Three Leading UMSOM Faculty Named Among Maryland's Top 100 Women

Dr. Bale, Dr. Lumpkins, and Dr. RachBeisel Honored in 2021 Exclusive Listing by Maryland Daily Record

The Maryland Daily Record has named three leading faculty members at the University of Maryland School of Medicine to its 2021 listing of Maryland’s Top 100 Women. The three—Tracy L. Bale, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology; Kimberly Lumpkins, MD, MBA, Associate Professor of Surgery; and Jill RachBeisel, MD, the Dr. Irving J. Taylor Professor and Chair of Psychiatry—were chosen for their “outstanding achievements demonstrated through professional accomplishments, community leadership and mentoring,” according to the publication.

“This important honor, so deservedly given to Drs. Bale, Lumpkins, and RachBeisel for their outstanding professionalism at both work and in the community, does in fact extend to the entire School of Medicine for its continuing commitment to the highest standards of equity and inclusion,” said E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, UM Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor, and Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine. “I could not be more proud of these distinguished faculty members for receiving this recognition.”

More than 1,500 women have been presented with Maryland’s Top 100 Women honors since its founding in 1996. Nominees are asked to complete an application outlining their educational and career history, professional and community involvement, corporate and nonprofit board memberships, and mentoring experience. They were encouraged to submit letters of recommendation from those who are familiar with their accomplishments professionally, in the community and through mentoring. A panel of business professionals, previous Maryland’s Top 100 Women honorees from throughout the state, and a representative of The Daily Record review the final applications and selected the final honorees.

“This year's Maryland's Top 100 Women are navigating Maryland businesses through extraordinary times. They are defining the new normal while also leading their teams from survival to success,” said Suzanne Fischer-Huettner, group publisher of The Daily Record. “In addition, this year's honorees are actively involved in their communities while also mentoring the next generation of leaders. We at The Daily Record are pleased to honor them.”

An internationally recognized neuroscientist, Dr. Bale is respected for her research on stress as a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders and neuropsychiatric disease, centering on the role of parental, prenatal, and early life stress on the developing brain and subsequent behavior throughout life. Currently, she is the Director of the Center for Epigenetic Research in Child Health & Brain Development (CERCH) at the UMSOM, as well as President of the International Brain Research Organization (BRO). She has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers. Among her many awards, she was the recent recipient of the Daniel H. Efron Research Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

“I am honored to be named one of 100 Top Women in Maryland, from amongst the thousands who are dedicated to improving their community and toward advocacy for the most vulnerable,” said Dr. Bale. “As Director of CERCH, I am thankful for the opportunity to engage in Baltimore communities to support our children and families in the mission of understanding the importance of healthy brain development.”

Dr. Lumpkins is the Director of Medical Student Engagement & Preclinical Curriculum in UMSOM’s Department of Surgery. She was awarded the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons Gold Medal and has been a Baltimore Magazine Top Doctor. In addition to her clinical practice in Baltimore, Bel Air, Lutherville, and Columbia, she is the president of Women in Medicine and Science, the first faculty organization supporting women at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Lumpkins also serves on PCW and is the Chair of the school’s Gender Equity & Access subcommittee.

"It's a great honor to be included with such impressive women from across Maryland," said Dr. Lumpkins. “Every year, women are reaching new milestones in the arenas of clinical, research, and educational excellence, changing the fabric of the medical culture around them. I am proud to represent their incredible courage and fortitude through this award.”

As the Dr. Irving J. Taylor Professor, Dr. RachBeisel is the first woman to chair the UMSOM Department of Psychiatry. A prominent leader at UMSOM, she has garnered tremendous support among faculty and staff for her efforts to forge partnerships among various entities to strengthen mental health services provided to patients and the community at large. Immediately after assuming the interim chair position, Dr. RachBeisel established the Department of Psychiatry’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, which is focused on developing a training curriculum and diversifying the hiring of faculty and staff.

“I feel so honored and privileged to be recognized as one of Maryland 's top women leaders,” said Dr. RachBeisel. “Surrounded by so many talented, bright, and hardworking people at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, I have learned success by building teams who work smart and benefit each other and those around them. By being 100% focused on our community wellness, patients and their family’s health care, student education, and curious, talented faculty, I have been able to strive for the best and keep reaching for more.”

Maryland's Top 100 Women awards will be presented on May 13 at an online celebration from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at https://thedailyrecord.com/top-100-women/. Each of the winners will be celebrated for their achievements through video storytelling. Guests will have the opportunity to participate in the program with their congratulations and cheers using social media platforms from their homes or offices. All winners also will be profiled in a special magazine that will be inserted into the May 14 issue of The Daily Record and will be available online at TheDailyRecord.com.

For more information about sponsorships and tickets to The Daily Record’s 2021 Maryland’s Top 100 Women, visit https://thedailyrecord.com/top-100-women/ or email emclaughlin@TheDailyRecord.com.

About The Daily Record

Celebrating 133 years of journalistic excellence, The Daily Record is a multimedia news source that publishes a print and online edition five days a week and breaks news daily on its website, TheDailyRecord.com. In addition, The Daily Record publishes more than 30 special products a year including Women Who Lead, Doing Business in Maryland, Way to Be and Expanding Opportunities. The Daily Record also honors leading Marylanders through nine annual awards events including Maryland's Top 100 Women, Influential Marylanders, and Most Admired CEOs. Its Digital Marketing Solutions helps customers with social media, search engine marketing and optimization, retargeting, email marketing and more. The Daily Record is part of BridgeTower Media, one of the country’s leading business-to-business media companies with more than 40 print and digital publications in more than 25 U.S. markets.

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 46 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs, and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished two-time winner of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research.  With an operating budget of more than $1.2 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic and clinically based care for nearly 2 million patients each year. The School of Medicine has nearly $600 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding.  As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total population of nearly 9,000 faculty and staff, including 2,500 students, trainees, residents, and fellows. The combined School of Medicine and Medical System (“University of Maryland Medicine”) has an annual budget of over $6 billion and an economic impact of nearly $20 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine, which ranks as the 8th highest among public medical schools in research productivity (according to the Association of American Medical Colleges profile) is an innovator in translational medicine, with 606 active patents and 52 start-up companies.  In the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking of the Best Medical Schools, published in 2021, the UM School of Medicine is ranked #9 among the 92 public medical schools in the U.S., and in the top 15 percent (#27) of all 192 public and private U.S. medical schools.  The School of Medicine works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu