Philomena Asante, MD, MPH
Leader, Diva Docs Boston
Founder, Black Women Doctors Network
Staff Physician, Boston University Student Health Services
Dr. Asante leads Diva Docs Boston, a networking and leadership program for Black women physicians in the Greater Boston area and has created the Diva Docs Coverage
column which highlights Black women physicians’ perspectives on numerous health topics. The Black Women Doctors Network, founded
by Dr. Asante, is a professional networking platform for Black women physicians.
Dr. Asante received an undergraduate degree with high honors from Harvard College, a medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and a master in public health degree from Harvard School of Public Health. She completed two post-doctoral
fellowships at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School and is now pursuing a social impact MBA Boston University’s Questrom School of Business.
Dr. Asante is vice-chair of the MMS Women Physicians Section Governing Council and a member of the Committee on Diversity. She is deputy chair of Harvard Chan School of Public Health Alumni Engagement Committee and advises the American Medical Women’s
Association’s leadership certificate program.
Bettye Kearse, MD, PhD
Original Founder, Diva Docs
Acclaimed Author
Dr. Kearse, the founder of the Diva Docs, is a writer and retired pediatrician. While in pediatric practice in Boston, she empowered mothers and fathers to be confident parents. Dr. Kearse traveled to China on behalf of Wide Horizons For Children, an
international adoption agency; and served on the board of directors of From Roots to Wings, a community-based organization for grandparents and the grandchildren they are raising. She is the author of the multiple-award-winning memoir The Other Madisons: The Lost History of A President's Black Family.
Dr. Kearse's writings have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times and TIME. Her engagements include television and radio, James Madison's Montpelier, the Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society, the American Bar Association,
Harvard University, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Dr. Kearse's degrees include a B.A. in Genetics from the University of California at Berkeley, a Ph.D. in Biology from New York University, and an M.D. from Case Western Reserve University. She completed an internship and residency at Children's Hospital
Boston.
Author of The Other Madisons: The Lost History of A President's Black Family
www.BettyeKearse.com
Shikha Jain, MD, FACP
Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology & Oncology, University of Illinois - Chicago
Director of Communication Strategies in Medicine, Associate Director of Oncology Communications & Digital Innovation, University of Illinois Cancer Center
President & CEO, Women in Medicine® NFP
Dr. Jain is COO and co-founder of IMPACT, an action, advocacy, and amplification organization, and founded the social media group, Dual Physician Families. Dr. Jain is also the founder and chair of the Women in Medicine Summit. She is the 2021 appointed
Lead of the American Society for Clinical Oncology Women's Networking Center taskforce, is a member of the Diversity and Inclusion taskforce, and is appointed to the Illinois State Medical Society’s Council on Communications and Membership Advocacy,
and its COVID-19 taskforce.
Dr. Jain is a nationally renowned speaker and writes for several national publications including USA Today, Scientific American, The Hill, US News & World Report, Physician's Weekly, Doximity, KevinMD, and ASCO Connection. She was named
one of Medscape's 25 Rising Stars in Medicine in 2020, one of Modern Healthcare's Top 25 Emerging Leaders in 2019 and was also awarded the Rising Star award by the LEAD Oncology Conference in 2019.
Elena Rios, MD, MSPH
President & CEO, National Hispanic Medical Association
Dr. Rios serves as President of the National Hispanic Medical Association’s (NHMA) National Hispanic Health Foundation, affiliated with the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University in addition to her role as NHMA President
and CEO. Dr. Rios also serves on the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, New York Academy of Medicine, and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Hispanic Hiring Task Force, and the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Hispanic Advisory Committee.
Dr. Rios earned a BA at Stanford University, a MSPH at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Public Health, an MD at the UCLA School of Medicine, and completed her residency at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose and
the White Memorial Medical Center in East Los Angeles. Her National Research Service Award Primary Care Research Fellowship was completed at UCLA Division of General Internal Medicine. Dr. Rios received an honorary Doctor of Science by Lehman College
in 2010.
Katherine Sharkey, MD, PhD, FAASM, FACP
Assistant Dean for Women in Medicine & Science, Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Associate Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry & Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Dr. Sharkey is a sleep medicine physician, with a research focus of sleep and circadian rhythms, particularly as they relate to mood regulation and women's health. She serves as interim co-chair of the Brown Physicians Inc. Diversity, Inclusion & Equity
Committee and on the Alpert Medical School Diversity Council. In addition to serving as ad hoc reviewer of numerous sleep and psychiatry-related peer review journals, Dr. Sharkey is an Associate Editor of Behavioral Sleep Medicine and serves
on the editorial board of Sleep Health.
Dr. Sharkey completed her MD-PhD at Rush University in Chicago, IL and stayed on at Rush for a combined medicine and psychiatry residency. She is board certified in Sleep Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Psychiatry and serves as the Medical Director of
the Sleep for Science Research Laboratory. Dr. Sharkey is a fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American College of Physicians.
Sasha Shillcutt, MD, MS, FASE
CEO & Founder, Brave Enough
Vice Chair & Professor, Strategy and Innovation, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Dr. Shillcutt, a cardiac anesthesiologist, is a well-published researcher in cardiac anesthesiology and gender equity. She speaks frequently on the topics of professional resilience and gender equity. Her TEDx talk titled Resilience: The Art of Failing
Forward has been viewed by thousands and her writing has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association. Dr. Shillcutt’s first book, Between Grit and Grace: How to be Feminine and Formidable,
was released in February 2020. She is a board examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology and holds national leadership positions in the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiology and the National Board of Echocardiography.
Dr. Shillcutt completed her anesthesiology residency at UNMC and an Executive Fellowship in Perioperative Echocardiography at the University of Utah Medical Center. She is a board- certified anesthesiologist, is a testamur in the Special Competence in
Adult Echocardiography and has certification in advanced perioperative echocardiography through the National Board of Echocardiography.
Nancy D. Spector, MD
Executive Director, Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM)
Professor of Pediatrics and Vice Dean for Faculty, Drexel University College of Medicine
Dr. Spector serves in dual roles at the Drexel University College of Medicine as Executive Director of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) program, a part-time, year-long, national leadership fellowship
program for women in academic medicine, dentistry, public health, and pharmacy, and as Vice Dean for Faculty. Dr. Spector is a member of PROWD (Promoting and Respecting Our Women Doctors) and a co-founder of the I-PASS Safety Institute and serves
as the Chair of the I-PASS Executive Council.
Dr. Spector is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She completed her residency, chief residency, and general academic pediatrics fellowship at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children. Dr. Spector completed
a fellowship in faculty development at Michigan State University and coursework in leadership and faculty development at the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Harvard Macy Institute.
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