Dr. Kumar receives 2025 Jeane Ann Grisso Award

Congratulations to Monisha A. Kumar MD FNCS!

Professor and Vice Chair for Quality and Safety, Department of Neurology

Medical Director, Neuro ICU at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Perelman School of Medicine

We are proud to announce that Monisha Kumar, MD, FNCS, Professor of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Anesthesiology & Critical Care, has been awarded the Jeane Ann Grisso Award. This prestigious honor recognizes faculty at the associate or full professor ranks who exemplify role model-level excellence in paving the way for women in academic medicine through advocacy, mentorship, education, clinical care, and leadership.

Dr. Kumar is a distinguished neurointensivist and clinical researcher whose expertise focuses on coagulation derangements associated with severe brain injury. She has edited two textbooks of neurocritical care and is an expert in the study of ICU mobilization and in the practice of in situ simulation for clinical emergencies. She serves as Vice Chair for Quality and Safety in the Department of Neurology and Medical Director of the Neuro ICU at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Her leadership extends across Penn Medicine, where she has advanced equity and inclusion through initiatives such as the Neurology Department’s IDARE (Inclusion, Diversity, and Anti-Racism Efforts) Committee.

A dedicated advocate for women in medicine, Dr. Kumar has served as Chair of the Penn Forum for Women Faculty and Gender Equity, bringing national attention to issues of pay equity, caregiving, and faculty advancement—particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has curated impactful programming, advised university leadership, and fostered networks that strengthen institutional support for women faculty.

Her commitment to mentorship and leadership development is evident in her work as chair of the Anna T. Meadows Society, which was re-launched to support clinician-educator faculty, and in her service on the Neurocritical Care Society’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee, where she advised the President of the Society and fervently championed diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Dr. Kumar’s achievements have been recognized through her selection as a Penn Fellow, induction into the Penn Medicine Academy of Master Clinicians, and her fellowship in the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program. These honors underscore her dual excellence in clinical care and leadership—hallmarks of her advocacy for women in academic medicine.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Monisha Kumar on this well-deserved recognition. Her visionary leadership, mentorship, and advocacy continue to inspire colleagues and pave the way for future generations of women in medicine.

The Jeane Ann Grisso Award

The Jeane Ann Grisso Award recognizes a faculty member at the associate or full professor ranks who has shown role model-level excellence in paving the way for women across the continuum in academic medicine at the PSOM or beyond in areas including any or all of the following aspects: advocacy, structural change, mentorship, sponsorship, education, science, clinical care and administration.