PFWF Past-Chair: Monisha Kumar, MD

Dr. Kumar is a neurointensivist and clinical researcher whose area of expertise is in coagulation derangements associated with severe brain injury. She is triple boarded in Neurology, Vascular Neurology and Neurocritical Care. She is an Associate Professor of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Vice Chair of Quality for the Department of Neurology, Director of the HUP Neuro ICU, the Physician Lead of the HUP Neuroscience Clinical Effectiveness Team and the former Director of the Penn Neurocritical Care (NCC) Fellowship Program. She has devoted her life to promoting and advancing women of all stripes. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Michigan and was the first person to create a concentration in Women’s Health and Women’s Studies in the Honors College. She obtained the Doctor of Medicine degree from Medical College of Pennsylvania (MCP)-Hahnemann School of Medicine, a school she intentionally chose for its commitment to the education of women and the care of the underserved. She is passionate about community service and social justice. She completed a residency program in Neurology at MCP-Hahnemann and completed fellowship training in Neurocritical Care at the joint Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital Partner’s Program. During her tenure at Stanford University, she was part of an all-woman clinical division which was in many ways, revolutionary, for such a nascent field.

As the Director of the Penn Neurocritical Care Fellowship, the top-ranked program consistently matched more women than men, likely due to the influence and optics of a woman in leadership. As the first woman ICU Director at HUP, she served on the COVID Clinician Surge Council and helped lead Penn Medicine’s response to the pandemic. She also spear-headed the transition of inpatient clinical Neurosciences to the New HUP Pavilion. As a member of the Neurology Department’s IDARE (Inclusion, Diversity and Anti-Racism Efforts) Steering Committee and Co-Chair of the IDARE subcommittee on Intradepartmental Equity, she worked to standardize the procedure for requesting Family Medical Leave, updated the verbiage of departmental policies to be modern and inclusive, created forums for non-physician members of the department, identified funds for the professional development of staff, and sought out awards to recognize the contributions of URM staff. She serves on the scientific programming committee for the American Stroke Association, on the Neuroscience Section of the Society for Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and on the Board of Directors of the Neurocritical Care Society (NCS). She was the former chair of the NCS Guidelines Committee and is chairing the guideline update on anticoagulant reversal in intracranial hemorrhage, a joint venture between SCCM and NCS.  During her tenure as the Neurocritical Care Society’s Guidelines Committee Co-Chair she worked to increase women’s representation on both international guidelines and in leadership positions and participated in research chronicling gender representation on international guidelines.