Women in Oncology: Finding Strength and Support in Community

Catherine E. Lai, MD, MPH, an associate professor and physician leader of the Leukemia Clinical Research Unit at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, moderates a discussion with Judith Karp, MD; Azra Raza, MD; and Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, on what it’s like to be a woman working in the oncology field.

Karp is Professor Emerita of Oncology and Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she was a professor of oncology and the director of the Adult Leukemia Program in the Division of Hematologic Malignancies at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, until her retirement in 2013. Raza is a professor of medicine and the director of the MDS Center at Columbia University. Le Beau is the Arthur and Marian Edelstein Professor of Medicine and the director of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center.

In this episode, Karp, Raza, and LeBeau discuss how their gender has shaped their professional lives, from working as some of the only female clinical faculty at their institutions to being compared to their male colleagues and denied opportunities and fair pay when working independently from men. They also highlight the ways their careers impacted their personal lives, including the external challenges they faced when making family-oriented decisions and the encouragement they felt when recognized as valued members of their communities.

Additionally, the 3 experts reflect on the strides they made to be taken seriously by their peers, the difficulty of navigating stereotypes and discrimination, and the patient-focused advice they have for future generations of female oncologists.