinated advisory 

engagements such as controls optimization related to section 404 and 

as5 (auditing standard #5), transaction advisory, compliance advisory 

(including fcpa), and valuations. ms. helmer has taken an active role 

to advance gender equity within the workplace. she has served on the 

firm’s national gender equity steering committee and currently serves 

on the midwest area gender equity steering committee. she is also a 

member of the american institute of certified public accountants, ibio 

(illinois biotechnology industry organization), health care financial 

management association, and the illinois, indiana, Wisconsin, pennsylvania and minnesota cpa societies. 

Raynard S. Kington, M.D., Ph.D. 

acting director, national institutes of health 

dr. raynard s. Kington was appointed acting director of the national 

institutes of health on november 1, 2008. previously, he had served 

as deputy director of the nih since february 9, 2003. the deputy 

director of nih functions as the principal deputy director to the director, nih, and shares in the overall leadership, policy direction, and 

coordination of nih biomedical research and the research training programs of nih’s 27 institutes and centers with a budget of almost $29 

billion and 18,000 employees. prior to this appointment, dr. Kington 

had been associate director of nih for behavioral and social sciences 

research since september, 2000. in addition to this role, from January, 

2002 to november, 2002, he served as acting director of the national 

institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism. prior to coming to nih, dr. 

Kington was director of the division of health examination statistics 
national institutes of health 

appendix d: speaker biographies 

at the national center for health statistics (nchs) of the centers for 

disease control and prevention (cdc). as division director, he also 

served as director of the national health and nutrition examination 

survey (nhanes), one of the nation’s largest studies to assess the health 

of the american people. prior to coming to nchs, he was a senior 

scientist in the health program at the rand corporation. While at 

rand, dr. Kington was a co-director of the drew/rand center on 

health and aging, a national institute on aging exploratory minority 

aging center. dr. Kington attended the university of michigan, where 

he received his b.s. degree with distinction and his m.d. degree. he 

subsequently completed his residency in internal medicine at michael 

reese medical center in chicago. he was appointed a robert Wood 

Johnson clinical scholar at the university of pennsylvania, where he 

completed his m.b.a. with distinction and his ph.d. with a concentration in health policy and economics at the Wharton school. he was 

also awarded a fontaine fellowship. he is board-certified in internal 

medicine and public health and preventive medicine. in 2006, dr. 

Kington was elected to membership in the institute of medicine of the 

national academies. dr. Kington’s research has focused on the role 

of social factors, especially socioeconomic status, as determinants of 

health. his current research includes studies of the health and socioeconomic status of black immigrants, differences in populations in 

willingness to participate in genetic research, and racial and ethnic differences in infectious disease rates. his research has included studies 

of the relationship between wealth and health status; the health status 

of u.s. hispanic populations; the determinants of health care services 

utilization; the economic impact of health care expenditures among the 

elderly; and racial and ethnic differences in the use of long-term care. 

Barry M. Klein. Ph.D. 

Vice chancellor for research, university of california, davis 

dr. barry m. Klein received his ph.d. degree in condensed matter 

theory from new York university in 1969 following an undergraduate degree in engineering physics from nYu. from 1969-71 he held 

a postdoctoral appointment at the naval research laboratory (nrl). 

in 1971 he became a member of the nrl staff working in condensed 

matter theory and in plasma physics on the theory of x-ray emission 

from laser-produced plasmas. in 1978, he became head of the nrl 

electronic structure of solids section, leading a theoretical effort in 

electronic structure studies of a wide range of solid systems, with particular emphasis on fundamental investigations of superconducting 

properties and point defects. from 1984-85, he was program manager 

for condensed matter theory and acting section head for condensed 

matter sciences at the national science foundation. returning to nrl 

in 1985, dr. Klein became branch head for condensed matter physics, 

supervising efforts in experimental x-ray physics, plasma spectroscopy 

and synchrotron radiation, in addition to theoretical condensed matter 

research. in 1989, dr. Klein became branch head for the complex 

systems theory branch, leading a theoretical effort involving over 20 

scientists engaged in studies of a wide range of condensed matter properties from electronic structure theory, to many body theory, to atomic 

physics. in 1992, dr. Klein became professor of physics and chair of the 

department of physics at the university of california, davis. in 1998, 

he was appointed to the position of Vice provost for academic personnel at uc davis, a position he held for three years. on July 1, 2001, 

dr. Klein was appointed Vice chancellor for research at uc davis, his 

current position. dr. Klein is a fellow of the american physical society, 

a fellow and chartered physicist of the institute of physics, and he is 

a foreign member of the russian academy of sciences. he has also 

been chair of the american physical society division of computational 

physics. he was the recipient of a new York city mayor1s committee on 

scholastic achievement undergraduate scholarship, a nasa graduate 

fellowship and a national research council postdoctoral associateship. he has received several government awards, including a navy 

meritorious civilian service award in 1992. he has been a member 

of numerous nsf, dod, and doe and doe laboratory committees including: the nsf supercomputing center peer review committee; the 

high performance computing advisory board for los alamos and oak 

ridge national laboratories; the advisory committee for physical sciences and space technology and the director’s advisory committee 

at the lawrence livermore national laboratory; and the materials science and technology advisory committee at the los alamos national 

laboratory. dr. Klein’s condensed matter research efforts have been in 

electronic structure theory and applications, studying the fundamental 

properties of condensed matter systems using theoretical and computational approaches. he has over 140 research publications. 

Joan M. Lakoski, Ph.D. 

associate Vice chancellor for academic career development and 

executive director of the office of academic career development, 

university of pittsburgh schools of the health sciences 

dr. Joan m. lakoski is the associate Vice chancellor for academic 

career development and the founding and executive director of the 

office of academic career development at the university of pittsburgh 

schools of the health sciences, and the associate dean for postdoctoral 

education and professor of pharmacology at the university of pittsburgh 

school of medicine. dr. lakoski received her doctoral degree in pharmacology from the university of iowa, completed postdoctoral training 

in the department of psychiatry at the Yale university school of medicine, and has held faculty positions at the university of texas medical 

branch in galveston and the pennsylvania state university college of 

medicine, including appointment as interim chair of the department 

of pharmacology at pennsylvania state university. her administrative 

responsibilities encompass oversight of comprehensive career development services, including development of mentoring programs for professional students, postdoctoral fellows, residents, clinical fellows and 

41 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

appendix d: speaker biographies 

faculty, to “empower the health science professional” at the university 

of pittsburgh. dr. lakoski is a member of the graduate faculty at the 

university of pittsburgh and conducts research on the neuropharmacology of aging, the impact of mentoring and responsible conduct in 

research and serves on national institutes of health center for scientific 

research review panels, including membership in the neuroendocrinology, neuroimmunology, and behavior study section (2006-2010). dr. 

lakoski also serves as director of faculty development and director of 

mentorship for the clinical and translational research institute funded 

by a clinical and translational science award to the university of pittsburgh, as co-director of the multidisciplinary clinical research scholars (Kl2) program, and as director of the rimed fellows program – an 

innovative international postdoctoral training program at the university 

of pittsburgh. for her numerous activities in support of postdoctoral fellows, dr. lakoski was the recipient of the 2007 postdoctoral advocate 

award from the university of pittsburgh postdoctoral association. dr. 

lakoski serves in numerous leadership roles in a variety of professional 

organizations and is president-elect of the society for executive leadership in academic medicine (selam), international. she is a member of 

the committee to study the national needs for biomedical, behavioral, 

and clinical research personnel of the policy and global affairs division of the national academy of sciences and the national research 

council. 

Phoebe Leboy, Ph.D. 

president, association for Women in science 

professor of biochemistry, university of pennsylvania 

school of dental medicine 

dr. phoebe leboy received her b.s. degree from swarthmore college, 

her ph.d. from bryn mawr college, and held postdoctoral positions at 

the university of pennsylvania and the Weizmann institute of science in 

israel. she joined the faculty of the university of pennsylvania in 1966 

and retired from the faculty in 2005. While at the university of pennsylvania, she was a faculty member in the cell and molecular biology 

and bioengineering graduate groups, served as chair of the university faculty senate, chair of the graduate group in molecular biology, 

and chair of her department. dr. leboy has been a member of several 

nih grant review panels and recently completed a term as chair of the 

nih skeletal biology development and disease study section. she has 

served as a liaison from the university of pennsylvania to the mit/9 

university consortium on gender equity in science and co-chaired the 

university of pennsylvania’s 1999-2001 task force on gender equity. 

she has been the recipient of a nato postdoctoral fellowship, an nih 

research career development award, a fogarty senior international 

fellowship, and a lindback award for distinguished teaching. 

Timothy Ley, M.D. 

professor, Washington university in st. louis 

dr. timothy ley received his degree from Washington university in st. 

louis medical school in 1978 and performed his internal medicine 

residency at massachusetts general hospital. he completed fellowships 

in hematology and oncology at the nih and at Washington university 

and joined the faculty at Washington university in st. louis in 1986. he 

is now the alan and edith Wolff professor of medicine and professor of 

genetics at Washington university and serves as the associate director 

of the genome center at Washington university (cancer genomics). dr. 

ley is a past president of the american society for clinical investigation, 

a member of the aap council, a fellow of aaas, and a member of the 

institute of medicine. he has developed approaches to reactivate fetal 

hemoglobin synthesis for patients with hemoglobinopathies, defined 

the role of the perforin/granzyme system for the function of cytotoxic 

and regulatory t cells, and has performed pioneering genomic studies of acute myeloid leukemia. he has written extensively about the 

physician-scientist career path and was a key advocate for establishing 

the extramural loan repayment programs at the nih. he has mentored 

more than 40 pre- and postdoctoral fellows in his laboratory; nearly 

all hold research positions in academic medicine and pharmaceutical 

companies. 

Diane M. Magrane, M.D. 

Vice president for faculty development and leadership programs, 

association of american medical colleges 

dr. diane m. magrane holds the position of director for faculty development and leadership programs at the association of american 

medical colleges. she is responsible for a variety of faculty development 

programs, including Women in medicine, the executive development 

seminars for chairs and associate deans, and teamWorks. in addition, 

she supports the group on faculty affairs and is senior editor of faculty Vitae, an on-line professional development publication for medical faculty. before joining the aamc in 2004, she was associate dean 

for medical education and professor in obstetrics and gynecology at 

the university of Vermont college of medicine. she received her m.d. 

degree from the university of iowa in 1978 and completed residency 

training in ob/gyn at st. louis university hospitals in st. louis, missouri, in 1982. she has been actively involved in improving instruction, 

evaluation, and faculty development in medical education at uVm and 

in national educational organizations. dr. magrane’s educational scholarship lies in interdisciplinary activities in women’s health education 

and in applying systems of educational psychology, complexity theories, 

and classic curriculum design to enhancing the environment and educational processes of academic medicine. she is a founding member of 

the alliance for clinical education, past chair of the association of pro42 
national institutes of health 

43 

appendix d: speaker biographies 

fessors of gynecology and obstetrics undergraduate medical education 

committee and of the examination committee of the council for resident education in obstetrics and gynecology, and past president of the 

association for professors in gynecology and obstetrics. in recognition 

of her national leadership in medical education, she was honored as a 

distinguished alumnus of the university of iowa college of medicine 

in 2002 and with an apgo-Wyeth career achievement award in 2006. 

she has benefited from leadership training in a variety of venues, including the aamc Women in medicine programs, harvard macy programs 

for educational leaders, and executive leaders in academic medicine 

(elam 2003). her position at the aamc has brought her full circle to 

support professional development and leadership skills training for all 

medical school faculty in north america. in march 2009, dr. magrane 

continues her leadership journey in a new position as director of the 

center for executive leadership in academics at drexel university college of medicine, which includes the elam program for women and a 

variety of cross-institutional leadership development programs. 

Colonel Debra M. Neimeyer, Ph.D., Colonel, USAF, BSC (retired) 

chief scientist, 59th medical Wing, Wilford hall medical center 

colonel (dr.) debra marie niemeyer retired from the air force June, 

2008. dr. niemeyer is the 59th medical Wing (mdW) chief scientist, 

lackland air force base, san antonio, texas, and serves as technical 

authoritative liaison to headquarters air force and department of defense. the wing is the air force’s largest medical facility, staffed with 

5,650 military, civilian, contract employees, residents and students. the 

wing’s varied mission includes deployed and in-garrison health care delivery, graduate medical education, enlisted specialty training, and clinical research to enhance air force readiness. dr. niemeyer is responsible 

for high-level collaboration between the air force, dod, local, national 

and international government, academic and industry, development, 

test, evaluation and acquisition organizations. she works directly for 

the 59 mdW commander at senior executive levels as portfolio authority to advance modernization efforts for health maintenance and threat 

mitigation, human system integration and performance sustainment. 

she is the Wing’s representative to federal governance/policy bodies. 

she develops and maintains the wing’s research program and modernization road-map, directs research integration into the san antonio 

military medical center, major command, air force surgeon general, 

Joint medical research and development (r&d), national strategic plans 

and investment strategies, oversees defense base closure and realignment commission (brac) activities to position local assets in support 

of multi-agency research, and provides the air force surgeon general 

consultative r&d support for 12,000 officers. her last active duty assignment was as the deputy assistant surgeon general, modernization directorate, and consultant to the surgeon general for biomedical 

research, office of the surgeon general, falls church, Virginia. she 

oversaw the operations of 600 personnel at eleven different locations, 

to include three test beds and one technology center, and managed 

career planning for 2,000 medical scientists. she provided direction 

and made investment decisions for nearly 100 acquisition programs 

and research projects valued at 220 million dollars, dr. niemeyer was 

commissioned a second lieutenant in 1981 through air force rotc. 

she graduated from marywood university with a baccalaureate degree 

in biology, the university of minnesota with a master’s degree in medical microbiology, and completed a doctorate of philosophy in microbiology and immunology at the medical college of Virginia, Virginia 

commonwealth university. she directed clinical and applied research 

laboratories around the world and served in special duty and headquarters assignments. following retirement in June 2008, she accepted her 

current civil service position. dr. niemeyer established the first air force 

biological agent testing capability in southwest asia and the pacific rim. 

following the terrorist attack on the pentagon, she set up an alternate 

command section and directed emergency airlift operations for delivery 

of blood products. additionally, she assembled and led a microbiology 

response team to assist the centers for disease control and prevention 

and the new York city department of health following the release of 

anthrax spores into the u.s. postal system. she formed rapid bio-agent 

testing teams in support of the u.s. secret service at presidential events 

and to augment Winter olympics security. she established the applied 

technology center to conduct “controlled environment” assessments 

of off-the-shelf and nascent technologies and the directorate’s medical innovations office to address “disruptive technology” impacts on 

the air force “fly and fight” mission. she has substantial experience in 

clinical laboratory medicine, blood program operations and transfusion 

medicine, expeditionary operations, force protection and counter-proliferation, technology test and evaluation, medical planning, program 

management, and product acquisition. dr. niemeyer holds appointments at several academic institutions. 

Elizabeth Ofili, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.C. 

associate dean, clinical research 

professor of medicine and director, clinical research center 

chief, section of cardiology, morehouse school of medicine 

dr. elizabeth ofili completed medical school with distinction at 

ahmadu bello university in nigeria and received the master of public 

health degree from the Johns hopkins university, baltimore, maryland. 

dr. ofili completed an internal medicine residency at oral roberts 

university in tulsa, oklahoma; cardiology fellowship at Washington 

university in st. louis, missouri; and an advanced cardiovascular research fellowship at st. louis university health sciences center, st. 

louis, missouri. dr. ofili has an active interest in the mechanism of 

myocardial dysfunction with particular emphasis on the role of ultrasound imaging modalities. she received the Young investigator research 

award from the american society of echocardiography for work on the 

physiologic basis of pharmacologic stress agents in a canine model of 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

appendix d: speaker biographies 

44 

coronary artery disease. in collaboration with dr. morton Kern, dr. 

ofili developed and validated the method of analysis of the intracoronary doppler spectral wave form that remains in use in cardiac catherization laboratories for physiologic studies of coronary flow reserve 

in patients with coronary artery disease. she has received national and 

international recognition for her expertise in the field of echocardiography and for advancing scientific knowledge on the role of ultrasound 

imaging modality in clinical practice and population-based research. 

as a recipient of the national institutes of health preventive cardiology academic award, dr. ofili established a large clinical patient 

database at grady memorial hospital in congestive heart failure, chest 

pain, and hyperlipidemia. additionally, dr. ofili received the center of 

excellence award from the consortium of southeastern hypertension 

states for work on a community-based network implementation of lipid 

and hypertension treatment algorithms to improve patient outcomes. 

dr. ofili has received over 50 million dollars in extramural funds for 

investigator-initiated work as a principal investigator, co-investigator 

and from multicenter clinical trial contracts. other national awards 

include the dr. daniel savage scientific award from the association of 

black cardiologists; the nannette K. Wenger award for health policy 

from the advocacy group Womenheart and the national library of 

medicine exhibit, changing the face of medicine, the rise of america’s 

Women physicians. dr. ofili was recognized as one of america’s leading physicians by black enterprise magazine; physician of the Year, by 

the u.s. congressional health advisory board; the nation’s top twentyfive female physicians by heart and soul magazine, and Who’s Who 

in black atlanta. she serves on the board of trustees of the educational 

commission for foreign medical graduates (ecfmg); board of directors of the georgia medical care foundation and the foundation for 

the advancement of international medical education and research. 

dr. ofili is the founding director and principal investigator of the national institutes of health center of clinical research excellence at 

morehouse school of medicine. a past-president of the association of 

black cardiologists, a member of the international society of hypertension in blacks, the american heart association scientific councils 

on clinical cardiology, epidemiology and prevention, and high blood 

pressure research, dr. ofili has served on the american heart association science advisory committee, the national institutes of health 

clinical research advisory group, the national heart, lung, and blood 

institute Women’s heart health and the national academy of sciences, 

institute of medicine committee on global research and development in cardiovascular diseases. dr. ofili has mentored over 45 junior 

faculty or postdoctoral fellows and over 25 undergraduate students. 

she has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and book 

chapters, over 60 abstracts of original work, and made over 400 scientific presentations on cardiovascular disease, healthcare disparities, 

and women’s health, including over 50 keynote addresses, medical 

grand rounds, and visiting professorships at national and international 

academic medical centers. her work has appeared in publications and 

journals including the Journal of the american medical association, the 

new england Journal of medicine, circulation, Journal of the american 

college of cardiology, american Journal of cardiology, american heart 

Journal, and Journal of the national medical association, ethnicity & 

disease and urban cardiology. 

Vivian W. Pinn, M.D. 

associate director for research on Women’s health, 
 

national institutes of health
 

director, office of research on Women’s health,
 

national institutes of health
 

dr. Vivian W. pinn is the first full-time director of orWh, an appointment she has held since november 1991. in 1994, she was also 

named associate director for research on Women’s health, nih. dr. 

pinn came to nih from the howard university college of medicine in 

Washington, dc, where she had been professor and chair of the department of pathology since 1982. dr. pinn has been invited to present 

the orWh’s mandate, programs, and initiatives to many national and 

international organizations with an interest in improving women’s health 

and the health of minorities. her recent focus has been to raise the 

awareness of the scientific community about the importance of sex and 

gender factors in basic science, clinical research, and health care. dr. 

pinn earned her b.a. degree from Wellesley college and received her 

m.d. degree from the university of Virginia (uVa) school of medicine. 

she completed her postgraduate training in pathology at massachusetts 

general hospital, during which time she also served as teaching fellow 

at harvard medical school. dr. pinn then joined the faculty of the tufts 

university school of medicine and tufts-new england medical center 

hospital until leaving for her position at howard university. she is a 

member of many professional and scientific organizations, in which she 

has held many positions of leadership. dr. pinn has received numerous 

honors and awards and has been granted nine honorary degrees since 

1992. she is a fellow of the american academy of arts and sciences 

and was elected to the institute of medicine in 1995. she received an 

alumni achievement award from Wellesley college in 1993 and the 

second annual distinguished alumna award from uVa in september 

1992. she has been recognized for her contributions to women’s health 

and medicine by many professional organizations, including the president’s achievement award from the american medical Writers association, the James d. bruce memorial award from the american college 

of physicians for distinguished contributions in preventive medicine; 

the 2000 Women in medicine leadership development award from 

the aamc; the commonwealth fund’s margaret e. mahoney award for 

outstanding service for work in advancing the quality of health care for 

women; and the lifetime achievement award from the Jacobs institute 

of Women’s health. in 2007, dr. pinn received the university of Virginia 

Walter reed distinguished alumni achievement award. 
national institutes of health 

appendix d: speaker biographies 

45 

Andrew I. Schafer, M.D. 

chairman, department of medicine, Weill cornell medical collage 

dr. andrew i. schafer completed his medical education at the university 

of pennsylvania, his internal medicine residency at the university of 

chicago, and his fellowship in hematology at the peter bent brigham 

(now brigham and Women’s) hospital and harvard medical school. 

after rising through the ranks at harvard to associate professor of medicine, he moved to houston in 1989 to become chief of medicine of 

the houston Va medical center and then chairman of the department 

of medicine at the baylor college of medicine. in 2002, he became 

the frank Wister thomas professor and chairman of the department 

of medicine at the university of pennsylvania. he assumed his current 

position in may 2007 as the e. hugh luckey distinguished professor 

and chairman of the department of medicine at Weill cornell medical 

college and physician-in-chief of the new York-presbyterian hospital/ 

Weill cornell medical center. dr. schafer is the author of more than 200 

original articles and the editor of five textbooks in the field of hemostasis, thrombosis, and hematology. his clinical expertise is in the area of 

hematology, coagulation, and thrombosis. dr. schafer has made many 

important research contributions to the field of hemostasis and vascular 

cell biology. he has been the principal investigator of nih grants for 

almost 30 consecutive years and has served on the board of extramural 

advisors of the national heart, lung, and blood institute of the nih. 

dr. schafer has been elected to membership in the american society 

for clinical investigation (for which he served as secretary-treasurer), 

the association of american physicians, and fellowship in the american 

association for the advancement of science. dr. schafer was the 2007 

president of the american society of hematology and is president-elect 

of the association of professors for medicine for 2010–2011. 

Walter T. Schaffer, Ph.D. 

senior scientific advisor, extramural research, 

national institutes of health 

dr. Walter schaffer currently serves as the senior scientific advisor for 

extramural research, national institutes of health. prior to his move to 

the immediate office of the deputy director for extramural research, 

dr. schaffer served as acting director of the office of extramural programs. he has also served as the nih research training officer for 

the nih and deputy director of the division of program analysis in 

the alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health administration. he has 

been a scientific review administrator and a senior staff fellow for the 

national institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism. he joined the nih 

in 1978 after earning a ph.d. in biochemistry at the university of texas 

health science center at san antonio and a b.s. degree in chemistry 

(1974) from the university of Washington. his research interests include 

hormonal influence on age-related changes and the regulation of oxidative metabolism in brain. 

Joan Schwartz, Ph.D. 

assistant director, office of intramural research, 

national institutes of health 

dr. Joan schwartz received her undergraduate degree in chemistry from 

cornell university and her ph.d. from harvard university, with training 

in biological chemistry. after postdoctoral training at rutgers medical 

school, dr. schwartz moved to the national institutes of health (nih), 

where she has spent her entire professional career. dr. schwartz was 

a senior investigator, first in the national institute of mental health, 

and then in the national institute of neurological disorders and stroke, 

studying neurotrophic factors. she is assistant director, office of intramural research, office of the director, and served as acting deputy 

director, office of intramural training and education for 3 years. she 

chairs the nih committee on scientific conduct and ethics, which developed the nih course for tenure-track investigators, “how to succeed 

as a pi at the nih.” she chaired the second task force on the status of 

intramural Women scientists and is a member of dr. Zerhouni’s nih 

Working group on Women in biomedical careers, which is working to 

implement some of the recommendations of the task force. 

W. Sue Shafer, Ph.D. 

consultant, Women’s careers in science 

dr. W. sue shafer is a consultant to individuals about their careers 

as well as to institutions concerning women’s careers in science and 

medicine. she has over 30 years of experience leading and managing broad-based scientific research programs in both government and 

academia. she is adept at developing consensus about future research 

directions; and skilled at developing resources, overseeing expenditures, and educating others in the responsible conduct of research. her 

particular interests are in scientific careers for women and minorities, 

developmental biology, biomedical ethics, and biomedical research 

policy. she is a seasoned team builder and mentor for both scientists 

and nonscientists. trained as a developmental biologist, dr. shafer received her undergraduate degree from the university of Wisconsin, and 

her ph.d. degree from the university of florida, gainesville. she held 

positions of increasing responsibility at the national institutes of health, 

where she ultimately served as the deputy director of the national institute of general medical sciences. she then moved to the university 

of california, san francisco, where she was the assistant Vice chancellor for research administration and then the deputy director of the 

institute for Quantitative biomedical research. throughout her career, 

dr. shafer has mentored women and men (formally and informally) 

scientists, and non-scientists. she was a member of the Women in cell 

biology, committee of the american society for cell biology (ascb) 

from 1990 through 2003 (chair from 1994 to 1998). she initiated the 

Women in cell biology column in the ascb newsletter (widely read 

by women and men for advice and insights to career development); 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

appendix d: speaker biographies 

46 

and the ascb’s annual career lunch, a time for discussing career development issues among women (and men) scientists. she conceived 

and developed the idea for aXXs (achieving XXcellence in science) to 

facilitate and increase the contributions of women to science, working 

through their scientific societies. aXXs committee activities (she was 

committee chair from 1998 to 2005) were supported by the office of 

research on Women’s health, nih. as co-chair of the ucsf chancellor’s advisory committee on the status of Women, 2000 to 2002, she 

was co-principal investigator on a major study, commissioned by the 

chancellor, of the climate for faculty at ucsf. the study paid particular 

attention to issues that impact women and men differently. dr. shafer is 

sought after for her perspectives and knowledge regarding women’s careers. she was an invited participant and breakout group leader in a July 

2000 conference, “Women in the chemical Workforce,” sponsored by 

the chemical sciences roundtable of the national research council. as 

an invited speaker and leader of the panel on the middle east at the colloquium on career paths for Women in the health sciences: a global 

perspective, she helped develop a report on career paths for women 

internationally for the fogarty international center and the office of 

research on Women’s health of the national institutes of health. she 

was also an invited panelist at a 2008 aamc Workshop on Women in 

the physician Workforce on the topic of maximizing contributions and 

improving the success of Women in academic medicine. 

Jennifer Sheridan, Ph.D. 

executive and research director, Women in science and engineering 

leadership institute (Wiseli), university of Wisconsin-madison 

dr. Jennifer sheridan is the executive and research director of the 

Women in science & engineering leadership institute (Wiseli) at the 

university of Wisconsin-madison. she was co-pi of the uW-madison’s 

nsf adVance grant, and is pi of an nsf paid grant. dr. sheridan 

received her ph.d. degree from the department of sociology at uWmadison in august 2001, specializing in social stratification and quantitative research methods. her graduate work focused on the social 

origins and implications of occupational sex segregation. she has authored or co-authored fourteen peer-reviewed papers, covering topics 

such as measurement of occupational standing, long-term effects of 

childhood abuse, and her current line of inquiry, the status of women 

in science and engineering. as Wiseli’s executive and research director, 

dr. sheridan develops and oversees the workshops and grant programs 

administered by Wiseli, as well as the research and evaluation produced by Wiseli, including two all-faculty climate surveys administered 

in 2003 and 2006. 

Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. 

former director, national institutes of health 

former nih director, elias a. Zerhouni, m.d., led the nation’s medical 

research agency and oversaw the nih’s 27 institutes and centers with 

more than 18,000 employees and a fiscal year 2007 budget of $29.2 

billion from may 2002 to october 2008. 

dr. Zerhouni, a world renowned leader in the field of radiology and 

medicine, has spent his career providing clinical, scientific, and administrative leadership. he is credited with developing imaging methods 

used for diagnosing cancer and cardiovascular disease. as one of the 

world’s premier experts in magnetic resonance imaging (mri), he has 

extended the role of mri from taking snapshots of gross anatomy to 

visualizing how the body works at the molecular level. he pioneered 

magnetic tagging, a non-invasive method of using mri to track the motions of a heart in three dimensions. he is also renowned for refining 

an imaging technique called computed tomographic (ct) densitometry 

that helps discriminate between non-cancerous and cancerous nodules 

in the lung. 

since being named by president george W. bush to serve as the 15th 

director of the national institutes of health in may 2002, dr. Zerhouni 

has overseen a number of milestones. prior to joining the nih, dr. Zerhouni served as executive vice-dean of the Johns hopkins university 

school of medicine, chair of the russell h. morgan department of radiology and radiological science, martin donner professor of radiology, 

and professor of biomedical engineering. before that, he was vice dean 

for research at Johns hopkins. dr. Zerhouni was born in nedroma, algeria, and came to the united states at age 24, having earned his medical 

degree at the university of algiers school of medicine in 1975. after 

completing his residency in diagnostic radiology at the Johns hopkins 

university school of medicine as chief resident (1978), he remained at 

Johns hopkins, serving as instructor (1978–1979) and then as assistant 

professor (1979–1981). between 1981 and 1985 he was in the department of radiology at eastern Virginia medical school and its affiliated 

depaul hospital. he returned to Johns hopkins as an associate professor in 1985. in 1988, dr. Zerhouni was appointed director of the mri 

division. he was promoted to full professor of radiology in 1992 and of 

biomedical engineering in 1995. in 1996, he was named chairman of 

the radiology department. 

since 2000, he has been a member of the institute of medicine. he 

served on the national cancer institute’s board of scientific advisors 

from 1998–2002. he was a consultant to both the World health organization (1988), and to the White house under president ronald reagan 

(1985). he has won several awards for his research, including a gold 

medal from the american roentgen ray society for ct research and 

two paul lauterbur awards for mri research. his research in imaging 
national institutes of health 

appendix d: speaker biographies 

47 

led to advances in computerized axial tomography (cat scanning) and 

magnetic resonance imaging (mri). he is the author of 212 publications in peer-reviewed journals and holds 8 patents. 

Kathryn C. Zoon, Ph.D. 

director, division of intramural research, national institute of allergy 

and infectious diseases, national institutes of health 

dr. Kathryn c. Zoon has been director of the division of intramural 

research and scientific director, national institute of allergy and infectious diseases, since January 2006. previously, she was the deputy 

director for planning and development of the division of intramural 

research since June 2004. dr. Zoon was the principal deputy director 

of the center for cancer research at the national cancer institute (nih) 

from 2003–2004. she served as the director of the center for biologics 

evaluation and research (cber), u.s. food and drug administration, 

and was a member of the nih scientific directors from 1992–2003. 

dr. Zoon was the director of the division of cytokine biology in cber 

from 1988–1992, where she directed the research and review of cytokines, growth factors, and cellular products. she was at nih from 

1975 to 1980 with nobel laureate christian b. anfinsen, studying the 

production and purification of human interferon. she has continued her 

research on the structure and function of human interferon alphas. she 

received her b.s. cum laude in chemistry from rensselaer polytechnic 

institute in 1970 and was granted a ph.d. degree in biochemistry from 

Johns hopkins university in 1976. dr. Zoon is an associate editor of 

the Journal of interferon research and the author of more than 100 

scientific papers. she was president of the international society for 

interferon and cytokine research (isicr) from 2000–2001. she served 

on the foundation for advanced education in the sciences (faes) 

board of directors and was the first vice president from 1999–2003 

and is currently the federal liaison to the board of the international association of biologicals. she has received numerous awards, including 

biopharm person of the Year award 1992, the nih lectureship 1994, 

sydney riegelman lectureship 1994, genetic engineering news (gen) 

award 1994 for streamlining and improving the regulatory process for 

biologics and biotechnology products, the meritorious executive rank 

award 1994 for sustained superior performance in revitalizing and 

reorganizing the center for biologics evaluation and research to meet 

the challenges of new responsibilities and new technologies, national 

cancer patients “grateful patients award” 1996, rensselaer polytechnic 

institute alumni association fellows award 1997, the department of 

health and human services secretary’s award for distinguished service 

1998 as a member of the fda reform legislation Working group, the 

1999 Johns hopkins university delta omega alpha chapter’s 75th 

anniversary outstanding member award, the 2001 dhhs secretary’s 

award for distinguished service for outstanding leadership in positioning fda as an important contributor to the nation’s capability to 

respond to bioterrorism. dr. Zoon was elected to the institute of medicine in october 2002. in June of 2003, she received the Johns hopkins 

university distinguished alumna award and two department of health 

and human service awards for counterbioterrorism and gene therapy. 

in may of 2005, dr. Zoon received the dhhs secretary’s award for 

distinguished service for the tissue action plan team. 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

48 

APPENDIX E 

bibliography 

1. Journal Publications and Books 

2. reports 

3. Press 

4. Websites 

1. Journal Publications and Books 

andrews nc. 2007. “climbing through medicine’s glass ceiling.” new 

england Journal of medicine 357:1887-9. 

ash, as, carr pl, goldstein r, and friedman rh. 2004. “compensation and advancement of Women in academic medicine: is there 

equity?” annals of internal med 141:205-212. 

ball p. 2007. “achievement index climbs the ranks.” nature 448:737. 

bickel Ja, Wara d, atkinson bf, cohen ls, dunn m, hostler s, Johnson 

trb, morahan p, rubenstein ah, sheldon gf, stokes e. 2002. “increasing women’s leadership in academic medicine: report of the 

aamc project implementation committee.” academic medicine 

77:1043-61. 

budden ae, tregenza t, aarssen lW, Koricheva J, leimu r, and lortie 

cJ. 2008. “doubleblind review favours increased representation of 

female authors.” trends in ecology & evolution 23: 4-6. 

carnes m. 2006. “gender: macho language and other deterrents.” 

nature 442:868. 

carr pl, szalacha l, barnett r, caswell c, and inui t. 2003. “a “ton of 

feathers”: gender discrimination in academic medical careers and 

how to manage it.” Journal of Women’s health (2002) 12:1009-18. 

cohany s, and sok e. 2007. “trends in labor force participation of 

married mothers of infants.” monthly labor review february 

2007:9-16. 

dar-nimrod i, and heine sJ. 2006. “exposure to scientific theories affects Women’s math performance.” science 314:435. 

fox mf, and colatrella c. 2006. “participation, performance, and 

advancement of Women in academic science and engineering: 

What is at issue and Why.” the Journal of technology transfer 

31:377-386. 

ginther, d. 2003. “is mit an exception? gender pay differences in 

academic science.” bulletin of science, technology & society 

23:21-26. 

hirsch Je. 2005. “an index to quantify an individual’s scientific research 

output.” proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the 

united states of america 102:16569-72. 

Jagsi r, butterton Jr, starr r, and tarbell nJ. 2007. “a targeted intervention for the career development of women in academic medicine.” 

archives of internal medicine 167:343-5. 

Jagsi r, guancial ea, Worobey cc, henault le, chang Y, starr r, tarbell 

nJ, hylek em. 2006. “the “gender gap” in authorship of academic medical literature -- a 35-Year perspective.” new england 

Journal of medicine 355:281-287. 

Jagsi r, tarbell nJ, and Weinstein df. 2007. “becoming a doctor, starting a family--leaves of absence from graduate medical education.” 

new england Journal of medicine 357:1889-91. 

Kiefer aK, and sekaquaptewa d. 2007. “implicit stereotypes, gender 

identification, and math-related outcomes: a prospective study of 

female college students.” psychological science 18:13-18. 

laine c, and turner bJ. 2004. “unequal pay for equal Work: the 

gender gap in academic medicine.” annals of internal medicine 

141:238-240. 

laVaque-manty d, stewart aJ, and malley Je. 2007. transforming science and engineering: advancing academic Women. university of 

michigan press. 

leahey e. 2007. “not by productivity alone: how Visibility and specialization contribute to academic earnings.” american sociological 

review 72:533-561. 

leboy p. 2008. “fixing the leaky pipeline.” the scientist 22:67. 

ledin a, bornmann l, gannon f, and Wallon. 2007. “a persistent problem. traditional gender roles hold back female scientists.” embo 

reports 8:982-7. 

long Js, allison pd, and mcginnis r. 1993. “rank advancement in 

academic careers: sex differences and the effects of productivity.” 

american sociological review 58:703-722. 

maines r. 2007. “Why Women become Veterinarians but not engineers.” the chronicle review 53: b9. 

martinez ed, botos J, dohoney Km, geiman tm, Kolla ss, olivera a, 

Qiu Y, rayasam gV, stavreva da, cohen-fix o. 2007. “falling 

off the academic bandwagon. Women are more likely to quit at 

the postdoc to principal investigator transition.” embo reports 

8:977-81. 

mcguire lK, bergen mr, and polan mr. 2004. “career advancement 

for women faculty in a u.s. school of medicine: perceived needs.” 

academic medicine 79:319-25. 
national institutes of health 

49 

moerman cJ, haafkens Ja, soderstrom m, rasky e, maguire p, 

maschewsky-schneider u, norstedt m, hahn d, reinerth h, 

mcKevitt n. 2007. “gender equality in the work of local research 

ethics committees in europe: a study of practice in five countries.” 

Journal of medical ethics 33:107-12. 

molina Vs. 2005. “changing the face of consulting: the Women’s 

initiative at deloitte.” regional review, Q1: 42-43. 

nattinger ab. 2007. “promoting the career development of women in 

academic medicine.” archives of internal medicine 167:323-4. 

powell K. 2007. “beyond the glass ceiling.” nature 448:98-100. 

reskin b. 2005. “unconsciousness rising.” regional review 34-36. 

silver pa. 2007. “Why do so few women speak at science meetings?” 

nature 446:856. 

symonds mre, gemmell nJ, braisher tl, gorringe Kl, and elgar ma. 

2006. “gender differences in publication output: towards an unbiased metric of research performance.” plos one e127. 

tahmincioglu e. 2004. “When Women rise.” Workforce management, 

september, 26-32. 

trix f. 2003. “exploring the color of glass: letters of recommendation for female and male medical faculty.” discourse & society 

14:191-220. 

Wutte m. 2007. “closing the gender gap.” nature 448:101-102. 

2. reports 

2007a. developing equality in governance and managment for career 

progression. british medical association http://www.bma.org.uk/ 

ap.nsf/content/Wam2007. 

2007b. “coache: tenure-track faculty Job satisfaction survey 

highlights report.” harvard graduate school of education 

http://gseacademic.harvard.edu/~coache/downloads/coache_ 

reporthighlights_20070801.pdf. 

alexander h, lang J. the long-term retention and attrition of 

u.s.medical school faculty. aamc analysis in brief June 2008 

castillo-page l. 2006. diversity in the physician Workforce: facts & 

figures 2006. association of american medical colleges https:// 

services.aamc.org/publications/showfile.cfm?file=version71. 

pdf&prd_id=161&prv_id=191&pdf_id=71. 

ginther d, and Kahn s. 2006. “does science promote Women? evidence from academia 1973-2001.” nber Working paper. http:// 

www.nber.org/papers/w12691. 

gratton l, Kelan e, and Walker l. “inspiring Women: corporate best 

practices in europe.” london business school – the lehman 

brothers centre for Women in business. http://www.london.edu/ 

assets/documents/pdf/may_2007_corporate_best_practice_ 

report.pdf. 

marquis Js, lim n, scott lm, harrell mc, and Kavanah J. 2008. “managing diversity in corporate america: an exploratory analysis.” 

rand corporation. http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/ 

op206/ 

robinson m, pfeffer c, and buccigrossi J. “business case for diversity 

with inclusion.” wetWare, inc. - Workforce diversity network. 

http://workforcediversitynetwork.com/docs/business_case_3.pdf. 
Women in biomedical research: best practices for sustaining career success · meeting proceedings · march 4, 2008 

appendix e: bibliography 

50 

3. Press 

boss s. 2007. “Wedded to Work, and in dire need of a Wife.” the new 

York times. 

bryner J. 2007. “career Women might Want to have children asap.” 

live science. 

chaker am. 2007 “fighting female flight: a new staffing priority.” the 

Wall street Journal online. 

hermes JJ. 2007. “house panel hears ideas on increasing number of 

Women on science and engineering faculties.” the chronicle of 

higher education – today’s news. 

Joyce a. 2007. “they open more doors for Women.” the Washington 

post. 

Kay a. 2007. “fewer women sit on corporate boards.” courier post. 

mann m, and Wolff J. 2007. “finding the balance between professional 

and personal life.” san diego tribune. 

peterson h, and Kantrowitz b. “Women leaders: lessons We have 

learned.” newsweek. 

poullennac s. 2007. “more women needed in science, mit prof. says.” 

the daily free press. 

rigoli, elaine. 2007. “the best companies for Women focus on the 

four ps: power, pipeline, pay, and people.” ere.net inside recruiting. 

silver m. 2007. “What’s keeping women out of the labs?” bbc news. 

steiger K. 2007a. “mommy tracked.” campusprogress.org. 

steiger K. 2007b. “publish or parent?” campusprogress.org. 

Wilson r. 2006. “new set of grants Will promote faculty career flexibility.” the chronicle of higher education – news blog. 

4. Websites 

catalyst: expanding opportunities for Women and business. http:// 

www.catalystwomen.org/. 

center for Work-life policy. http://www.worklifepolicy.org/. 

corporate Voices for Working families: business impacts of flexibility. 

http://www.cvworkingfamilies.org/flex_report/flex_report.shtml. 

corporate Voices for Working families: employers supporting Working 

families. http://www.cvworkingfamilies.org/. 

faculty Vitae archives. http://www.aamc.org/facultyvitae 

families and Work institute. http://www.familiesandwork.org/. 

national academies. beyond bias and barriers: fulfilling the potential of 

Women in academic science and engineering. executive summary: http://www.nap.edu/nap-cgi/execsumm.cgi?record_id=11741. 

stanford university: provost advisory committee on the state of Women 

faculty (pacsWf) 

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/provost/womenfacultyreport/ 

pacsWf.pdf. 

university of california – davis: faculty diversity 

http://academicpersonnel.ucdavis.edu/facdiv/index.htm 

university of michigan: giving and getting career advice: a guide 

for Junior and senior faculty. smock, pJ and stephenson, r, with 

assistance from malley, Je and stewart, aJ 

http://www.umich.edu/~advproj/career%20advising.pdf. 

Vietnam Women’s memorial foundation. 

http://www.vietnamwomensmemorial.org/intro.html 

Vogel, e., gearin h. events leading to the formation of the Women’s 

medical specialist corps. http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/histories/armymedicalspecialistcorps/chapter1.htm 

Wall street Journal: careers. http://online.wsj.com/careers/main. 

Women in medicine meetings 

http://aamc.org/meetings/wim/start.htm 

Women in military service for america memorial foundation. 

http://www.womensmemorial.org/about/welcome.html. 

Women in u.s. academic medicine statistics and benchmarking report 

http://aamc.org/members/wim/statistics/stats07/start.htm 

This bibliography is a sample of the many references relevant to Best Practices for Sustaining Career Success. 

Inclusion on this list does not imply endorsement by the National Institutes of Health. 

Department of Health and Human Services 

National Institutes of Health 

Office of Research on Women’s Health
 

6707 Democracy Blvd. Suite 400 
 

Bethesda, MD 20892-5484
 

Phone: (301) 402-1770
 

FAX: (301) 402-1798
 

http://orwh.od.nih.gov/
 

NIH Publication No. 09-7366
 

Printed 2009