New Online Digital Library Aims to Boost Resources for Women Leaders in Academic Medicine

Prasanna Ananth is an assistant professor of pediatrics specializing in hematology/oncology at Yale Medical School. She joined the faculty at the medical school in 2017. Her research focuses on evaluating and improving care for children with advanced cancer.

Since joining the faculty Dr. Ananth aspired to take a leadership role. Leadership skills weren’t a part of her medical education. So Dr. Ananth did her own research, finding resources online and through talking to others. “It occurred to me that it would be awesome to pull these resources together for other women faculty,” said Dr. Ananth.

Her idea grew into the Women’s Leadership Resource Library which launched online in April. The fully digital lending library, available to anyone with Yale Library access, includes recommendations from other departments at Yale School of Medicine and organizations like the Committee on the Status of Women in Medicine.

The books and talks address topics like building confidence, embracing vulnerability, knowing your worth, responding in crisis, and the soft skills needed to become an effective leader. Dr. Ananth says the skills she’s developed in the process of building the library have helped her to be more effective in leading her clinical research laboratory.

Dr. Ananth holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a medical doctorate from Stanford University. She also earned a master of public health degree from the University of California, Berkeley.