Jennifer Love, MD

President-Elect

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

I would be honored to serve as AWAEM President in the upcoming term. Since joining AWAEM in 2020 as Co-Chair of the Didactics Committee, I have found this community to be an incredible source of mentorship, inspiration, and belonging. AWAEM has given me and many others an empowering space to share challenges, celebrate successes, and build one another up as we advance the impact of women in academic emergency medicine.

Over the past five years, as Chair of the Didactics and Research Committees and now as VP of Education, I have been lucky to help grow initiatives that embody AWAEM’s mission. Together with our members, I have worked to expand didactic submissions and transform them into SAEM webinars that amplify women’s voices in research and career development. I helped the Research Committee launch the AWAEM K Club, a mentoring program connecting members pursuing K awards with experienced mentors who provide targeted feedback. As VP of Education, I have continued to support the didactics committee and new executive committee initiatives, such as AWAEM Grand Rounds.

If elected President, I will continue to build upon these efforts by strengthening and expanding AWAEM’s core programs—the Speakers Bureau, Grand Rounds, and Awards. I will prioritize collaboration with CORD to elevate our members as national thought leaders. I will strengthen partnerships with EMRA to nurture the next generation of women in academic emergency medicine. Finally, I would explore launching new initiatives based on feedback from the member survey. Potential ideas may include an AWAEM Coaching Program to provide focused coaching for members or an AWAEM Retreat to foster continued growth, learning and mentorship in our community outside of the busy annual SAEM meeting.

Kellie LeVine McKenzie, MD

Secretary

Emory University School of Medicine

I am a Medical Toxicology fellow with Emory Emergency Medicine, and am AWAEM’s current secretary. I completed my residency with Emory this past year. My undergraduate education was at Duke University, where I graduated in 2017 with a major in Biology and research honors, as well as minors in Chemistry and French. After a year in genomics research, I attended Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. I graduated in 2022 with Honors with Distinction in research and as the school’s 2022 SAEM award recipient. My experience with SAEM, and more broadly, academic emergency medicine, includes involvement with SAEM and ACEP throughout medical school and residency. I was an ACEP Medical Student Scholar in 2021, and an SAEM Medical Student Ambassador in both 2020 and 2021. I was selected as a Lead Ambassador for the conference both years. I have gained additional meaningful leadership experience from my positions working with the national educational organization, Foundations of Emergency Medicine. I have served as AWAEM’s Resident Member, and this past year have been AWAEM’s Secretary. I hope to continue on in this role and further my career and personal development while staying on as a representative and voice for women in the field. I gained valuable experience through my role as AWAEM’s resident member, and have continued to grow as this past year’s secretary.

Rebecca Barron, MD, MPH

Treasurer

UMass Chan Medical School - Baystate

The Academy for Women in Academic Emergency Medicine (AWAEM) has been a critical resource in my career thus far. I got involved in the organization as a resident (at the urging of one of my former chief residents, who is now a colleague also still involved in AWAEM), originally as SAEM didactics committee chair. I then got reinvolved as regionals committee chair once I reentered academic emergency medicine after a brief hiatus. Being part of AWAEM has allowed me to learn from and connect with inspirational women from all facets of academic emergency medicine—indeed, many of my mentors (and now friends) are women I’ve met at AWAEM events or through other AWAEM members. Additionally, I have been able to face personal and professional challenges with more resources and support. For example, in 2023, I received an AWAEM research award, and this year, I was awarded an AWAEM/SAEMF research grant, both of which I am using to further improve sexual assault care. I have also been fortunate enough to receive AWAEM’s momentum and first author research publication awards, which will bolster my case for promotion when the time comes. These are just a few of the ways I’ve tangibly benefitted from AWAEM as an organization, and I am eager to continue giving back to it so that other women in academic emergency medicine can reap the same benefits that I’ve been able to. It has been an honor to serve as AWAEM Treasurer this year—it has deepened my understanding of the organization’s commitment to women EM physicians’ academic advancement, and also enabled me to shape the ways in which we support our members (e.g., increasing financial support for awards). I am hopeful that if given the chance, I can continue to create positive change within AWAEM and beyond.

Angela Jarman, MD, MPH

Vice-President of Career Development

University of California, Davis

I am running for Vice-President of Career Development of AWAEM. I am currently an Associate Professor and the Director of Sex & Gender in the Department of Emergency Medicine at UC Davis.

I have served in various leadership positions within SAEM, and my past organizational leadership experiences make me well-qualified for this position on the executive committee of AWAEM. I chaired the Chair of the Sex & Gender Interest Group (SGIG) from 2020-2023 and we had some of the most successful years since the group’s inception. Each year under my leadership, the SGIG sponsored a record number of well attended and collaborative didactics at the annual meeting and published multiple peer reviewed articles focused on sex and gender specific topics. I am an active member of the AWAEM research committee and have previously held leadership positions with the AWAEM; I was the pre-conference workshop chair in 2020 and 2021. I am an active member of both AWAEM and ADIEM and have been a featured speaker on national webinars sponsored by each group. Finally, I have served on many committees through my years on faculty.

I have experience building curricula, designing research studies, supporting professional development, particularly for underrepresented groups. I believe these experiences and broad professional network will help me to serve in this role. Further, the majority of my service roles both locally and national focus on equity, with attention to intersectionality.
I have always sought to be a leader in academic medicine, and serving on the AWAEM EC would allow me to have a significant impact within AWAEM and continue to support the mission of advancing academic EM through education, research, and professional development. My experience across all domains of this mission makes me an excellent candidate to serve in this capacity and I would appreciate your support.

Ynhi Thomas, MD, MPH, MSc

Vice-President of Career Development

Baylor College of Medicine

I am an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and an Investigator in the Behavioral Health Program at the Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness, and Safety at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. Over the past two years, I have served as the AWAEM Vice President of Career Development. In this role, I have worked with the Preconference, Didactics, and Awards Committees to expand opportunities for professional growth and recognition among women in academic emergency medicine.

For the Preconference Committee, I help faculty develop ideas into competitive workshop proposals and continue working with them after acceptance to refine content and coordinate speakers. AWAEM-sponsored workshops have been accepted at every SAEM Annual Meeting since I began serving, with several published as SAEM Pulse articles and one as a peer-reviewed manuscript. One workshop was also presented at the Association of American Medical Colleges Annual Meeting, reflecting AWAEM’s growing national visibility. Through the Didactics Committee, I support efforts to increase AWAEM-focused submissions for the Annual Meeting. For the Awards Committee, I assisted with streamlining the nomination process, introducing awards that highlight achievement across career stages, and increasing participation among members. I have also served on the SAEM Grants Committee, helping to review AWAEM Research Grant submissions to support mission-aligned evaluation.

If re-elected, I will continue building on the initiatives suggested by AWAEM members and leaders, including launching a dedicated career development column in the AWAEM newsletter, expanding the Letter Writer's Bureau to support faculty promotion, and working with the Executive Committee to broaden our collaborative webinar offerings with SAEM. I will also help strengthen the new AWAEM Grand Rounds to provide mentorship and visibility for members’ ongoing projects. My focus is on sustaining meaningful, member-driven programs that help women advance, publish, and lead within academic emergency medicine.

Joe-Ann Moser, MD, MS

Vice-President of Education

University of Wisconsin- Madison

Hello, my name is Joe-Ann Moser and I am running to serve as your next AWAEM Vice President of Education. Since May 2023, I have been serving as the co-lead of AWAEM’s Research Committee, which makes me well-prepared to be a knowledgeable and productive member of the Executive Board. I completed an Education Scholarship Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have previously served on the EMRA Board of Directors as their Director of Education, and currently co-lead an objective on SAEM’s Education Committee. In these roles, I have overseen edits to existing educational materials and determined which new proposals were worthwhile to pursue. I will carry these valuable skills into the role of Vice President of Education.

If elected, I would work with SAEM staff to create a way to more routinely and seamlessly update already existing resources for AWAEM members, such as the Letter Writers and Speakers Bureau. I would also like to reformat the AWAEM website to make it easier for members to find the resources that would be most beneficial to them. This could include creating a repository of already created resources, such as links to relevant SAEM webinars or AWAEM Grand Rounds. I would also like to work with the Vice Presidents of Membership and Communications to come up with innovative ways to more widely distribute these resources to AWAEM members who might not already be aware of them.

I would be honored to serve as your next AWAEM Vice President of Education. Thank you so much for your consideration.

Samita M. Heslin, MD, MPH, MBA

Vice-President of Membership

Stony Brook Medicine

I am a dual board-certified Emergency Medicine and Clinical Informatics physician, currently serving as Chief of the Division of Quality & Informatics and Deputy Chief Medical Information Officer for Emergency Medicine. I hold several graduate degrees (MD, MBA, MPH, MA, MS) and have dedicated my career to advancing innovation, professional development, and excellence in emergency medicine.

Through my involvement in SAEM, I have served on national committees including AWAEM and the Grants Committee and have mentored trainees and junior faculty. I have also led research and quality initiatives focused on improving emergency care delivery, advancing digital health, and supporting the academic and leadership growth of women in medicine.

I am running for Vice President of Membership because I am passionate about fostering connection, belonging, and professional growth among women in academic emergency medicine. If elected, I hope to strengthen engagement across all career stages, encourage mentorship and collaboration, and create more opportunities to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of our members.

AWAEM has played a meaningful role in my own professional journey. I would be honored to give back by helping to build a strong, engaged community that supports and inspires women in academic emergency medicine.

Alexa Curt, MD

Resident Member

Mass General Brigham