Historically, healthcare has been a male-dominated industry.
Decades ago, women had limited educational opportunities, couldn’t work outside the home as it wasn’t socially acceptable, and openly discussing women’s health was considered taboo.
Now, as social norms have changed, more women are seeking a career in the healthcare industry. In fact, women currently make up 65% of the healthcare workforce.
There are numerous ways women contribute to the healthcare industry. Whether practicing medicine, conducting research for scientific studies, or developing technology to benefit healthcare workers and patients, women are changing the face of the healthcare industry.
Four Women Leaders Impacting the Healthcare Industry
As medical doctors, scientists, and professors, women are making significant contributions to the healthcare industry.
1. Emmanuelle Charpentier
Professor Charpentier is a renowned researcher in microbiology, biochemistry, and genetics. She has completed lab work studying how pneumonia-causing bacteria use mobile genetic elements to adapt its genome. Dr. Charpentier also worked in a skin cell biologist’s lab to study gene manipulation in mammals.
Her experience as Research Associate at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine in New York helped project her career as a lab head and guest faculty at the Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine in Sweden. From there, she transferred to Germany, where she became an Alexander von Humboldt professor.
Dr. Charpentier’s experience in molecular studies led her to identify the molecular mechanisms of CRISPR/Cas9 – a bacterial immune system – and repurposing it for genome editing. This discovery has enabled scientists to successfully change the DNA of animals and plants. Charpentier and her research partner, Jennifer Doudna, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this discovery. This is the first scientific Nobel Prize ever awarded to two women.
2. Maliha Hashmi
Dr. Hashmi is an expert in strategic planning and healthcare.
A graduate of Harvard and MIT, she is a leader on many boards and programs for countless corporations, foundations, non-profit organizations, hospitals, and research centers.
Her outside-the-box strategies bring creative solutions to the healthcare industry.
Hashmi partnered with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School to develop the United Nations World Food Program’s Freerice initiative. This multiple-choice quiz game is a free website and mobile app that lets players donate rice to people in need.
Additionally, Dr. Hashmi has:
- Engaged in strategic partnership with scholars and world leaders in four continents
- Served as CEO of an educational consultancy firm in Bahrain
- Authored several publications for research, corporate, and academic sectors
- Held executive roles in high-level organizations worldwide and is known globally for her contributions to the health industry
She is currently the Executive Director and Deputy Sector Head for the Health, Wellbeing and Biotech Sector at NEOM. She is also the Deputy Chair of the NEOM COVID-19 Leadership Taskforce, working to find solutions to the global pandemic.
3. Frances H. Arnold
Dr. Arnold is a chemical engineer and the current Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biochemistry at California Technical Institute.
Among many awards and honors, she received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing the use of directed evolution to create enzymes.
Typically, evolution by natural selection leads to proteins that can complete biological duties. These genetic mutations take place over time. Arnold’s directed evolution introduces mutations early in the process. She can use research and data to determine which mutations to apply for a more efficient progression. If it yields positive results, she can optimize it further for even more promising outcomes.
Not only does Arnold’s work benefit people but also the environment. Her directed evolution contributions have helped produce renewable fuels and pharmaceutical products that are more ecologically friendly.
4. Nancy Howell Agee
As president and CEO, Agee oversees the Carilion Clinic – a $2 billion not-for-profit healthcare organization in Virginia. Under her leadership, the Carilion Clinic went from a group of hospitals to a physician-led integrated clinic. As a result, Virginia Tech partnered with the clinic to develop an allopathic medical school and research institute.
The Carilion Clinic employs over 1,000 physicians and consists of seven hospitals, ranging from small rural to the third largest in the state. The organization also provides the following free services to more than one million citizens across Virginia and West Virginia:
- Home health services
- Imaging technologies
- Pharmacies
- Surgical clinics
Agee is nationally renowned as an innovative healthcare leader. She’s chair of the American Hospital Association and has been named one of Modern Healthcare’s most influential people.
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