WGHI "Leading the Way" Interview Series

Dr. Paula Johnson is a pioneer who brings decades of experience in the fields of academic medicine, public health, and higher education. Since joining Wellesley in 2016, she has placed the College at the forefront of STEM education for women and has led the creation of the school’s new strategic plan, which places inclusive excellence at the heart of the Wellesley experience. President Johnson has held several leadership roles in her
career as a physician-scientist. She most recently served as the Grayce A. Young Family Professor of Medicine in Women’s Health at Harvard Medical School and a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Health. In addition, she founded the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. 

President Johnson is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has received several honorary degrees and numerous awards for her contributions to science, medicine, and public health.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, President Johnson attended Harvard University, where she earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. She also trained in internal medicine and cardiovascular medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She has served on several national and international boards, and she currently serves on the board of directors for Rockefeller University and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
in Boston.  

Dr. Karen Plaut became Executive Vice President for Research at Purdue University in January 2023. Overseeing an expanding $600 million research enterprise, Dr. Plaut is responsible for university-wide strategic initiatives and bringing together researchers and resources across traditional academic boundaries to drive interdisciplinary discoveries with societal impact.

She joined Purdue in 2010 as associate dean for research for the College of Agriculture and later became dean. A researcher at heart, Dr. Plaut has approximately 100 publications focused on mammary gland biology and has received funding from USDA, NIH, NSF, and NASA.

Dr. Plaut earned her BS from the University of Vermont, MS from Pennsylvania State University and PhD in animal science from Cornell University. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute at NIH, she led mammary gland biology and breast cancer research at the University of Vermont, with dual appointments in the Department of Animal Science and the Department of Pathology in the College of Medicine.

Dr. Plaut then joined NASA and served as lead scientist for International Space Station Biological Research project working with engineers to build life science habitats for zero gravity. Space shuttle mission (STS-70) included her research investigating changes in mammary metabolism in rats.

Following her NASA appointment, she returned to the University of Vermont as Chair of the Animal Science department and then became Chair of Animal Science at Michigan State University before joining Purdue University.

Driving excellence in research and among researchers features strongly in Dr. Plaut’s leadership to bring about breakthroughs that matter to society. 

Dr. Moria Gunn is an award-winning radio journalist who speaks from expertise at the nexus of technology, science and society. As founder and host of her public radio programs, Tech Nation and BioTech Nation, she has interviewed over 3,000 people, among them CEO’s, scientists, venture capitalists, and politicians. A former NASA scientist and engineer, her early-career focus was in big data and software in global applications, robotics engineering and human nutrition measurement. Gunn further expanded into biotechnology and bioentrepreneurship, and includes exploring the societal impact. She has interviewed people who decode our DNA, seek to cure cancer and rare disease, and work to make energy fully sustainable, work with expanding capabilities of Digital Health, and the challenge of protecting individual privacy while the collective information of all may be necessary to address many of the challenges we face today. Her book, “Welcome to BioTech Nation: My Unexpected Odyssey into the Land of Small Molecules, Lean Genes, and Big Ideas,” was named the Best Science Books list by the Library Journal.

After earning her master’s in computer science at Purdue, Gunn was the first woman to earn a Purdue Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. She holds a software patent in nutrition research, is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and was further recognized for her career achievements by Purdue with an honorary doctorate in science. Dr. Gunn is an associate professor at the University of San Francisco, where she is the Director of Bioentrepreneurship, reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of moving scientific breakthroughs on the lab bench through to the commercial products.

Dr. Leah Jamieson is Ransburg Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University, John A. Edwardson Dean Emerita of the College of Engineering, and holds a courtesy appointment in Purdue’s School of Engineering Education. She served as 2007 President and CEO of the IEEE and 2012-16 President of the IEEE Foundation. She is cofounder and past director of the EPICS – Engineering Projects in Community Service – Program. An advocate and activist promoting the success of women in engineering and computer science, Jamieson has served as cochair of the Computing Research Association (CRA) Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research. Jamieson has an SB in Mathematics from MIT, a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University, and has been awarded honorary doctorates by Drexel University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. 

Dr. Margaret Hamburg is an internationally recognized leader in public health, medicine, and biomedical research and innovation. She was the 21st Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, known for advancing regulatory science, modernizing regulatory pathways, globalizing the agency, and implementing public health policies on disease prevention. Her prior roles include Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Medicine, President/Chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation, Assistant Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She is considered an expert on biological threats, public health preparedness and emergency response. Dr. Hamburg currently is interim VP for Biological Programs and Policy and Board Member at the Nuclear Threat Initiative and sits on numerous not-for-profit Boards and one biotech Board. Dr. Hamburg is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Laura Murray-Kolb is Professor and Department Head of Nutrition Science at Purdue. Her research focuses on understanding the neurophysiological and neuropsychological consequences of iron deficiency with the aim of informing the development of policies designed to improve maternal and child health worldwide. She is the recipient of a multitude of awards including the Nevin Scrimshaw Mid-Career Award in Global Nutrition and the Norman Kretchmer Memorial Award in Nutrition and Development. She holds degrees in nutritional sciences (PhD), nutrition (MS), and pre-medicine (BS), all from The Pennsylvania State University. 

Dr. Margaret L. Frazer is a Senior Vaccines Medical Director at Pfizer for over 20 years. She has a research background in neuroimmunopathological diseases including Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. She launched and organizes the Central Indiana Neuropathy Support Group and is on the board of directors of Indiana Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. Dr. Frazer graduated from Purdue University and Indiana University School of Medicine, completed an internal medicine internship at University of Iowa and a neurology residency at Indiana University. She currently works in the vaccine research and medical affairs for Pfizer. In this event, Dr. Frazer was interviewed by Dr. Kuhn on the COVID-19 vaccine development and vaccination trends. She will also talk about her career path as a well-established woman scientist, balancing work and family along the way.

Dr. Ricard Kuhn is a renowned virologist, Purdue's Trent and Judith Anderson Distinguished Professor in Science and the Krenicki Family Director of the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease. Dr. Kuhn is interested in the replication, assembly and structure of RNA viruses with an emphasis on their interactions with the host. His team is the first to determine the structure of the Zika virus, which reveals insights critical to the development of effective antiviral treatments and vaccines.