A Story of Two Ruths

The odds of being chosen to participate in the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) program are slim. Roughly 60 women throughout the US are chosen each year to participate in this highly competitive leadership program, designed for senior women faculty who demonstrate high potential for assuming a leadership position at an academic medical center.

The odds of two physicians from the same region, let alone the same institution, being chosen are even slimmer.
Slimmer yet are the odds of two physicians who share the same first name being chosen.

But that’s what happened this year.

Ruth Farrell, MD, MA, Professor of Ob-Gyn & Reproductive Biology, Subspecialty Care for Women’s Health, and Ruth Keri, PhD, Professor of Molecular Medicine, Cancer Biology, were selected by the Drexel University School of Medicine as fellows in the 2022-23 ELAM® program.

ELAM® is a one-year intensive fellowship that provides leadership training as well as coaching, networking and mentoring, with the goal of helping women faculty in the health sciences rise to a leadership position.

Dr. Keri’s interest in ELAM® extends from her deep experience in building a personal leadership toolkit that she says can help her to build strong teams, mentor colleagues through all stages of their career development and increase the diversity of people in STEMM careers.

“I began my journey by reading books on servant leadership and then completed an Emotionally Intelligent Leadership certificate at the CWRU Weatherhead School of Management,” says Dr. Keri. “Through this process, I realized that to become an effective leader that positively impacts growth and innovation, I would benefit from additional intensive training.”

Dr. Farrell feels likewise. “It has been a professional aspiration to have this opportunity to learn with other leading women in academic medicine,” she says. “ELAM will allow me to find new ways to support women’s health and all patients through the delivery of evidence-based healthcare, research and health policy.”

Each fellow must engage in an individual project. Dr. Keri’s project is focused on developing a translational breast cancer research initiative for the city of Cleveland.

“My goal is to foster interdisciplinary communication and build teams that conduct leading-edge translational research that spans from bench to bedside and has a tangible impact on the treatment of breast cancer patients,” she says.

Dr. Farrell’s project involves working with leaders across Cleveland Clinic to develop strategies for research growth and, in particular, to offer patients at our regional hospitals the chance to participate in research.

“The training and experiences from ELAM will be a great opportunity to learn how best to achieve a robust regional research program, one that meets the needs of diverse patient populations and the providers at the different Cleveland Clinic sites across the globe,” says Dr. Farrell.

Dr. Keri shares that the name Ruth means “companion” or “friend.”

“I look forward to building a supportive and enduring friendship with Ruth and all of the ELAM participants this year,” says Dr. Keri. “Together we will build incredible teams that will change the future of medicine!”

Ruth Farrell, MD, MA

Ruth Keri, PhD