Past Speakers

Robert Califf, MD, MACC - Commissioner of Food and Drugs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Fireside chat with Robert Califf, MD, MACC and Robert Harrington, MD discussing the collaboration between the FDA and academic medical institutions.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

As the top official of the FDA, Dr. Califf is committed to strengthening programs and policies that enable the agency to carry out its mission to protect and promote public health. 

Previously, Dr. Califf served as the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco from February 2015 until his appointment as commissioner in February 2016. In that capacity, he provided executive leadership to the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, and the Center for Tobacco Products.  More about Robert Califf He also oversaw the Office of Special Medical Programs and provided direction for cross-cutting clinical, scientific, and regulatory initiatives, including Precision Medicine, combination products, orphan drugs, pediatric therapeutics, and the advisory committee system. 

Prior to joining the FDA, Dr. Califf was a professor of medicine and vice chancellor for clinical and translational research at Duke University. He also served as director of the Duke Translational Medicine Institute and founding director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute. A nationally and internationally recognized expert in cardiovascular medicine, health outcomes research, healthcare quality, and clinical research, Dr. Califf has led many landmark clinical trials and is one of the most frequently cited authors in biomedical science, with more than 1,200 publications in the peer-reviewed literature. 

Dr. Califf has served on the Institute of Medicine (IOM) committees that recommended Medicare coverage of clinical trials and the removal of ephedra from the market, as well as on the IOM Committee on Identifying and Preventing Medication Errors and the IOM Health Sciences Policy Board. He has served as a member of the FDA Cardiorenal Advisory Panel and FDA Science Board’s Subcommittee on Science and Technology. Dr. Califf has also served on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine, as well as on advisory committees for the National Cancer Institute, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Council of the National Institute on Aging. 

While at Duke, Dr. Califf led major initiatives aimed at improving methods and infrastructure for clinical research, including the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI), a public-private partnership co-founded by the FDA and Duke. He also served as the principal investigator for Duke’s Clinical and Translational Science Award and the NIH Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory coordinating center. 

Dr. Califf is a graduate of Duke University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and a fellowship in cardiology at Duke. 

 Less 

Hannah Valantine, MD, MRCP, FACC - Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity, National Institutes of Health 

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

NIH Addresses the Science of Diversity: Where Are We Now

Hannah Valantine is the first NIH Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity, and a Senior Investigator in the Intramural Research Program at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Prior to starting this position in April 2014, Dr. Valantine was Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and the Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Leadership at Stanford, a leadership position she held since November 2004. She is nationally recognized for her transformative approaches to diversity and is a recipient of the NIH Director’s Pathfinder Award for Diversity in the Scientific Workforce.  More about Hannah Valantine 

She is currently leading NIH efforts to promote diversity through innovation across the NIH-funded biomedical workforce through a range of evidence-based approaches. Dr. Valantine maintains an active clinical research program that continues to have high impact on patient care. Current research extends her previous finding that an organ transplant is essentially a genome transplant, and that monitoring the level of donor DNA in a recipient’s blood as a marker of organ damage will detect early stages of rejection. She is currently overseeing a multi-site consortium of mid-Atlantic transplant centers to validate these findings clinically toward the development of a non-invasive tool for detecting early signs of organ rejection.

 Less 

Marcia McNutt, Editor-in-Chief of Science Magazine

Monday, April 18, 2016

Marcia McNutt (BA in Physics, Colorado College; PhD in Earth Sciences, Scripps Institution of Oceanography) is a geophysicist who became the 19th Editor-in-Chief of Science in June 2013. From 2009 to 2013, Dr. McNutt was the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, which responded to a number of major disasters during her tenure, including the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. For her work to help contain that spill, Dr. McNutt was awarded the U.S. Coast Guard’s Meritorious Service Medal. She is a fellow of AGU, the Geological Society of America, AAAS and the International Association of Geodesy.  More about Marcia McNutt 

Her honors and awards include membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as honorary doctoral degrees from Colorado College, the University of Minnesota, Monmouth University and the Colorado School of Mines. Dr. McNutt was awarded the Macelwane Medal by AGU in 1988 for research accomplishments by a young scientist and the Maurice Ewing Medal in 2007 for her significant contributions to deep-sea exploration.

 Less 

LGBT Challenges in Medical Education and Society

Marci Bowers, MD, Obstetrician/Gynecologist

Mitchell R. Lunn, MD, Assistant Professor, Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, UCSF

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Marci Bowers, MD

Marci Bowers, MD, of Burlingame, California is widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of Genital Reassignment Surgery and is the first transgender woman to perform transgender surgery.  She is a highly regarded Ob/Gyn with 25 years of experience, known internationally for her restorative work with victims of Genital Cutting (aka FGM). Dr. Bowers is a pelvic and gynecologic surgeon with nearly 25 years’ experience in Women’s Healthcare.  More about Marci Bowers She is a University of Minnesota Medical School graduate and an Ob/Gyn product of the University of Washington in Seattle. Following residency, she remained in Seattle where she practiced as an Obstetrician/Gynocologist at The Polyclinic and Swedish Medical Center.

She spent several years in practice in Trinidad, Colorado before relocating in 2010 to the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2007 Dr. Bowers became an international authority on clitoral reconstruction for women who have suffered Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) one of few surgeons worldwide performing functional FGM reversal. She is also a regional expert in aesthetic vulvar surgery and has many years’ history working with gynecologic issues across the full spectrum.

She has been the subject of numerous documentaries, articles and features including appearances on Oprah, CBS Sunday Morning and Discovery Health, Newsweek, The Guardian and the Times of London. She is a devoted women’s healthcare advocate and provider.

 Less 

Mitchell R. Lunn, MD

Mitchell (Mitch) R. Lunn, MD is an Assistant Professor in Division of Nephrology of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He is co-director of The PRIDE Study - a national, online, longitudinal cohort study of sexual and gender minorities - as well as principal investigator of PRIDEnet, a participant-powered research network of sexual and gender minorities designed to engage communities in the research process from beginning to end. More about Mitchell R. Lunn 

Mitch is a long-standing advocate for sexual and gender minority (SGM) inclusion in research and higher education, and he lectures around the country on SGM medical education, SGM health, and SGM community engagement. He serves on the Advisory Committee for the Medical School Campus Pride Index, is a member of the American Society of Nephrology’s Diversity and Inclusion Work Group, and is a founding member of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Medical Education Research Group (LGBT MERG) at Stanford University School of Medicine. LGBT MERG’s study on SGM health-related content in medical school curricula has influenced individual institutions and national organizations to examine their policies, procedures, educational environments, and curricular content to improve the culture of academic medicine for SGM people. In recognition of his SGM-related work, he received the 2015 UCSF Chancellor’s Award for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Leadership.

Mitch is delighted to be joining his passions of SGM health research, internal medicine, and medical education. Other areas of active research and interest include use of emerging technologies in research, SGM institutional climate, and methods of evaluation, particularly in undergraduate and graduate medical education.

Mitch earned his Bachelor of Science degree with highest thesis honors from Tufts University in 2004 and his Doctor of Medicine degree from Stanford University School of Medicine in 2010 before completing internal medicine residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2013 and nephrology fellowing at UCSF in 2016.

 Less 

Freeman A. Hrabowski - President of University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, President of UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) since 1992, is a consultant on science and math education to national agencies, universities, and school systems. He was recently named by President Obama to chair the newly created President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. He also chaired the National Academies’ committee that produced the recent report, Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads.  More about Freeman A. Hrabowski 

Named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME (2012) and one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report (2008), he also received TIAA-CREF’s Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence (2011), the Carnegie Corporation’s Academic Leadership Award (2011), and the Heinz Award (2012) for contributions to improving the “Human Condition.” UMBC has been recognized as a model for academic innovation and inclusive excellence by such publications as U.S. News, which the past six years ranked UMBC the #1 “Up and Coming” university in the nation.

 Less 

Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA - U.S. Surgeon General 

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Dr. Murthy was nominated by President Barack Obama in November 2013 and confirmed on December 15, 2014 as the 19th United States Surgeon General. As "America's Doctor", he is responsible for communicating the best available scientific information to the public regarding ways to improve personal health and the health of the nation. He also oversees the operations of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, comprised of approximately 6,700 uniformed health officers who serve in locations around the world to promote, protect, and advance the health and safety of the nation.  More about Vivek H. Murthy 

Dr. Murthy has devoted himself to improving public health through the lens of service, clinical care, research, education, and entrepreneurship. The son of immigrants from India, Dr. Murthy discovered a love for the art of healing early in his childhood while spending time in his father’s medical clinic in Miami, Florida. After attending Miami Palmetto Senior High School, he received his Bachelor’s degree from Harvard, and his M.D. and M.B.A. degrees from Yale. He completed his residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School where he later joined the faculty as an internal medicine physician and instructor   Dr. Murthy regards caring for patient as the greatest privilege of his life, and he has cared for thousands of patients and trained hundreds of residents and medical students as a clinician-educator. 

In addition to clinical practice, Dr. Murthy has two decades of experience and perspective improving health in communities across the country and around the world. He co-founded VISIONS, an HIV/AIDS education program in India and the United States, which he led for eight years. As President, he established ten chapters with hundreds of volunteers in both countries and grew the organization’s education programs to reach more than 45,000 youth. Dr. Murthy also co-founded the Swasthya project (“health and wellbeing” in Sanskrit), a community health partnership in rural India, to train women to be health providers and educators. During his five-year tenure with the organization, he established seed funding and helped expand research and direct care programs that reached tens of thousands of rural residents. 

 Less 

Ruth J. Simmons, PhD - President Emerita, Brown University

Friday, May 1, 2015

Ruth J. Simmons was President of Brown University from 2001-2012. Under her leadership, Brown made significant strides in improving its standing as one of the world’s finest research universities.

A French professor before entering university administration, President Simmons held an appointment as a Professor of Africana Studies at Brown. After completing her Ph.D in Romance Languages and literatures at Harvard, she served in various faculty and administrative roles at the University of Southern California, Princeton University, and Spelman College before becoming president of Smith College, the largest women’s college in the United States. At Smith, she launched a number of important academic initiatives, including an engineering program, the first at an American women’s college.