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In recognition of Women in Medicine Month, we’re honoring some of the women who have dedicated their careers to making a positive impact on the lives of patients, women who are furthering our efforts to deliver quality care, and women like the below researchers, who are shaping the future of healthcare. 

Please join us in celebrating Women in Medicine month with a replay of these Research in Motion videos.

Anja Bielinsky, PhD
Chair, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics

"I love that I’m able to study a fundamental process in biology. Each cell in our body has about two meters of genetic material that needs to be duplicated before the cell can divide and thus needs to happen a million times during human development. It requires a precise biochemical machine and I find that fascinating." 

Linda Duska, MD, MPH
Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology

"I’m a clinical researcher and I love clinical research for two main reasons. The first reason is that it allows me to offer my patients novel state of the art care for their cancer. And the second reason is because the research we do today will change the future treatments for the patients."  

Melina R. Kibbe, MD
Professor, Departments of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, and Dean of UVA School of Medicine

"The overall goal of our research laboratory is to develop novel drug eluting technologies for patients with vascular disease. One example is arterial stenting. We’re developing a novel therapy based on a nanotechnology platform that will target a nano fiber to the area that was stunted and then release a drug to keep that artery open longer and healthier."

Coleen McNamara, MD
Professor, Department of Medicine

"My work focuses on the role of immune cells in heart and vascular disease. It’s a new field with novel discovery, and we’re identifying new pathways related to heart disease every day that can be translated to help our patients."

Mary Peace McRae, PhD
Assistant Dean for Research and
Associate Professor of Neuroscience

"My research studies how opioids negatively impact memory and learning in people living with HIV. Having a better understanding of these cellular and molecular processes, including how opioids decrease the ability of HIV drugs to treat HIV within the brain, as well as how opioids increase the recruitment of HIV into the brain, will help us to develop better strategies for treating these individuals."

Jennifer L. Payne, MD
Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences

"I research postpartum depression and how to manage psychiatric disorders during pregnancy and during the postpartum time period. I partner with other basic scientists to try to understand the underlying biology. My research has identified two epigenetic biomarker of postpartum depression, which are about 80% accurate in predicting who’s at risk for this potentially devastating illness." 

Shayn Peirce-Cottler, PhD
Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering

"I study the smallest blood vessels in our body, the capillaries, and they’re responsible for feeding oxygen and nutrients to all of our cells."

Maria Luisa Sequeira Lopez, MD
Professor of Pediatrics

"I do basic research on renal expressing cells, which are endocrine cells in the kidney, that maintain blood pressure homeostasis. It is very important to do basic research because without that basis you cannot have something to apply and translate to cure a disease." 

Sana Syed, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics

“For me as a pediatrician, research is at its very core about equity and justice.” Sana Syed, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, shares more about her research for treating children with diseases of the gut.