20 Years, 20 Leaders: Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, MPA
“Never stop learning, never feel like you’ve reached the pinnacle of your knowledge. It is so important to remain curious and seek new knowledge all the time.”
Our connection to the experiences of those who came before helps to define the present and future of medicine. The Foundation is celebrating 20 years by joining in conversation with 20 women leaders in all aspects of medicine to understand their stories and how their experiences will shape the next generation.
Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, MPA is a University Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine at Columbia University, the director of ICAP at Columbia University, and Matlide-Krim-smfAR chair of global health at the Mailman School of Public Health.
She is the founder of ICAP, a leader in HIV and other global health priorities that strengthens health systems and conducts research in partnership with governmental and non-governmental organizations in more than 30 countries around the world. In this role, she leads the design, implementation, scale-up, and evaluation of large-scale HIV, tuberculosis and maternal-child health programs in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia that provide access to HIV services to more than 2.2 million people and collect data from more than 5,200 health facilities.
Here’s what we learned during our conversation with Dr. El-Sadr.
Why did you choose to go into medicine or your related field?
Both my parents are physicians and I can’t remember a single time when they tried to push me into medicine. What inspired me is the way they led their lives. They were service-oriented people and when they taught poor children and trained disenfranchised people, my brother and I went with them.
What’s your core philosophy?
It is to seek to be a humanitarian, to seek what people need and to support them to achieve their health and well-being.
What motivates you?
Tackling big problems and working hard to solve them. I love the idea of facing an issue or problem that seems insurmountable, sitting with my team and brainstorming and discussing the options to overcome a problem. We can do this or we can do that. It’s stimulating and energizing to be part of a creative team.
How do you motivate others?
By example. I have a very large team of more than 1,800 people around the world and I try to have them feel that I am with them and for them. If they need anything, I am there for them, hopefully meeting their professional and personal needs.
What challenges have you had to overcome?
I have met several challenges. Firstly, I am an immigrant and coming to the United States from Egypt, where I received all my formative education, it was not easy to get others to appreciate that my education and training were on par with what physicians receive in the U.S. Further on in my career, when I started working on HIV in the very early, terrible years of the AIDS epidemic at Harlem Hospital, I faced the cruel reality that many people simply didn’t care very much about poor and disenfranchised people living with HIV. I was determined to build strong programs for them and gain the trust of a community that had historically been mistreated through unethical research programs. Similarly, when we started our HIV work in sub-Saharan African, at a time when millions of people were dying without access to treatment, we had to prove the doubters wrong.
Humans fail. Please share a time when you failed and what you did next to move forward.
When we started thinking about bringing HIV treatment to Africa, it was very hard. Many people thought that this was unrealistic, if not inadvisable. But we rallied and worked very hard to seek funding and pull together kindred souls who devoted all their efforts to accomplish this.
Who was your most important mentor(s) and why?
When I was training in infectious disease as a fellow, I had a tremendous mentor, a person that we call “a doctor’s doctor.” To him, every patient was important, it did not matter who they were. If a patient had a problem, he was going to figure it out. He would not leave a stone unturned to heal someone or to save a life. It was a tremendous lesson to learn early on in my training.
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned?
The most important lesson I learned is to never stop learning, never feel like you’ve reached the pinnacle of your knowledge. It is so important to remain curious and seek new knowledge all the time.
How do you define success and how do you measure up to your own definition?
I ask myself, have I succeeded in helping people, in tackling problems in the communities we serve? I don’t think of success as an abstract goal we seek to achieve. It’s about achieving small successes every day, it does not matter how small or large.
What do you see in store for the future of medicine and the related fields?
Science is moving so fast with medications and vaccines we never dreamed of, which makes the practice of medicine so stimulating. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly heightened the appreciation for the discipline and practice of public health. I am optimistic that this will lead to a greater investment in public health and how it is complementary to the investment in health care.
I also appreciate how the COVID-19 pandemic has catapulted telemedicine to such prominence. But it will be tragic if telemedicine becomes the norm in the future, simply because it is more convenient and cost-effective. It should never replace that incredible connection that happens when a doctor and the patient share a face-to-face encounter. As physicians, we are privileged to have that extraordinary connection to patients, where they feel comfortable to share their lives and their secrets with us. Somehow, I cannot see that happening through virtual visits.
What advice would you give to the next generation of women in medicine and the medical sciences?
Go with your passion. Be determined. Build partnerships and friendships. Don’t be in a hurry. You can learn so much by taking professional risks rather than sticking to the well-trodden path.
The Backstory on Dr. El-Sadr
Born in Egypt, Dr. El-Sadr earned her medical degree at Cairo University, a master's of public health degree in epidemiology from the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, and a master's in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
From 1988 to 2008, she led the Division of Infectious Diseases at Harlem Hospital Center. She has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1988 and is currently based at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health where she leads ICAP, the global center she established there.
In 2008, Dr. El-Sadr was named a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellow. In 2009, Rolling Stone magazine named Dr. El-Sadr in its list of 100 People Who Are Changing America. In 2019, she was named a fellow of the African Academy of Science.