Notable Accomplishments | FLEX | School of Medicine

The FLEX Program, including all members, alumni, and sponsors, wish to highlight our women colleagues for their various notable accomplishments and contributions.

Congratulations to:

Dr. Farah Munir (class of ’14) on becoming the Chief Medical Officer for the Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland.
Dr. Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew (class of ’14) on her appointment as the Edgar B. Jackson Chair of Clinical Excellence & Diversity at University Hospitals.
Dr. Ruth Farrell (class of ’15) and Dr. Namita Gandhi (class of ’15) on their acceptance into the Women Professional Staff Accelerated Leadership Development Program at Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Namita Gandhi (class of ’15) on being elected to the Cleveland Clinic Women Professional Staff Association Executive Board as Officer at Large.
Dr. Sangeeta Kashyap (class of ’14) on her promotion to Professor in the Department of Medicine.
Dr. Cristina Magi-Galuzzi (class of ’15) on her appointment as President-elect of the International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) and for being nominated and selected for the Women Professional Staff Association September 2016 Women in Medicine Profile Series for her contributions to the organization and exemplifying valued leadership qualities in developing self and others.
Dr. Reema Gulati (class of ’16) for being selected as a Faculty Scholar for the CaseCAN grant for 2016.
Dr. Kathrin Nicolacakis (class of ’14) on her Directorship of Medical Compliance, Billing and Reimbursement for the Respiratory Institute at Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Christine Schmotzer (class of ‘14) on her promotion to Associate Division Chief in Clinical Pathology at University Hospitals.
Dr. Jeanne Lackamp (class of ’16) in being named the first Chair of the University Hospitals Department of Psychiatry “Psychiatry Medication Safety and Therapeutics” Committee, and also for being identified as an “Exemplary Teacher” by the Vice Dean for Medical Education at CWRU SOM.
Dr. Angelina Gangestad (class of ’15) for being elected to the Committee on Medical Education.
Ann Marie Konkoly, CNM (class of ’16) on her promotion to Assistant Medial Director of the Women’s Health Clinicat University Hospitals.
Dr. Vidya Krishnan (class of ’15) on her appointment as an Assistant Editor for the Chest Journal, a Professional Society Journal for Pulmonary Medicine and her 2016 Scholarship in Teaching Award at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Dr. Mathilde Pioro (class of ’14) on her 2015 Faculty Teacher of the Year Award for the Internal Medicine Residency Program and receiving the Outstanding Inpatient Attending Award from the Rheumatology Fellowship Program at University Hospitals of Cleveland/Cleveland VA Medical Center.
Dr. Cathleen Cerny (class of ’15) on her promotion to the Department of Psychiatry Residency Training Director at UH and for being named as a “Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.”
Dr. Devra Becker (class of ’13) for being elected to the Board of American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons.
Dr. Sharon Stein (class of ’15) on receiving the ASCRS Traveling Fellow Award and for being appointed as Secretary/Executive Council for the Association of Women Surgeons.
Dr. Tracy Hull (class of ’14) for being appointed Interim Chairman in Colorectal Surgery at Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Ruth Farrell (class of ’15) on her appointment as Chairman of the Hillcrest Ethics Committee.
Dr. Amy Wilson-Delfosse (class of ’14) on being appointed Associate Dean for Curriculum at CWRU SOM and promotion to Professor in the Department of Pharmacology as well as being selected as a participant in the ITS Active Learning Fellows Program.
Dr. Clara Pelfrey (class of ’15) on being elected as Chairman for the Translational Research Evaluation Topical Interest Group (TRE TIG) in the American Evaluation Association (AEA).
Dr. Isabelle Deschenes (class of ’13) on her promotion to full Professor.
Dr. Susan Stagno (class of ’14) on the promotion to Director of Education in the Department of Psychiatry at University Hospitals and on her promotion to Professor of Psychiatry and Bioethics at CWRU SOM. Further on her American Psychiatric Association Irma Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents, and her “Sihler Family Professorship in Psychiatry” [endowed chair] at CWRU SOM.
Dr. Katharine Downes (class of ’15) for the honor of being the keynote speaker at a conference in Luzhou, China on Blood Safety and Quality Assurance.
Dr. Elaine Schulte (class of ’14) for receiving the Cleveland Clinic Women Professional Staff Association’s (WPSA) Champion Award in 2016.
Dr. Lynda Montgomery (class of ’13) for receiving the WR2 Foundational Science Education Travel Award and the 2015 Scholarship in Teaching Award at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Dr. Emina Huang (class of ’16) for receiving the LRI Research Center of Excellence Award and for being accepted into the Weatherhead-CCF EMBA program.
Dr. Abby Spencer (class of ’16) for receiving the national Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) and Association of Chiefs and Leaders in GIM (ACLGIM) Frederick L. Brancati Mentorship and Leadership Award, and for an invitation to serve as an SGIM LEAD coach. Most recently, congratulations on being elected to the prestigious position of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM) council.
Dr. Harneet Walia (class of ’14) on being selected into The Cleveland Clinic, Neurological Institute Center for Outcomes, Research and Evaluation (NI-CORE), Scholars Program and for being selected into the Cleveland Clinic WPSA Senior Representative Program in 2016.
Dr. Leslie Heinberg (class of ’15) on her appointment as Chairman of the Bariatric Section for the Obesity Society.
Dr. Nora Singer (class of ’16) on her appointment as Chairman of the Committee on Journal Publications of the American College of Rheumatology.
Dr. Margo Funk (class of ’14) on her promotion to Chief of Psychiatry at the VA Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center & Clinic and her appointment to the American Psychiatric Association Council for Psychosomatic Medicine.
Dr. Karen Horowitz (class of ’14) on receiving the Master Clinician Educator Award at the Department of Medicine 2015 Spring Dinner.
Dr. Sangeeta Mahajan (class of ’15) on her Term Professorship in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, focused on working on the Hololens (holographic body) Project between Case Western Reserve and Microsoft.
Dr. Amy Hise (class of ’13) on her appointment as President of the Women Faculty of the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine for the 2015-2018 term.
Dr. Margaret Chandler (class of ’13) on her position as Scientific Review Officer at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Beri Ridgeway (class of ’13) on becoming Head of Cleveland Clinic Regional Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Dr. Debra Leizman (class of ’16) on her Case Western Reserve University Women Faculty of the School of Medicine Officer position as Secretary for the 2016-2018 term.
Dr. Marjorie Greenfield (class of ’13) on her promotion to Professor and for becoming Vice Chairman for Faculty Development.
Dr. Kasia Rubin (class of ’14) on her promotion to Associate Professor and appointment as Chief of Pediatric Anesthesiology at University Hospitals.
Ms. Celina Cunanan (class of '16) on her promotion to University Hospitals System Chief for Nurse-Midwifery.
Ms. Ann Marie Konkoly (class of '16) on her promotion to Medical Director for the University Hospitals Women's Health Center.
Dr. Clara Pelfrey (class of '15) on receiving the 2018 ACES grant to help fund FLEX evaluation! Thank you for giving back!
Dr. Cristina Maggi-Galuzzi (class of '15) on her promotion to Director of Anatomic Pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Dr. Mona Gupta (class of '16) on becoming Interim-Director, Palliative Care for University Hospitals and for her appointment as President for the Association of Indian Physicians of Northern Ohio (AIPNO).
Dr. Hulya Bukulmez (class of '17) on receiving the 2019 Women Faculty of the School of Medicine Helen Evans Mid-Career Development Award.
Dr. Kristian Baker (class of '18) on becoming Chief Executive Officer of the RNA Society starting in 2020. The RNA Society is an academic society with over 2000 members and a $2.5M operating budget (an annual meeting with 1200 attendees and a scientific journal with an editorial board of 15).
Dr. Namita Ghandi (class of '15) on her new role as Medical Director for Enterprise Imaging and Imaging Workflows.

Selected Testimonials:

“I'm so thankful to be a part of such an amazing group of women who are so warm, supportive, fun-loving but above all- passionate about making a real difference in the world, together! Every moment I've spent with you all has inspired me to push myself further and farther; to "get out of my comfort zone," and to discover innate faculties (didn't even realize existed!) within me. I sincerely hope to continue to incorporate the skills, tips, and feeling of empowerment that I've gained through this wonderful program to enhance and enrich whatever I undertake.” – Dr. Reema Gulati, MD (class of ’16)
“Thank you again for a truly nourishing, reflective, learning, and growth experience. I miss it tremendously and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have participated.” – Abby Spencer, MD, MS (class of ’16)
“Thanks to FLEX!! It was instrumental in being able to achieve these things. I will be speaking in Japan in September and I know I would never have been invited without having honed my speaking skills through FLEX!”– Dr. Beri Ridgeway, MD (class of ’13)
“I appreciate everything FLEX gave me, but most importantly the ability to negotiate and be okay with taking a hard position on things. As female academic faculty, it was great to have a place to develop these important leadership skills.” – Dr. Sangeeta Mahajan (class of ’15)