DR. MELINA R. KIBBE

Since the start of Dr. Melina Kibbe’s five-year appointment as dean of University of Virginia School of Medicine and chief health affairs officer of UVA Health, both organizations have seen tremendous growth and new funding. In January, U.Va. announced the launch of the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology, seeded by $350 million in funding from the Mannings, the state and U.Va.

In 2022, clinical and School of Medicine revenue accounted for $1.2 billion — the highest ever for the school, which also had a record-breaking fundraising year with $61 million in 2022.

“As a leader who is also a woman, I am acutely aware of the challenges surrounding equity and fairness in the workplace,” Kibbe says. “With this perspective in mind, I have adopted transparency and data-driven decision-making as key components of my leadership style.”

Kibbe’s research focuses on therapies for patients with vascular disease and has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In 2019, she received the Senior Clinical Scientist Award for Biomedical Laboratory R&D by the VA.

As an advocate for sex-inclusive biomedical research, her work has been featured on “60 Minutes” and “The Colbert Report.”

During her medical career, she has mentored 37 postdoctoral fellows, seven graduate students, 13 medical students and 20 undergraduate students in research and has led career development courses for the Association for Academic Surgery.

Read more about the 2023 class of Virginia Business Women in Leadership Award winners.