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Sustaining the Physician-Scientist Workforce

Nearly half of physician-scientists consider leaving research careers early due to burnout, funding instability, and challenges balancing clinical and research demands. The continued erosion of this workforce threatens the nation’s ability to drive biomedical innovation, translate discoveries to improved patient outcomes, and respond effectively to emerging health challenges.

This national initiative will strengthen and sustain the physician-scientist workforce by convening leaders across sectors to identify high-impact intervention points and develop practical frameworks, models, and partnerships.

Program Launch Announcement
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Kickoff Workshop

Innovative Pathways for Retaining and Supporting Physician-Scientists

In 2025, the °µÍøTValongside the American Junior Investigator Association convened leaders from academia, government, industry, philanthropy, and health systems to confront long-standing structural challenges and explore bold, innovative models for sustaining physician-scientist careers.

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Advisory Committee: Mentorship Working Group

Chair

Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology; James W. Albers Distinguished University Professor; Director, ALS Center of Excellence, University of Michigan Health System
Daniel Amusin
President Elect
American Physician Scientists Association
Michael DeBaun, MD, MPH
Professor and JC Peterson Chair in Pediatrics
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Jessica Ding
President
American Physician Scientists Association
2024-2026 FAER °µÍøTVFellow; Senior Associate Dean
Medical College of Wisconsin

Dr. Freed is the Executive Vice Chair, Director of Clinical/Translational Research, and Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW).Ìý A strong advocate for the future generation of physician-scientists, Dr. Freed is also the Director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) T32 program at MCW; is a member of the Medical Scientist Training Program admissions committee; and has developed an institution-wide program to develop effective mentoring teams for junior clinician-investigators to support their career development.Ìý

As a cardiac anesthesiologist, Dr. Freed specializes in providing anesthesia for patients with advanced cardiac disease.Ìý She also manages her NIH-funded laboratory within the Cardiovascular Center at MCW, which focuses on understanding microvascular dysfunction, the precursor to coronary artery disease, to uncover mechanisms that regulate vascular reactivity in the human microcirculation during both health and disease.Ìý In addition to her role as a clinician-scientist, she holds numerous other leadership roles within and outside of MCW, including Chair of the Cardiovascular Center’s Human Tissue Bank; advisor for the Therapeutic Development and Preclinical Studies scientific review panel at the NIH; Chair of the Translational Physiology Interest group through the American Physiological Society; editorial leadership positions for Microcirculation and Journal of the American Heart Association; and Chair of the External Scientific Advisory Board for the International Anesthesia Research Society.Ìý

Dr. Freed, a Wisconsin native, earned her BA from the University of Minnesota before earning her MD and PhD and completing a research track (NIGMS T32) residency in anesthesiology and Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Fellowship at MCW.Ìý

Susan Furth, MD, PhD
Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
David Gutmann, MD, PhD
Director of Neurofibromatosis Center
Washington University in St. Louis
2025-27 Gant/ABOG Fellow; Assistant Professor
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Hamm is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics and the Penn Implementation Science Center, and the Co-Director of the Achieving Maternal Equity and Transforming Health through Implementation Training (AMETHIST@Penn), the implementation science hub for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Implementing a Maternal Health Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) Initiative, which works to strengthen the rigor of implementation science methods and training in over 20 maternal health equity research projects across 12 diverse U.S. centers.

Dr. Hamm’s clinical practice focuses on the care of patients with high-risk pregnancies in both outpatient and inpatient settings, while her research centers on closing the evidence-to-practice gap in obstetrics and reducing racial disparities in maternal outcomes. In 2020, Dr. Hamm was awarded a K23 through the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to perform a type I hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial studying standardization of labor induction to reduce primary cesarean and racial disparities in labor outcomes. She was then awarded her first independent R01 in 2023 to perform a type I hybrid effectiveness to evaluate the broader impact of a cesarean risk calculator across 14 labor units. Beyond research, Dr. Hamm is active in leadership and mentorship. She serves as the Co-Lead for the Implementation Science for Maternal Health Interest Group, which she established in 2020, and the Chair of the Patient Safety and Quality Committee for the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. She mentors numerous undergraduate and medical students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty on projects spanning implementation science, quality improvement, health disparities, and qualitative and mixed-methods.

Dr. Hamm earned her BA from the University of Pennsylvania, her MD from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, and her MS in Clinical Epidemiology during fellowship training at Penn. She completed residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil
Lawrence W. David Professor and Chair
Department of Radiation Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
Nate Kupperman, MD
Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer
Children’s National Hospital
Timothy Miller, MD, PhD
David Clayson Professor of Neurology
Washington University in St. Louis
Evan Noch, MD, PhD
ÌýAssistant Professor and Director of Physician-Scientist Development
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Nina Schor, MD, PhD
Chair Emerita, Department of Pediatrics
University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry

Advisory Committee: Financing Working Group

Chair

John Sandson Distinguished Professor of Health Science and Dean Emeritus, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
2024-2026 Puffer/ABFM Fellow; Assistant Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Dr. Alyssa Tilhou is a family physician, addiction medicine subspecialist, and health services researcher.Ìý She is an Assistant Professor and Research Director in the Department of Family Medicine at Boston University.Ìý She practices family medicine and addiction medicine at Boston Medical Center where she is a physician in the Family Medicine clinic and attends on the inpatient Addiction Consult Service.Ìý

Dr. Tilhou’s research aims to reduce health inequities by leveraging large secondary data to identify strategies and opportunities for intervention to improve health outcomes.Ìý She has a particular interest in improving the health of patients with substance use disorders by enabling access to high quality primary care and substance use services.Ìý Her work has used secondary sources such as Medicaid claims, commercial and employer-sponsored insurance claims, and electronic health record data.Ìý Dr. Tilhou also has experience leading mixed methods studies and strives to create opportunities for patient and community voices to be represented in the research process.Ìý Her research has been funded by Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Boston University Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (K08DA058052).Ìý

Dr. Tilhou received her BA from Harvard University and her MD and PhD from the University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine and School of Public and Population Health, respectively.Ìý She completed family medicine training at Mountain Area Health Education Center Family Medicine Residency Program in Asheville, NC, and addiction medicine training at the University of Wisconsin Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Addiction Medicine Fellowship in Madison, WI.Ìý

Freddy T. Nguyen, MD, PhD
Director
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Catalyst Scholars Program
Avindra Nath, MD
Senior Investigator
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
David A. Hafler, MD, FANA, MSc
Edgerly Professor
Yale School of Medicine
Claire Pomeroy, MD, MBA
President
Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation
Ginny Bumgardner, MD, PHD
Associate Dean, Physician Scientist Education and Training
Ohio State University College of Medicine and Wexner Medical Center
Jennifer Kwan, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Yale School of Medicine
Rohini Guin
Past President
American Physician Scientists Association
Walter Koroshetz, MD, FAAN
Senior Advisor
Dana Foundation
Chief Scientific Officer, Association of American Medical Colleges

Contact Information

Want to get involved?

Contact Melissa Laitner, Director of Special Initiatives, at [email protected]. You can also join our for updates.

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