Inspirations and Insights

Susan J. Rehm is Professor of Medicine at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Vice Chair of Infectious Disease, Executive Director of Physician Health, Associate Chief of Staff, and was an elected member of the Board of Governors at Cleveland Clinic. She is a fellow in the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) where she has served on the Boar...

Chair of the Department of Dermatology and Professor of Dermatology at Cleveland Clinic for over 18 years, Allison Vidimos, MD, joins Hadley Wood, MD (subbing for our regular hosts) for a conversation about her career and leadership as she she prepares for retirement at the end of 2023. With her signature candor, humor and humility, Allison talks of her competitive family of golfers, starting her...

Dr. Michelle Medina is currently the Associate Chief of Clinical Operations within Cleveland Clinic Community Health, overseeing practice operations and professional staff affairs across 3 primary care departments, Hospital Medicine, Medical Care at Home, Wellness, Functional Medicine and Center for Personalized Genomics. She has served in various leadership positions at Cleveland Clinic, among th...

Dr. Zeina Nahleh is a breast oncologist and the Chair of the Department of Hematology-Oncology and Director of the Cleveland Clinic Florida Maroone Cancer Center. She has received numerous awards and distinctions and has authored over 50 articles and book chapters in the field of cancer and breast cancer research. Dr. Nahleh has a double board certified in Hematology and Medical Oncology. In our c...

Lisa Yerian, MD is a trained pathologist and serves as Cleveland Clinic’s Chief Improvement Officer, where she directs, coordinates and evaluates improvement strategies, methods and implementation across the Cleveland Clinic enterprise. Since 2010, she and her team have been building a “culture of improvement” where every caregiver is capable and empowered to make improvements every day in how Cle...

Dr. Sumita Khatri is a Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Vice Chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Respiratory Institute, Director of the Asthma Center and a practicing Adult Pulmonary and ICU physician. She serves on the national board of the American Lung Association and is founder of FLEX, a leadership development program for women faculty of the Case Western Rese...

Now retired, Kandice Kottke Marchant, MD, PhD, served as Chair of the Institute of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and is Professor of Pathology at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. She talks candidly about her experience with grief, the isolation of being a leader and the unprecedented way she stepped down from leadership…which has allowed her to pursue her passion for cheese making...

Deborah L. Benzil, MD, FACS, FAANS is the Vice-Chair of Neurosurgery at Cleveland Clinic, Professor of Neurosurgery at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and a founding member of Women in Neurosugery (WINS). She is widely published on many topics, most pertinent to this conversation, is her 2008 white paper, “The future of neurosurgery: a white paper on the recruitment and retention of wo...

Cynthia Kubu, PhD, is Professor of Neurology at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, a practicing is a neuropsychologist in the Center for Neurological Restoration at Cleveland Clinic and serves as Vice Dean of Faculty Development at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Dr. Kubu discusses her field of neuropsychology and shares tips for achieving success in academic medi...

Karen F. Murray, MD is Chair of Pediatrics, Physician in Chief at Cleveland Clinic Children's and President of Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital for Rehabilitation and Professor of Pediatrics at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. In this episode, Dr. Murray talks about transitioning to life in the Midwest, and, as a leader, why she appreciates and values Cleveland Clinic&apo...

Lyssette Cardona, MD is the Chief Wellness Officer for Cleveland Clinic Florida and the Chair of Infectious Disease at Cleveland Clinic Martin Health in Florida. She spent six years at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi where she pioneered the inaugural Infectious Disease, Infection Control, and Occupational Health Department (and started the Women’s Professional Staff Association chapter!) Dr. Cardona di...

Melissa Li-Ng, MD is an Endocrinologist and currently Medical Director of International Operations, overseeing Cleveland Clinic’s growth in the Asia Pacific region. In this episode she discusses growing up in NYC’s Chinatown with a Tiger Mom, building confidence as a physician and learning to meet patients where they are, her parking skills and being part of the “cool” IT club while serving as Chi...

Professor of Neurology at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Lara Jehi, MD, was appointed Cleveland Clinic’s Chief Research Information Officer only weeks before the COVID pandemic started. In this podcast she talks about that transition to leadership during COVID, her communication style as a leader, the importance of always evolving and learning and she shares advice for future women l...

Elaine Wyllie, MD, is Professor of Neurology at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, and a preeminent epilepsy specialist at Cleveland Clinic and editor of Wyllie’s Treatment of Epilepsy, the standard in the field through seven editions, and author of The Cleveland Clinic Guide to Epilepsy, an authoritative book for the lay public. In this interview Dr. Wyllie discusses her role as a mento...

Psychologist Lilian Gonsalves, MD, came from Bombay, India to Cleveland, Ohio for her residency during the Blizzard of ’77 and for over 40 years has built her practice and her career at Cleveland Clinic. In this interview Lilian shares with Cara King her favorite attributes for career success, how her anesthesiologist husband and she managed work and family with young children and how her practice...

Margaret McKenzie, MD, is the President of Cleveland Clinic’s South Pointe Hospital in Warrensville Heights, Ohio. She is Associate Professor of Surgery at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and an Obstetrician and Gynecologist in the Department of Subspecialty Care for Women’s Health at Cleveland Clinic. She also served as President of the Women’s Professional Staff Association in 2013 a...

Rita M. Pappas, MD, FAAP, FHM is the Medical Director of Hospital Operations at Cleveland Clinic and a staff physician in the Department of Pediatric Hospital Medicine. In 2020, she was appointed Chief Medical Officer of Hope Hospital, Cleveland Clinic’s COVID-19 surge facility. In this podcast, Cara King speaks with Dr. Pappas about her journey from a nursing career to medical school and into the...

Linda Bradley is an internationally recognized gynecologic surgeon, Vice Chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Women’s Health Institute and Professor of Surgery at Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. She holds innumerable publications and teaching awards and in addition to many leadership positions in national organizations and at Cleveland Clinic. In this conversati...

Dr. Serpil Erzurum is the Chief Research and Academic Officer and the Chair of the Lerner Research Institute at Cleveland Clinic. She is a practicing pulmonologist and has innumerable scientific accomplishments and awards that have been far-reaching including more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and more than 20 federal grants. In this conversation, we dive into characteristics of effective leader...

Beri Ridgeway, MD, is Cleveland Clinic’s first woman Chief of Staff and is the former Chair of the Women’s Health Institute. She practices clinically in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery and has authored over 70 peer-reviewed articles and 10 book chapters. In this episode, we discuss Beri’s thoughts on skills needed to be a good leader, imposter syndrome, and work-life integration...

Dermatologist Wilma Bergfeld, MD, has been a member of Cleveland Clinic’s medical staff since 1967, and not surprisingly, has a long list of “firsts” among her professional and personal accomplishments and accolades. She has received countless awards and has served as president of multiple local, national and international societies. In addition, she has more than 600 publications and over 80 book...