Georgetown University hosted its first in-person Annual Women in Medicine Awards Ceremony in three years Jan. 26. Students, faculty and community members gathered at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center Atrium to celebrate the accomplishments and promotions of esteemed women in research, practice and mentorship related to medicine. 

The event is hosted each year by the Georgetown Women in Medicine (GWIM), a faculty-led initiative focused on advocating for gender equity at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) and in MedStar employment facilities. The organization also hosts a variety of workshops, seminars and community events to promote engagement among women in medicine.

GWIM President Eileen Moore kicked the event off by emphasizing the accomplishments of the women who should be celebrated for advancing equity in the field of medicine in ways that will enhance opportunities for future generations of young women. 

“Each year, we come together to celebrate the wonderful achievements of all of our faculty, but to recognize in particular some that have gone above and beyond in the areas of mentoring, of achievement academically, teaching, etc.,” Moore said at the event. “I am delighted to recognize those leaders this evening.” 

Moore also said these accomplishments align with a larger initiative to increase gender equity, speaking on the progress that has been made toward GWIM’s goal of having 25% of the chairs in the GUMC’s departments be filled by women by 2025. The GUMC has been working toward this goal for over five years, and it is representative of the strong push to increase female representation in medical academia.  

The event also included a school-specific faculty achievement awards ceremony. Formerly the School of Nursing & Health Studies Mentorship Award for Faculty in Health Studies, the two newly created awards for mentorship in the School of Health (SOH) and School of Nursing (SON) highlighted significant achievement for faculty members in their respective departments. 

The SOH Mentorship Award was granted to Rosemary Sokas, a professor of human science and family medicine at Georgetown. The presenter of this award, SOH Dean Christopher King, spoke on Sokas’ accomplishments that led to the accolade. 

“As an administrator at Georgetown University and other institutions, Rosie has taught and has mentored hundreds of students on health impact,” King said.

Cindy Farley, a professor in GUMC’s nurse-midwifery and women’s health nurse practitioner programs who has expanded her efforts to both other universities and countries worldwide, received the School of Nursing Mentorship Award. 

Collaboration and mentorship are crucial in these fields, according to Farley.

“I am grateful for this award, as it serves as a reminder to be generous in teaching, sharing, and lifting others,” Farley wrote in an acceptance message that was read at the ceremony. “Mentorship plays an important role in positive connections in our School of Nursing community and beyond.”

Another award that was presented is the Karen Gale Outstanding Achievement Award and the Estelle Ramey Mentorship Award. The Karen Gale Outstanding Achievement Award was created in 2008 in memory of Karen Gale, a long-time professor at Georgetown. The award honors a faculty member who has demonstrated significant achievement on national and global levels in their work, as well as acted as a leader to female GUMC faculty.

This year’s Karen Gale Outstanding Achievement Award was given to Kathleen Maguire-Zeiss, chair of Georgetown University’s department of neuroscience and esteemed researcher in the fields of Parkinson’s disease, immune cells and HIV-associated cognitive disorders. 

The values represented by this award, such as leadership, dedication and success, are demonstrated throughout the Georgetown community, according to Maguire-Zeiss. 

“This community at Georgetown inspires me because I witness your dedication, every day, to your research and scholarship,” Maguire-Zeiss said at the ceremony. “I am inspired when I experience that your motivation to do all of this is really for the greater good of society — and that’s what makes us Georgetown.” 

Jamie Padmore, the vice president of academic affairs at MedStar Health and founder of MedStar’s Teaching Scholars Program, was awarded the Estelle Ramey Mentorship Award. This award is named after one of the first female Georgetown University School of Medicine faculty members and is given to a female faculty member that has shown outstanding ability to uplift and support others employed by Georgetown University and MedStar Health.

Although an awarded mentor herself, Padmore accepted by sharing the importance of role models in her own professional journey.  

“Starting out my career and medical education as a twenty-five-year-old who was ready to take on the world, I had two wonderful mentors,” Padmore said at the event. “I was very grateful to have them in my life as a young administrator and faculty member.”

The ceremony concluded with remarks highlighting all the women who have served in leadership or roles in the field of medicine. 

As a key theme throughout the ceremony, Padmore said mentorship is one of the key components of a successful medical career. 

“Your mentors kind of come and go, and change, and I think one of the best attributes about being or having a mentor is that sometimes they don’t even know that they are mentoring you,” Padmore said.