SAN FRANCISCO — UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi and UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann co-hosted a policy discussion today (Sept. 16) on the leadership role of women in solving the world’s greatest public health challenges, as part of an international summit focused on women and the economy.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Women and the Economy Summit here brought together an estimated 3,000 delegates representing government, business and academia to examine how to foster the economic empowerment of women. Twenty-one countries are affiliated with Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, supporting economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

The four-day summit this week included a keynote address from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Both UC Davis and UC San Francisco “are firmly committed to doing everything they can to empower all people to lead healthy, productive and fully engaged lives,” said Desmond-Hellmann, an oncologist and biotechnology leader, as she and Katehi launched their panel discussion: “Innovation and Impact: Solving the Greatest Public Health Challenges of the 21st Century.”

The UCSF chancellor emphasized that she and Katehi are “both keenly aware of the particular need to help empower women and other underrepresented constituencies.”

Indeed, “Empowering women economically — and all it entails — is something I have worked on for much of my adult life,” added Katehi, who lauded Clinton for her efforts to champion a forum dedicated entirely to women’s economic empowerment, and for bringing the summit to California.

Katehi, an electrical engineer with 19 patents, shared her personal story of the challenges that she has faced as a woman in a predominantly male-dominated field. She praised the women on the panel for being “tremendous role models on the economic empowerment of women,” and for working to solve the biggest health challenges of today.

UC Regent Bonnie Reiss served as the moderator, at Katehi and Desmond-Hellman's invitation. The panelists: Ann Lee-Karlon, vice president of portfolio management and operations, Genentech Inc.; Matina Kolokotronis, president of business operations, the Sacramento Kings; Diane Havlir, professor of medicine, UCSF; and Patricia McDonald, vice president of technology and manufacturing, and group director of product health enhancement organization, Intel Corp. Genentech and Intel co-sponsored the panel discussion.

Investing in women's health, fostering leadership

The discussion highlighted the need for government and the private sector to invest in women’s health to ensure economic and social impact, and to foster women’s leadership roles in health care.

In addition, the panelists discussed the role of men in supporting initiatives that promote women’s health and the importance of creating innovative public-private partnerships to address public health challenges and diseases that affect women such as the HIV-AIDS epidemic.

Kolokotronis emphasized that public-private partnerships are also critical to addressing global public health challenges that affect everyone, especially the growing problem of obesity in children.

She pointed to “Get Fit with the Kings,” a public-private partnership of the Kings, the California Endowment, the Sacramento Unified School District and the UC Davis Medical Center aimed at increasing the health and fitness of Sacramento-area schoolchildren.

As a woman and mother, Kolokotronis said, she has been a strong advocate of the program and recognizes the importance of women acting as role models of health and fitness in their communities as well as promoting female leadership in the National Basketball Association.

Each of the panelists brought her unique perspective to sharing the best practices, technologies, research and partnerships that have helped businesses and economies decrease costs, improve overall health care and maximize economic gains by investing in women.

The dialogue from the women’s summit will serve as a basis for policy recommendations to be presented at the APEC Economic Leaders meeting in November in Honolulu.

Evelyn Padilla is a writer for University Communications.

More about the APEC Women and the Economy Summit.