LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jill Suttles, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, has been selected as one of 54 senior women faculty nationwide to participate in the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) Program for Women. The program, based at Drexel University College of Medicine, is the only national program dedicated to preparing senior women faculty for leadership at academic health centers. The 2010-2011 fellows join a diverse community of leaders and represent over 50 medical, dental, and public health schools from across the United States and Canada.
“Our 16th class of fellows is exceptional for their leadership experience and academic accomplishments. We look forward to being part of their learning and growth as leaders over the coming years,” said Diane Magrane, MD, director of Drexel University College of Medicine’s International Center for Executive Leadership in Academics, which hosts the ELAM program. “The ELAM fellowship experience is like no other professional development program for academic faculty. It embeds the learning about strategic organizational change and finance into each fellow’s daily organizational work. It provides unique opportunities for self-reflection, application of new skills, and entry into a network of women leaders eager to support each other’s advancement.”
The ELAM curriculum adapts lessons in executive management and institutional leadership, such as strategic finance, organizational dynamics, and personal and professional effectiveness, to the academic health center environment. The work begins in May with online assignments and community building activities that continue through the end of the program in April 2011. Fellows begin the first of three week-long in-residence sessions when they meet at the ACE Conference Center in Lafayette Hill, PA, on September 25.
Suttles received a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Oregon, and a doctorate in biology/immunology from Brandeis University. She was a post-doctoral fellow at Wake Forest University Medical Center for three years, and prior to joining the faculty at UofL, Suttles served as a faculty member and as vice chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at East Tennessee State University. Since joining the UofL faculty in 1999, Suttles has served on a number of School of Medicine and university committees, including service as vice chair and chair of the Commission on the Status of Women. She is the director of the graduate program in Microbiology and Immunology. She has maintained an active research program in the areas of autoimmune inflammatory disease and cancer immunology, and is president-elect of the Society for Leukocyte Biology.
“I am very honored to be selected as a 2010-2011 ELAM fellow,” Suttles said. “I plan to make the very most of this experience with the goal of gaining professional skills beneficial to UofL.”
Over the past 12 years, 10 UofL faculty members have participated in ELAM fellowships.