Insights from
Women Leaders

Speaker Series

The series was launched as a platform to hear from women leaders with varied backgrounds and perspectives on leadership, addressing current and future challenges, what skills we need moving forward, and how their experiences have shaped their outlook. 

The goal of the series is to learn from women thought leaders and decision-makers to empower current and future leaders, both men and women, to positively impact organizations and communities. 

Diversity of thought, experiences, industries, education and training is important to us as it highlights the mosaic of perspectives that are represented in different settings that helps drive decision-making, and positive change.

This series highlights the journeys and contributions of various women leaders, who share their insights on a range of topics impacting their industries, our communities, and their role in shaping the future. 

The guests have included over 34 leaders from various prestigious and reputable institutions from across the globe, their backgrounds are diverse, their accomplishments many, and the insights and perspectives have provided have been extremely valuable.

All Guest Speakers

  • Dr. Lucinda Maine

    Executive Vice President & CEO, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Karin Källander

    Chief Digital Health and Information Systems at UNICEF and Co-Founder of the Digital Health Centre of Excellence (DICE)

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Erin Fox

    Senior Pharmacy Director, Drug Information and Support Service, Associate Professor (Adjunct), University of Utah College of Pharmacy

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford

    Obesity Medicine Physician Scientist, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Jessica Daley

    Group Vice President Strategic Sourcing and Chief Pharmacy Officer, Premier

    Watch Now

  • Madhuri Sebastian

    Digital Health Executive, VP, Data Management & Interoperability, Philips

    Watch Now

  • “The pandemic has provided us, in pharmacy associations, an unprecedented opportunity to collaborate. In the pandemic, fourteen national associations have come together –  and we work together at least every week on how are we going to make sure that the pharmacy profession has been positioned effectively to take advantage of the opportunities that this pandemic has unfortunately or fortunately presented.”

    Dr. Lucinda Maine

  • "Leadership is over glorified and the real change always comes from the followers. When in a leadership position, you have to dare to be that lone nut who has to dance alone in front of a crowd. But if you can do this in a way that is convincing and easy to follow, others will have the guts to stand up and join in. It is the followers that make a lone nut a leader.” 

    Dr. Karin Källander

  • “Good leaders still want to inspire teamwork, want to get out of the way of their teams, and need to be flexible. Those qualities are important in any sector. I think in healthcare though, layered on top of your role as a leader, you still need to be very clinically savy. You have an extra layer of things you need to be competent in. Healthcare is different in that in many cases you’re layering your role as a healthcare professional on top of being a leader.”

    Dr. Erin Fox

  • "I believe a leader should be knowledgeable and compassionate. A leader’s knowledge provides a compass for progress while their compassion will allow them to understand team dynamics to reach a common goal."

    Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford

  • “Leaders have the passion to drive change, the curiosity to be continuous learners, and the resiliency to improve the future for those who depend on them.”

    Dr. Jessica Daley

  • “Find the megatrends, connect the strategy, but it has to link to the improvement of something fundamental. As a leader, help connect the what to the why for your team to enable and empower them."

    Madhuri Sebastian 

  • Savaria Harris

    VP Law, Patient Engagement & Customer Solutions, Janssen North America Pharmaceuticals of Johnson & Johnson

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Saira Haque

    Senior Director, Clinical Informatics, Pfizer Medical Affairs

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Joan Reede

    Dean for Diversity and Community Partnerships, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Professor of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

    Watch Now

  • Margo Warren

    Head of Policy, Access to Medicine Foundation

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Vinika Rao

    Executive Director, INSEAD Emerging Markets Institute, Gender Initiative & Africa Initiative and Asia Director, Hoffman Global Institute for Business & Society, Asia

    Watch Now

  • Aashima Gupta

    Global Director, Healthcare Solutions at Google Cloud

    Watch Now

  • "All leaders, in any industry, have three important responsibilities. First, setting a clear vision that others can get excited about and constantly refining that vision to be relevant and fresh. Second, being accountable when things (invariably) go wrong and promptly making decisions to resolve problems so that stakeholders can trust that the project  has someone who will be accountable. Finally, sharing the credit, inspiring and celebrating their team when things go well."

    Savaria Harris

  • "Leadership takes courage.  There are many ways to exhibit courage as a leader and some examples include doing the right thing, even when it’s difficult, ceding control to trust your team and taking calculated risks.  Having courage is how we move forward and make progress." 

    Dr. Saira Haque

  • “You are here. You are important. You are valuable. You are meant to do something. And when you are taking on a big challenge, you are taking on what is placed in front of you. You do what you can - to the best that you can. Whatever I do, I do it with other people. How can I, with others, keep moving it forward?”

    Dr. Joan Reese

  • "I think there is a big difference between a leader and a good leader. All leaders need to make decisions, set direction, and build teams to execute tasks. Good leaders do so by creating and fostering a highly supportive and motivating environment that brings out the best in people, promotes efficiency and trust within and across effective teams, and helps achieve sustainable organisational progress."

    Margo Warren

  • “In the quintessentially VUCA conditions created by Covid-19, leaders need to go beyond creating and communicating an effective vision for their organizations. They need to work alongside their teams with empathy, flexibility and determination, to ensure survival through the crisis and preparedness for the post-Covid world.”

    Dr. Vinika Rao

  •  “We must have the tenacity to lay bricks everyday, while never losing our vision of the cathedral. Sustained action with intention paves the way for extraordinary outcomes.”

    Aashima Gupta

  • Dr. Claire Bloomfield

    CEO, National Consortium of Intelligent Medical Imaging at the University of Oxford

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Rose Martin

    Senior Vice President of Operations at Tabula Rasa Healthcare

    Watch Now

  • Sherlaender "Lani" Phillips

    Vice President, US Channel Sales Organization, Microsoft

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Rola Hammoud

    Chief Medical Executive at Clemenceau Medical Center Dubai, President of the Lebanese Society for Quality & Safety in Healthcare

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Jan D. Hirsch

    Founding Dean, University of California Irvine School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences

    Watch Now

  • Shweta Maniar

    Global Leader, BioPharma at Google Cloud

    Watch Now

  • “A leader is someone who provides the inspiration and vision to empower people to do their best work.”

    Dr. Claire Bloomfield

  • “A leader is someone that can create an environment and vision for everyone to succeed. One who paves a path that may not be visible to others and lays down one brick at the time together with the team.”

    Dr. Rose Martin

  • "I want to practice more courage, be more fearless, take risks, and make sure that we use our time to make a difference in the lives of others."

    Sherlaender "Lani" Phillips

  •  “Leader: A visionary person who adds value by leading people from within and show them the way.  They have the willingness to respect, serve their people and listen to them. Their wisdom, integrity, ethics and respect to people are their values. They can make a difference wherever they go.”

    Dr. Rola Hammoud

  • “An effective leader has an evolving adaptable vision, continually earned trust, and the courage of their convictions. Empowering strengths of individuals and collaborative relationships is a must.”

    Dr. Jan Hirsch

  • "The best leaders exist to lift up those around them and unlock their full potential. Leadership is about practicing vulnerability, empathy, and authenticity and inspiring others to do the same.”

    Shweta Maniar

  • Dr. Mary Ann Kliethermes

    Director of Medication Safety and Quality at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists

    Watch Now

  • Mikelle Moore

    Senior Vice President and Chief Community Health Officer at Intermountain Healthcare

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Tina Brock

    Professor of Pharmacy Education and Practice at Monash University in Australia.

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Catherine Duggan

    Chief Executive Officer, International Pharmaceutical Federation

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Charlene Hope

    Chief Pharmacy Quality and Medication Safety Officer, University of Chicago Medicine

    Watch Now

  • Betsy Lane

    Senior Director and Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, ISPOR — The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research

    Watch Now

  • “Effective leaders have civility and humility without losing strength in conviction, passion and purpose.  Having those characteristics demonstrate that one truly cares about those they lead. Effective leaders listen well so they understand all sides and can explain their decisions with respect to those with a differing opinion. This is done based on logical thinking, and empathy and not with anger or emotion. With these leadership characteristics others will follow because they know their voice will be heard and they know even in disagreement the leaders care about how they think and feel.”

    Dr. Mary Ann Kliethermes

  • "I think a leader is someone who serves, first and foremost. Service to those you’re trying to provide for but also serve to those you lead."

    Mikelle Moore

  • “Success is in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I have the power to define myself as the beholder in that sentence! I've been fortunate to work in a lot of different types of environments. Necessary leadership skills that were common despite this are: tolerance of ambiguity and the vision to see complex change as a system.”

    Dr. Tina Brock

  • "The reason why it can be difficult to describe a leader is that it is often so difficult to be a leader. A good leader is one who can set a clear path ahead and bring their team alongside to advise, support and ensure everyone is on board, even when that path changes direction. A good leader is one who can do this with charm, humility and clarity and who learns along the way. Learning to be a leader, and a good leader at that, is a lifelong endeavour that never ends."

    Dr. Catherine Duggan 

  • “Don’t allow perfection to prevent you from taking advantage of a role. You will figure it out. Be yourself, take courage, and shoot for the stars.”

    Dr. Charlene Hope

  • “Strong leaders are passionate about their organization’s mission and understand the critical role that their team members play in realizing that mission.”

    Betsy Lane

  • Dr. Joy Bhosai

    CEO and Founder of Pluto Health

    Watch Now

  • Susan Cantrell

    Chief Executive Officer at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP)

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram

    CEO of Proximie

    Watch Now

  • Kate Klein

    Senior Associate Director at the Institute for Global Health, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Tina Moen

    Sr. Deputy Chief Health Officer and Chief Pharmacy Officer at IBM Watson Health

    Watch Now

  • Nilhan Uzman

    Lead for Education Policy & Implementation at the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP)

    Watch Now

  • "The most effective leaders combine humility with purpose. Caring for each other and facilitating a team's full potential involves leveraging every member's abilities and passion, so that the team can realize it's full capabilities. Thoughful leaders are able to harness this energy, while navigating teams toward a shared, common goal."

    Dr. Joy Bhosai

  • “Great leaders inspire those around them with confidence, vision, and the will to excel. They measure their success not by what they alone achieve, but by what they help others achieve.”

    Susan Cantrell

  • "A leader is someone that is inspiring and driving others towards a common goal. Encouraging and demonstrating to the team where we want to go."

    Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram

  • "I’d describe a leader as someone who has a truly collaborative perspective. By understanding and valuing the goals and motivations of your colleagues, you will gain allies, support those early in their careers, and ultimately build a strong institution."

    Kate Klein

  • "I describe a good leader as someone who uses a blend of humility, vision, and teamwork to inspire others to do their best work."

    Dr. Tina Moen

  • "Leadership is not about establishing authority. There is a fine line between leading people to action versus guiding them to their own direction. It has to be both ways."

    Nilhan Uzman

  • Dr. Ashti Doobay-Persaud

    Co-Director, Institute for Global Health - Center for Global Health Education, Northwestern University

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Samantha Bastow

    Senior Manager, Medical Affairs at Becton Dickinson (BD)

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Sandra Leal

    Executive Vice President at SinfoniaRx, A TRHC Solution, and the President-elect at the American Pharmacists Association

    Watch Now

  • Molly McCarthy

    National Director, US Health Provider and Plans, Microsoft

    Watch Now

  • Dr. Rola Kaakeh

    Host, Insights from Women Leaders
    CEO, Salus Vitae Group

  • "You have to have a ridiculous optimism and positivity. Leading with optimism is huge. It really changes the way everything happens."

    Dr. Ashti Doobay-Persaud

  • "A leader serves others with a genuine goal of helping them to discover and achieve their full potential.  When the focus is building people, a successful organization will be the result."

    Dr. Samantha Bastow

  • “When you’re in a boardroom and you’re the only woman speaking for a whole bunch of women that don’t get to sit there because they haven’t had the opportunity – when you look at every aspect of our lives there are things that you will bring to the table that you can represent that are not being represented.”

    Dr. Sandra Leal

  • “At the Havey Institute for Global Health, we work to expand knowledge, capacity and equity in global health through transdisciplinary research and education partnerships. I try to find the best ways to connect faculty, residents, and students with collaborators worldwide to collaborate, and, in a sustainable way, work together to tackle problems that disproportionately impact low-and-middle income countries.”

    Kate Klein

Please note that the views and opinions of the guests and speakers in our events do not necessarily reflect those of Salus Vitae Group or the Host.