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Feature Profile | Leading By Example: Meet Christine M. Albert, MD, MPH, FACC, and Joanna Chikwe, MD, FACC
In September 2019, just days apart, Christine M. Albert, MD, MPH, FACC, and Joanna Chikwe, MD, FACC, were appointed as the founding chairs of the department of cardiology and department of cardiac surgery, respectively, at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, CA – joining a growing cadre of female leaders in cardiovascular medicine.
Albert, who also became the new president of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) on May 8 during HRS 2020, moved to Cedars-Sinai after more than 30 years in Boston, where she attended Harvard Medical School and completed her residency and fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
She was on the faculty as a cardiac electrophysiologist at MGH and Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and was the director of the Center for Arrhythmia Prevention at BWH and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
"I ran a large research program for many years at Harvard Medical School, I've been in the leadership track in my national society and I've been in the executive leadership in academic medicine," Albert says of her career path.
"All of this has helped prepare me to become chair of a department. Several sponsors have helped me throughout my career and given me advice. I still draw on them now."
While her focus is doing the best job she can for Cedars-Sinai, Albert acknowledges this is also a great opportunity for women to see another woman lead, providing encouragement for them.
Chikwe, whose focus is on coronary revascularization and mitral repair, arrived at Cedars-Sinai after 14 years at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
Originally from England, she graduated in medicine from Oxford University and completed her cardiac surgery residency training in the UK, before joining Mount Sinai Hospital in 2006.
"Cedars-Sinai has world-class experience in robotic mitral repair, thanks to over a decade of Dr. Alfredo Trento's pioneering leadership. It's been a real joy joining such an accomplished team and moving to the robotic platform," says Chikwe, describing the attractions of the new role.
"This approach to cardiac surgery is the best way to complement transcatheter therapies. Our mission is to match our preeminence in structural heart and transplantation across all domains of cardiac surgery. This includes being at the forefront of the clinical and translational research that will change practice."
Like Albert, Chikwe also sees an opportunity to encourage other women seeking leadership roles in the profession.
"It has become increasingly apparent to me there is a need for people to see leaders in the field who closely resemble their professional experience," she says.
"I hope by fulfilling my role as well as I can and also being very intentional about how I articulate the challenges and ways to address them I can help to complete the diversity of academic medicine at this institution."
Clinical Topics: Arrhythmias and Clinical EP, Cardiovascular Care Team, Implantable Devices, SCD/Ventricular Arrhythmias, Atrial Fibrillation/Supraventricular Arrhythmias
Keywords: Cardiology Magazine, ACC Publications, Female, Humans, Schools, Medical, Fellowships and Scholarships, Internship and Residency, Hospitals, General, Boston, Leadership, Los Angeles, Universities, New York, Translational Medical Research, Cardiac Electrophysiology, Thoracic Surgery
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