The University of Colorado School of Medicine has been awarded the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program’s Institutional Award for the Advancement of Women in Medicine and Science.
The award, which is special to ELAM’s 30th anniversary celebration, honors an institution, organization, or health care system that demonstrates through word, deed, and outcomes a commitment to assuring equitable access to educational and career opportunities, as well as highest offices of the professions.
The ELAM program, based at the Drexel University College of Medicine, has trained more than 1,600 faculty members from schools of medicine, dentistry, public health, and pharmacy through its prestigious part-time, yearlong fellowship that aims to increase and sustain the number and impact of women in leadership positions in the health sciences. Thirty-six program alums call Colorado home, and many have found careers with the CU School of Medicine, including as senior associate deans, department chairs, and as center directors.
“The award is a great honor to our institution and in particular, the CU School of Medicine,” says Judy Regensteiner, PhD, FAHA, a distinguished professor of medicine and director of the Ludeman Family Center for Women’s Health and Research.
“ELAM is considered to be one of the best leadership training programs in the country and the high participation rate in the ELAM program and the great success enjoyed by our ELAM grads is remarkable,” she continues.
The CU School of Medicine has been a dedicated supporter of the ELAM program, each year sending at least one candidate to the training. This year’s participants are Emmy Betz, MD, professor of emergency medicine and director of the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative, and Julie Cooper, PhD, professor and department chair of biochemistry and molecular genetics.
Participants Emmy Betz, MD, left, and Julie Cooper, PhD, right, pose for a photo with Lotte Dyrbye, MD, MHPE.
“ELAM has helped shape a culture of inclusive leadership at CU School of Medicine—its impact is evident in the number of women advancing into senior roles, the strength of our leadership pipeline, and our ongoing commitment to equity in academic medicine,” says Lotte Dyrbye, MD, MHPE, senior associate dean of faculty and chief well-being officer, who accepted the award on behalf of the school May 1 at the ELAM 30th anniversary gala.
The school has been a steadfast champion of providing opportunities for women faculty members. The Women’s Leadership Training for early career faculty has been taught every year since 2013, when Regensteiner developed the program with the idea that a local program was necessary to help women faculty get a strong start in their leadership training. CU Department of Medicine colleagues have also helped implement a midcareer course for women faculty. More than 500 people have received training from the programs.
Today, approximately half of the school’s 24 departments are chaired by women.
“In the context of today’s shifting landscape, this award is a powerful affirmation of our enduring commitment to advancing women in leadership—not through slogans, but through sustained action, measurable progress, and unwavering support for equity in academic medicine,” Dyrbye says. “We are deeply grateful to the extraordinary women of CU School of Medicine—past, present, and future—whose leadership, dedication, and vision have shaped our community. This recognition belongs to them and reflects the strength, talent, and impact they bring to every corner of our institution.”
