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Dorothy “Dee” FordBainton, MD, MSFirst woman to chair a departmentin the UCSF School of MedicineBy the time Dee Bainton gave birth to her first child, she hadgraduated from Tulane School of Medicine (one of fivewomen in a class of 128) and completed her internal medicineresidency at University of Rochester and University ofWashington. Her husband accepted a position as a residentin anesthesiology at UCSF, and upon their move she plannedto be a full-time mother and housewife.“I thought if you had a child in 1961, your job was to stayhome,” Bainton says. “After about four months, my husbandsaid, ‘You need to go back to work.’ I guess I was reallymissing it. So I started looking for a position.” She found onewith Marilyn Farquhar, MD, in the Department of Pathologyat UCSF. That began her climb up the academic andadministrative ladder.Bainton joined and headed multiple committees, andreceived numerous awards. In 1987 the dean asked her toapply for the position of chair of the Department of Pathology.Throwing her hat in the ring had never occurred to her –mostly because she was doing research and was happy,but also because she had been diagnosed with metastaticbreast cancer three years prior. She was in recovery, but still.Bainton took two weeks to weigh the pros and cons. “Con:If I fail as a woman chair, it is bad for all women. Pro: If theleadership at UCSF didn’t see me as disabled, why should Isee myself as disabled?”Ultimately she accepted the position and served as chair forseven years, until 1994 when the new chancellor invited her tobe vice chancellor for academic affairs. Under her leadership,among many things, mentoring and training programswere established and maternity leave was extended from sixweeks to 12, with pay. Bainton filled the position for 10 years,until she retired in 2004.This year, Bainton, 75, was awarded the UCSF Medal, aprestigious honor. She recalls, “Chancellor Bishop told me thatafter it was announced women would walk up to him in thehallway and say I’d been a mentor.” In her acceptance speech,Bainton replied, “It’s really wonderful to be called a pioneer,but I realize that I’ve just ridden the crest of the wave that’sswollen over the last 50 years for women.”NancyAscher, MD, PhDFirst woman to performa liver transplantWhen Nancy Ascher told her parents she wanted togo to medical school, they were delighted. Whenshe told them she wanted to specialize in surgery, theywere concerned. “They were worried about lifestyle,”she says. “Would I be able to have a family?“It was the field that excited me the most. It seemedas though I could combine something really fun withasking questions at the same time. And the gratificationof being able to make a difference in somebody’s lifevery quickly was appealing to me.”Ascher, 60, graduated from medical school at theUniversity of Michigan in 1974. She was one of 20women in a class of 180. “When I was applying,”she remembers, “women had to be interviewed byPsychiatry to see what our motivation was. We hada lot of opportunities and a lot of scrutiny at thesame time.”She completed her residency in surgery – the onlywoman of seven – and fellowship in transplant at theUniversity of Minnesota, where she was named clinicaldirector of the liver transplantation program. It wasthere, in 1981, that she became the first woman totransplant a liver. “Transplant patients are very gratefulpatients,” she says. “They really have an idea of theincredible miracle transplant is for their lives.”In 1988, UCSF recruited her to build its livertransplantation program. In 1991, she was named chiefof transplantation, a position that was passed on to herhusband, John Roberts, MD, when she became thefirst woman to chair the Department of Surgery in 1999.Ascher and Roberts did have a family, but theyjust got started a bit later than others. Their daughterwas born when Ascher was 41 and their son threeyears later. In the meantime, Ascher and her team ofsurgeons boast renowned transplantation programs.“When I arrived, there already was a world-classkidney program,” she says. “I think we raised itsstature to a new level. And we built a world-class livertransplant program that maybe is second to none.”10 | fall 2009
DianeWara, MDFirst associate dean for women’saffairs at any medical schoolDiane Wara counts her role as first associate dean for women’saffairs as one of her most important firsts. After graduatingfrom medical school at UC Irvine and completing her internshipat Harbor General Hospital in Torrance, Calif., she came to UCSFto finish her residency in the Department of Pediatrics. As one oftwo women residents, and the only one with a 3-week-old child,the department chair arranged an apartment on campus for herto use during nights on call.“There’s a risk and a benefit to being early and first,” Wara,67, says. “The risk is no one’s been there to grease your path.The benefit is people treat you specially.”For her next first, Wara became the first woman fellow inallergy-immunology at UCSF. In the early 1980s she was amongthe group who first identified HIV-positive babies. Then in theearly 1990s, Wara was one of those who introduced the idea thatif HIV-positive pregnant women were given one of severalanti-HIV drugs just before delivery, they would have a greaterchance of giving birth to babies who were HIV-negative. Thistreatment is now the international standard.Wara was named chief of the Division of Pediatric Immunologyand Rheumatology in 1985 – the first woman division chief inany medical department at UCSF. She was a member, along withDee Bainton, of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on theStatus of Women, and worked to change not only the maternityleave policy, but the availability of child care at UCSF. The newchild-care centers at Mission Bay and at 5th and Kirkham, aswell as the expanded facility at Laurel Heights, are direct resultsof her efforts.From 1991 to 1996 she held the position of associate dean forwomen’s affairs, adding minority affairs in 1996 until 2002. Of theappointment, she remarks, “No other institution had identifiedmoving women up the academic ladder and into leadership spotsin a fair manner, with fair pay, and a fair job description.”One might consider Wara an activist – a title she’s happy toaccept. She says, “I have a long history and interest and successin working with women’s issues. It takes a community to makechange, and I like doing it. I like helping turn UCSF into a betterplace to be. That’s what a good citizen does, right?”JulieGerberding, MD, MPHFirst woman director of the U.S.Centers for Disease ControlAs a 4-year-old, Julie Gerberding collectedbugs, building her first laboratory in the familybasement and laying the foundation for her careerin public health. As the director of the Centersfor Disease Control (CDC), she led the nation’sagency that fights epidemics and environmentalhealth threats, including bioterrorism, AIDS andinfluenza pandemics.After graduating with her medical degree fromCase Western Reserve University in 1981, Gerberdingcompleted her internship and internal medicineresidency at UCSF. It was the early years of the AIDScrisis, and Gerberding continued her training with afellowship in clinical pharmacology and infectiousdiseases. She went on her earn her master’s degreein public health from UC Berkeley in 1990.Gerberding joined the CDC in 1988 as directorof the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, apart of the National Center for Infectious Diseases(NCID). In 2001 she was appointed acting director ofthe NCID and almost immediately drew attention forher honest, calm and decisive handling of theanthrax attacks.In 2002 she was promoted to director of theCDC. Just six months later SARS hit, and again,Gerberding was the voice of reason for an alarmedAmerican public. Next, she handled a rare outbreakof monkeypox, a return of the West Nile virus,and a threat of avian flu. She initiated a “HealthyPeople at Every Stage of Life” campaign, whichintroduced programs for smoking cessation,screening for heart disease and stroke, and pushesfor increased physical education in elementaryschools. Gerberding stepped down from the postearlier this year.Today, in addition to being a wife and mother,Gerberding, 54, is an associate professor of medicineat Emory University in Atlanta and at UCSF.medical alumni magazine | 11
Page 1: MedicalAlumniM A G A Z I N Efall 20
Page 4 and 5: educationEngrossing AnatomyBy Anne
Page 6 and 7: IMPROVING PATIENT SAFETY“First,Do
Page 8 and 9: medicine’: You have to take it ju
Page 10: COVER STORY: first womenBy Kate Vol
Page 15 and 16: MAA President Larry Lustig, MD ’9
Page 17 and 18: Your MEDICAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONDear
Page 19 and 20: physician in San Francisco since 19
Page 21 and 22: 1980sn Ronald Tamaru, MD ’82, wri
Page 23 and 24: UCSF is grateful to the many alumni

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