Two URMC Faculty Accepted into Prestigious Leadership Development Fellowship Program

The prestigious Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) program at Drexel University College of Medicine recently announced the selection of its 31st class of fellows and the fellows for its Executive Leadership in Health Care (ELH) program track. Among the 2026 graduating class are Edith Williams, PhD, MS, director of the Center for Community Health & Prevention (CCHP), and Catherine Humphrey, MD, MBA, division chief of Orthopedic Trauma and associate chief medical officer - Value Analysis at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

ELAM has been the only longitudinal program in North America dedicated to preparing faculty at the associate or full professor level for senior leadership roles in schools of medicine, dentistry, public health, and pharmacy. This rigorous program is dedicated to developing the professional and personal skills required to lead and manage in today's complex health care environment. The ELH program is designed for senior-level leaders interested in advancing in hospitals and health care systems to positions such as CEO, CMO, CNO and CFO.

Drexel recently announced that ELAM and its ELH and Allyship tracks will be open to all qualified applicants regardless of gender, beginning with the next cohort. The university reopened the application process on May 5, 2025, and all qualified individuals will be considered.

“Drexel University offers some of the most prestigious and meaningful leadership programs in medicine,” said David Linehan, MD, CEO of the University of Rochester Medical Center and dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry. “Several URMC leaders have been selected in recent years after a highly competitive application process, and now we have two leaders selected in one year. URMC’s representation in these programs reflects the high caliber of talent at our institution.  We’re proud to invest in the professional growth of our leadership team.” 

Edith Williams, PhD, MS“Participating in the ELAM Program affords me an incredible opportunity to learn from others across the country in similar leadership positions,” shared Williams. “This fellowship will expose me to new approaches, tools, and ideas that will be instrumental in furthering my capacity as a leader, not only as the director of the Center for Community Health & Prevention, but also among our community as well.”

Williams joined URMC in 2022 as the founding director of the Office of Health Equity Research and was announced as director of the CCHP in January 2024. With more than 15 years of experience in community-based health equity research, Williams is dedicated to building trust by listening to community members and recognizes the importance of lived experience, advocating for better health for all. 

As part of the ELAM fellowship, she will work to develop a central community hub with the aims of providing education and community capacity-building activities through partnership between the community and the University of Rochester Medical Center. The hub will address such persistent community-identified research concerns as access to safe and healthy housing, promoting well-being, preventing gun violence and reincarceration, preventing and managing chronic illness, and improving trends in maternal mortality.

Humphrey, an orthopaedic trauma surgeon, joined URMC in 2007 and has served in a number of leadership roles, including chief of Orthopaedics at Highland Hospital from 2012-2023 and chief of the Trauma division since 2023. In 2017 she was named Associate Chief Medical Officer, where she leads value analysis initiatives that ensure high-quality patient care and the most efficient use of health care resources and technologies. As part of the ELH fellowship, she will work to develop a preventative health program focused on maintaining mobility and bone health with aging.

Catherine Humphrey, MD, MBA“I am thrilled at the opportunity to focus on developing my leadership and problem-solving skills in such an impactful program,” Humphrey said. “The ELH program provides me a year in which to learn from peers and experts as well as align more closely with our medical system leadership. I am energized at the prospect of being able to build something new that benefits all of the patients under our care.”

The effectiveness of ELAM's distinctive approach to leadership preparation is broadly recognized within the academic health community. ELAM alumnae number over 1,600 and serve in leadership positions at 300 academic health centers around the world. Past ELAM recipients at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry include Colleen Fogarty, MD, MSc, Susan Hyman, MD, Karen Wilson, MD, MPH, Diane Hartmann, MD, Paige Lawrence, PhD, and Annette Medina-Walpole, MD, among others.

To be accepted into the program, each fellow must be nominated and supported by the dean or another senior official of their institution. Having two participants in this year’s program, and a number of fellowship graduates from within the URMC, demonstrates the institution’s investment in developing future leaders among its faculty and administrative leaders.

“The large number of University of Rochester participants that have achieved the honor of being selected for the ELAM and ELH programs reflects the high caliber of talent at our institution,” said David Linehan, URMC CEO and dean of the school of Medicine and Dentistry. “URMC is proud to support these programs, which help leaders maximize their personal potential, while bringing valuable new skills and perspectives to addressing the challenges and opportunities URMC will see in the years ahead.”

ELAM continues to cultivate strong partnerships with participating institutions throughout the yearlong fellowship. One aspect of this relationship is the curricular requirement to conduct an Institutional Action Project, developed in collaboration with the fellow’s sponsor. These action projects are designed to address an institutional or departmental need or priority.

The work for this incoming class begins in June 2025 with online assignments and community- building activities. The fellowship concludes with the capstone event, the Leaders Forum on April 29, 2026, and then graduation on April 30, 2026. The Leaders Forum brings together the fellows and their deans, CEOs and other senior officials, and features a symposium highlighting the fellows’ Institutional Action Projects.

For more information on the ELAM program curriculum, faculty and participants, visit www.drexel.edu/elam.