Danielle Ehret, M.D., M.P.H., has been selected as a member of the 2024–25 class of fellows in the Executive Leadership in Health Care program.

Danielle Ehret, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of pediatrics at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and a neonatologist at UVM Children’s Hospital, has been selected as one of 48 women to participate as a member of the 2024–25 class of fellows in the Executive Leadership in Health Care (ELH) program at the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) program at Drexel University College of Medicine. ELAM is a core program of Drexel’s Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership, offering intensive one-year fellowships that aim to prepare women for senior leadership roles in schools of medicine, dentistry, public health, and pharmacy.

The prestigious ELH fellowship, launched in 2022, provides funding, sponsorship, and protected time to support the fellow’s advancement and opportunities for increased responsibility to bring their full potential to health care organizations. Candidates aspire to lead at the executive level, such as chief medical officer or chief executive officer, in the next five years.

“The women are exceptional leaders who are capable of making critical systemic change in their institutions,” said Nancy Spector, M.D., executive director of ELAM. “The need for the highest quality leaders in academic health care has never been greater, and we are doing everything we can to help meet that need by providing outstanding and innovative leadership training for women.”

Ehret, who joined the UVM faculty in 2015, has conducted extensive research on global health issues relating to high-risk newborns in lower- and middle-income countries around the world, receiving consistent support from extramural funding institutions, including multiple awards from the Gates Foundation. Ehret is the inaugural Asfaw Yemiru Green and Gold Professor in Global Health at UVM. This endowed professorship was established by the Vermont Oxford Network (VON), a nonprofit voluntary collaboration of health care professionals working together to improve the quality, safety, and value of care for newborn infants and their families through data-driven quality improvement, education, and global health research. Ehret serves as VON’s chief medical officer.

 "I am honored to have the support of the UVM Health Network in joining the Executive Leadership in Health Care fellowship and lifelong community as I stretch into a new role as the first chief medical officer of Vermont Oxford Network and face leadership challenges of hearing, meeting and predicting the needs of our worldwide community of practice in neonatal care across 1400-plus hospitals,” Ehret said. “I am elated to have the time, ELH training, team, peer network, mentorship, and sponsorship to face the uncertainties ahead with confidence, a smile and optimism."

Selection for this fellowship is a competitive process, and each applicant must be nominated by leaders of their institution. Each year, the Larner College of Medicine selects an outstanding woman faculty member to participate in the ELH program. UVM’s 2023–24 ELH fellow was Heather Herrington, M.D., associate professor of surgery and pediatrics and division chief of otolaryngology at the UVM Medical Center.

“We are thrilled that Dr. Ehret is joining women leaders in academic medicine and health care from across the country through the prestigious ELH Fellowship. I look forward to her growing leadership contributions to the Larner College of Medicine, UVM Children’s Hospital, and UVM Health Network,” said Jason Sanders, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the UVM Health Network Medical Group, executive vice president and chief physician officer for the UVM Health Network, and senior associate dean for clinical affairs and assistant professor of medicine at Larner College of Medicine.

The incoming class of ELH fellows began their work in June and will continue to complete readings and online assignments through the beginning of September, after which they will meet in person as a group. From September 2024 through April 2025, they will conduct group and independent projects and attend two additional in-person meetings, including the culminating event—the ELAM and ELH Leaders Forum—which features a poster symposium showcasing the outcomes of the fellows’ Institutional Action Projects, the capstone of their fellowship year.

Learn more about the ELH and ELAM programs at the Larner College of Medicine