Committee on Women in Medicine and Science (COWIMS)
(Left-Right): Kim Insua de la Cruz, MD, Meg Keeley, MD, Ling Qi, PhD, Sue Pollart, MD, Dean Melina Kibbe, MD, Lynn McDaniel, MD, Kate McManus, MD, Evelyn Aboagye, MD, Ourania Preventza, MD, Alyssa Mixon, DO, Adanna Akujuo, MD, Kathryn Xixis, MD, Debora Ferreira, MD, Subhashis Banerjee, PhD
COWIMS Mission
The UVA Committee on Women in Medicine & Science (COWIMS) promotes and enables the representation, development, and contributions of all individuals.
Be Informed!
For regular updates and information:
Subscribe to our email list
Follow us on Social Media
Join a Sub-Committee
To join a subcommittee, fill out this survey.
Who We Are
Dr. Kate McManus, Chair of COWIMS
“I have a longstanding passion and interest in helping to achieve gender equity in medicine and science and in empowering women in these fields. Women in medicine and science who are empowered, encouraged, and valued improves the retention of key talent who are essential to making UVA a Great and Good university. I look forward to the opportunity to enthusiastically contribute my passion and expertise to drive significant progress towards achieving the committee’s strategic goals.” ~Kate McManus, MD
Dr. McManus joined the University of Virginia Health System and School of Medicine (SOM) in 2010, completed her Internal Medicine residency, and served as a chief resident year and Infectious Diseases fellowship at UVA. She joined the Department of Medicine (DOM) faculty as an inaugural iTHRIV Faculty Scholar in July 2017. Dr. McManus has been an active member of the SOM DOM Women in Internal Medicine Network (WIMN) group since its inception in 2015 and has served as a co-chair of the group since 2019. We are grateful for the leadership experience on behalf of women faculty that Dr. McManus brings to this position and know her experience as a faculty member active in all mission areas will greatly benefit our faculty members.
-
- Kendall Bromley, Co-president coWIMS
-
- Katie Kraichely, Medical Scientist Training Program; AFFIRM Co-president
-
- Caroline Riedstra, Co-president coWIMS
Advocacy and Awards
Professional Development
Data Analytics
Programming/Events
Media
COWIMS Woman of the Month Series
The COWIMS Woman of the Month feature is a once monthly series designed to highlight a woman in our community.
The Committee on Women in Medicine and Science (COWIMS) is honored to spotlight the work of Jamie Zoellner, PhD, RD, as October’s Woman of the Month, in celebration of Health Literacy Month.
Dr. Zoellner contributes significantly to health literacy; a topic that continues to play a critical role in preventative care, patient compliance, and overall quality of life.
Dr. Zoellner is a professor and registered dietitian in the Department of Public Health Sciences, where she provides leadership for the Community-Based Health Equity Research Program. She also serves as the Co-Program Lead for the Cancer Prevention and Population Health (CPH) program for UVA’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and is leading efforts to expand the research and outreach mission across Virginia and beyond. Her research includes engaging medically underserved areas in community-based participatory research and discovering solutions to the causes and consequences of limited health literacy. She focuses on lifestyle risk factors that have direct relevance to obesity and cancer prevention efforts.
Dr. Zoellner has several funded research projects including those targeting sugar-sweetened beverage behaviors among rural Appalachian residents, childhood obesity treatment, colorectal cancer screening, and building capacity for rural cancer control in southwest Virginia. Collectively, her research involves developing the capacity of health and community systems in rural regions to adopt and sustain evidence-based programs
COWIMS thanks Dr. Zoellner for her dedication and ongoing commitment to advancing health literacy and improving the degree to which individuals and communities obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services, empowering them to make well-informed health decisions.
If you would like to nominate a future COWIMS Woman of the Month, click here.
COWIMS Resources
May 21, 2024, COWIMS held an AAMC Early Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar: Sharing about the Application Process & Seminar Highlights. Recent UVA faculty attendees of the AAMC Early Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar shared insights about the application process and seminar highlights. This session was intended to be helpful for women who are considering any of the AAMC conferences for women faculty and mentors/sponsors who want to know more about the process and the benefits. Learn more about AAMC here. A recording of the session can be found here.
COWIMS News
School of Medicine women Associate Professors: Applications are now open for the AAMC’s Mid-Career Women Leadership Development Seminar.
For this seminar, the Committee on Women in Medicine and Science is thrilled to offer a Leadership Development Travel Award, in the amount of up to $1,000, for to up to four women faculty who are accepted to participate in the AAMC’s Mid-Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar. To apply for this award, please email a PDF copy of your AAMC Mid-Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar application and curriculum vitae at the time of your seminar application to Ashley Ayers at ala5t@virginia.edu.
If you are selected to the Seminar and selected to receive the Leadership Development Travel Award, COWIMS requests that you prepare a summary describing what you learned while participating in the Seminar, and present it to (1) the SOM community and (2) your department at a department faculty meeting. COWIMS will send additional details, upon notifying you of your receipt of this award.
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Kate McManus, Chair of the Committee on Women in Medicine and Science. Please see the link below for details about the seminar and eligibility (women faculty with a minimum of two years of experience appointed on/before December 2022 as an Associate Professor).
Apply here
