Charged: Stories from the Women Leading Health Care

In 2005 Noopur Raje, MD, came to the Mass General Cancer Center with a plan to establish a new type of lab dedicated to the study of multiple myeloma, a cancer that affects the plasma cells and weakens bones. Like any uncharted territory, establishing this narrowly-focused lab required some tenacity. Noopur was up to the task, working hard to build a successful research program that has expanded our understanding of this cancer. Today, Dr. Raje directs the Center for Multiple Myeloma at the Mass General Cancer Center. In this episode, she discusses why she thinks risk-taking is important to success and how she draws inspiration from her patients to keep pressing forward.

When Dr. Inga Lennes was in medical school, she aspired to be a physician that strives to listen to patients’ voices. A practicing thoracic medical oncologist, Dr. Lennes has become a leader in the management of lung and esophageal cancer, enhancing quality and safety measures, and improving the patient experience.

In this episode of Charged, Dr. Lennes explains her approach to caring for patients with a serious prognosis and her passions for practicing medicine and evoking change as an administrator.

In the United States, people of color have long experienced inequalities in health care. And, throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic, these disparities in health care, and the systemic racism that prevents underserved and underrepresented communities from accessing equal care, have been brought to light even more. In this special episode, the new Charged host, Kelsey Damrad, and three previous Charged guests—Dr. Gaurdia Banister, Dr. Allison Bryant and Dr. Marcela del Carmen—discuss inequalities and racism in health care.

Christine Ritchie, MD, MSPH, a geriatrician and palliative care specialist, has worked throughout her career to strengthen the quality of care for patients with serious illnesses and expand the breadth of research on aging and chronic illness in an effort to close the current gaps in care of older adults.

In this episode of Charged, Dr. Ritchie discusses how her upbringing in South Korea ignited her passion for geriatric medicine and research, her experience as a personal caregiver and the impact of COVID-19 on the older population.

Dr. Leigh Anne Dageforde first realized her passion for transplantation surgery during a moment in her residency when she witnessed the immediate result a kidney transplant surgery provided to a patient. Over the course of her career, her dedication to the field has only grown. The field of transplant surgery is special to her because doctors can give their patients something new, and in turn, give them back their life.

In this episode of Charged, Dr. Dageforde shares her experience working in a what is still considered a young field and learning from role models who have forged the path ahead for transplant surgeons like herself. She discusses the unique nature of the field, the personal connections she has with patient and donor communities and the collaborative nature of transplantation.