Council for Women's Advocacy

The Council for Women's Advocacy (CWA) serves as an advisory committee on issues of professional development of all faculty members, including networking, mentorship, advocacy and recognition. The council consists of faculty members from both basic science and clinical departments. CWA values and promotes equity in all aspects of MCW faculty life, and strives toward this through collaborative efforts as diverse as promotion of salary equity to development of programs to provide back-up child care.

Read the CWA Bylaws (PDF)

Introducing the Council for Women's Advocacy

2019/2020 Committee Chair

Katherine G. Quinn, PhD

Assistant Professor

2019/2020 Committee Chair-Elect

Kristi Castello

Division Administrator Sr

Chair Emeritus

Kalpa Vithalani, PhD

Assistant Director, OTD

Dr. Vithalani manages 70 technologies and has negotiated a variety of agreements with development partners, including, MOUs, MTAs, CDAs, joint ownership, sponsored research, and option and license agreements. Kalpa was a scientific evaluator for Karolinska Innovations at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. She has served as a judge for the WI Governor’s Business Plan Contest and is currently a Board member of BIOforward.

2019/2020 Committee Members

Brianne K. Bakken, PharmD, MHA

Assistant Professor Department of Clinical Sciences

Talia Coney, MD

Resident, Obstetrics & Gynecology

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Kathryn Ann Dielentheis, MD

Assistant Professor

Dusanka Djoric, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Tifany Frazer, MPH

Program Manager II

Matthew R. Hodges, PhD

Associate Professor

Kristina Kaljo, PhD

Assistant Professor

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Cynthia A. Lien, MD

Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology

Marja T. Nevalainen, MD, PhD

Professor, Eminent Scholar, Department of Pathology and Pharmacology & Toxicology; Assistant Dean of Research, Medical College of Wisconsin; Associate Director (Education), Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center; Director, Prostate Cancer Center of Excellence at Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center

Dr. Nevalainen is an internationally recognized leader in the field of cytokine and steroid hormone signaling in prostate cancer. Dr. Nevalainen holds the title of Eminent Scholar at MCW. She is also Director of Prostate Cancer Center of Excellence at MCW Cancer Center, which is a multi-disciplinary hub for prostate cancer research within the institution with an international collaborative network. She also serves as Associate Director of Education for the MCW Cancer Center.