Five U of M community members are listed among Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women of 2024, recognized by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN) for their leadership, vision, mentorship and contributions. The annual list by WXN celebrates Canadian women’s achievements, and U of M honourees are featured in STEM, emerging leaders and professional categories. The recipients will be honoured at an awards event in Toronto on Nov. 27, 2024.
BMO-STEM award honourees
Dr. Neeloffer Mookherjee
Dr. Neeloffer Mookherjee is a professor of internal medicine and immunology at the Max Rady college of medicine and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) sex and gender science chair in respiratory health.
In an interview, Mookherjee said, “I’m really grateful [for] the support from colleagues, my learners, the students I work with for supporting the nomination and thinking that I’m worthy of this recognition.”
She added, “I feel that this award by WXN really opens doors for women across the country to be recognized from different expertise and workplaces and really creates role models for other women.”
She stated that recognition like this encourages and gives hope to the next generation of scientists, particularly those from underrepresented communities in science and leadership. “I think one of the big impacts of a recognition like this is it gives a lot of encouragement and hope to the next generation of female scientists who look like me,” she mentioned.
Mookherjee stated that her science journey aims to support and encourage female scientists and trainees, giving them the courage and path forward to pursue leadership roles in science, become professors and enter any STEM field they choose.
She revealed that about five years ago, she created an organization called Women in Science, Development, Outreach and Mentoring (WISDOM) due to the lack of support for female scientists.
“WISDOM is now initiated and integrated within the Rady faculty of health sciences at the U of M. And the vision of this WISDOM network was to provide mentoring, professional development as well as connect female scientists at different career stages, whether they are coming from a clinical background or non-clinical background,” said Mookherjee. “We were also highlighting the achievements of female scientists by organizing seminars and talks. I think WISDOM has now grown. We have an annual Equity Symposium. We run a very large mentoring program,” she added.
Mookherjee also stated that her academic research, which impacts public health, especially on how air, allergens and air pollution affect lung disease and possible solutions, was also a factor that led to this recognition.
She advised young students to persevere and not get discouraged by different barriers. “Perseverance is really an important thing. And don’t get discouraged by the different barriers. But another thing I tell them, and I don’t think young women hear that a lot, is own your ambition,” she said. “It is all right to be ambitious, […] I think it’s important. Own your ambition,” she added.
Finally, Mookherjee emphasized the importance of having good mentors who can come from various fields beyond one’s educational background. She said, “we need different mentors for different things in life. So go seek out good mentors who will listen to you. You might need more than two or three different mentors for different aspects.
“But these individuals will really help in navigating the path forward to meet your goals, meet your ambition and also provide that encouragement and support when one feels really discouraged. Because to persevere in anything, you need encouragement,” she added.
Dr. Kristine Cowley
Another BMO-STEM award honouree is Dr. Kristine Cowley, Canada’s research chair and associate professor in physiology and pathophysiology who directs the Spinal Cord Research centre for health, balance and motor control. Cowley’s research in biomedical neurosciences and spinal cord injury (SCI) has earned international recognition. Her work includes community-based translation efforts to improve SCI patients’ health outcomes. Since joining U of M, she has mentored over 40 undergraduates, graduates and postdoctoral trainees and 24 women.
Emerging Leaders award honourees
Dr. Melanie Lalonde
Dr. Melanie Lalonde is a proud Red River Métis woman and an active member of the Métis community. She serves as the volunteer-elected treasurer of the Seven Oaks Métis Council, a member of the Infinity Women Secretariat and the program development specialist for the Wawatay program in the faculty of science at the U of M.
Lalonde said it was an honour to be nominated and believes this recognition came as a result of her focus on improving the community rather than seeking personal gain.
She and her colleague navigated new grounds together, shaping every aspect of the new Wawatay program despite the challenges. “We’re doing everything together to shape it. […] There’s continuous learning, and we’re doing professional development quite often, trying to figure out what it is we need to learn to be able to do our jobs. It’s kind of a lot of on-the-job training,” she disclosed.
She revealed that the Wawatay program brings Indigenous students together every summer for four weeks in the faculty of science. The program allows students to connect, learn from one another and build a sense of community.
She said, “out of all of the things that my job is, I think that’s the most important thing is having that sense of community for students on campus.”
Lalonde added that, in addition to the Wawatay program, she mentored extensively as a graduate student and helped discover a new butterfly species, which she believes also contributed to this recognition.
She also shared her involvement in her Indigenous community as treasurer, a volunteer-elected position. She said, “it’s a four-year term, but you learn a lot. You get to be a good part of the community and try to get other people to be part of that community that might not know that they quite belong to it.
“It’s a little complicated, but I can use my knowledge that I’ve gained there to help students here.”
Sharing her thoughts about support for women, she said, “I haven’t had any problems with having support. So, I’ve had a really great support system. I had a great PhD advisor who was fantastic and supported me my entire time going, and I worked with him for eight years.”
“And it’s been the same in the dean’s office. It’s just total support,” she added.
She also advised women to step out of their comfort zones. “Some of the best things come out of stepping out of that comfort zone or doing things that are hard or asking hard questions,” she said.
“My secrets [are] just to focus on not necessarily making yourself better but being open to continually learning to make yourself better, I guess, better at what you do. You might not realize it at the time when you’re doing it, but you become able to voice your opinion better,” she advised.
She stated that people should avoid seeing themselves as competing against others. She added that healthy competition supports success, as long as it does not hinder the progress of what members aim to achieve.
Dr. Leigh Michelle McClarty
Another honouree for the Emerging Leader’s category for the WXN is Dr. Leigh Michelle McClarty, an assistant professor at the Institute for Global Public Health in the department of community health sciences, Max Rady college of medicine, Rady faculty of health sciences and serves as president on the board of directors for Nine Circles Community Health centre in Winnipeg. She researches ways to optimize public health programming for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Driven by a commitment to reduce global health inequities, McClarty works to improve health outcomes for marginalized and criminalized populations, including sex workers, gay, bisexual, other men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs and transgender people, who face barriers to safe and inclusive health services. Her focus spans populations in Manitoba, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Ukraine, linking scientific research with public health programs to achieve better health outcomes. Governments and program partners will use her findings to make incremental adjustments that enhance these outcomes.
Professional Category award honouree
Dr. Hope Anderson
Dr. Hope Anderson is the vice-dean of graduate and postdoctoral studies at the Rady faculty of health sciences (RFHS) and a professor at the college of pharmacy. As a member of the executive leadership team for the RFHS, she contributed to developing its strategic plan, which is captioned MOMENTUM: Envisioning Our Future. Anderson conducts research in cardiovascular health and disease and leads programs supporting graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the faculty. She works to prepare them as future thinkers and problem solvers. Anderson also advocates for promoting women in academia.
