Mentorship has played a vital role in elevating the work of women in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine positions worldwide, and continued efforts are needed to enact lasting change in the field, speakers emphasized during the annual ATS Women’s Forum.

Featured speaker Zea Borok, MD, ATSF, joined other distinguished female leaders in respiratory education and research in sharing lessons from their careers on Monday, May 20, at the ATS 2024 International Conference. Dr. Borok is the Helen M. Ranney Professor of Medicine and chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and has served in numerous leadership roles with the University of Southern California and within the ATS over the past three decades.

Noting that her CV might suggest a linear and carefully planned career, Dr. Borok relayed stories from her journey that proved the opposite and detailed her struggle with the internal and external forces that were holding her back — from imposter syndrome and perfectionism to caregiving responsibilities, workplace biases, and societal stereotypes. Dr. Borok pointed out that those same factors have resulted in a significant disparity between the number of women enrolled in medical school — more than 50 percent — and the number of department chairs in those same schools who are women — less than 25 percent.

“We must encourage and support more women to take on leadership positions,” Dr. Borok said, emphasizing the importance of nominating women for opportunities, engaging men as allies, and acting as mentors and sponsors for the next generation of women in medicine. “If we’re not willing to step up to the challenge, the culture will never change, and I do believe that it’s a numbers game.”

Stephanie Davis, MD, ATSF, the 2024 recipient of the Elizabeth A. Rich Award, echoed the vital role of mentorship and support systems during her career in pediatric medicine. Dr. Davis is the Edward C. Curnen, Jr. Distinguished Professor and chair of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the Physician in Chief for UNC Children’s. Each year, the Elizabeth A. Rich Award is presented to an outstanding woman in the ATS who has made significant contributions to respiratory medicine. Dr. Davis’ NIH-funded research focuses on elucidating early lung disease through sensitive endpoints and biomarkers, specifically in cystic fibrosis, primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), and chronic lung disease related to prematurity.

Struggles with the guilt of balancing family, work, friend obligations, and perfectionism often threatened to pull Dr. Davis away from her passion for helping chronically ill children and changing the trajectories of their lives. But numerous mentors helped her regain her focus time and again — something she attempts to pay forward through mentoring efforts of her own.

“Support each other in professional and personal growth,” Dr. Davis said. “Don’t forget your north star. Child health has always been mine. Remember what’s important. For me, it’s my family, my faith. And finally, stay true to yourself.

This year’s Women’s Forum also highlighted a new ATS effort that aims to fight the global underrepresentation of women in medical leadership positions, the ATS Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical and Operations Research (MECOR) Women’s Leadership Program in Africa.

The program, which initially will feature an in-person training, mentoring, and coaching program for five to seven participants annually, aims to empower female leadership, capitalize on the demonstrated success of the MECOR program, strengthen local health care systems, promote research and development, and foster networking and collaboration.

A. Sonia Buist, MD, and Obianuju Ozoh, MD, ATSF, implored attendees at the Women’s Forum to donate to the effort so that it might continue to grow and possibly expand to build leadership capacity for women worldwide. Dr. Buist is a past ATS president and the founder of the MECOR, which has been building research capacity in low- and middle-income countries worldwide for 30 years. She also recently donated $400,000 to the ATS in support of the women’s leadership program, making her the highest lifetime donor in ATS history. Dr. Ozoh is the co-director of the Pan African Thoracic Society Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical, and Operations Research (PATS MECOR) Program and the Vice President of PATS, a partner in the new leadership program.

The importance of elevating women to leadership positions around the world was reiterated at the forum by ATS President M. Patricia Rivera, MD, ATSF, who noted that six respiratory societies worldwide are now led by women — and invited some of those leaders to the stage for special recognition.

The ATS thanks United Therapeutics and Regeneron Healthcare Solutions for their support of the Women’s Forum.