Dr. Christine Finck of UConn School of Medicine and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center was honored with a Women of Innovation award by The Connecticut Technology Council (CTC) for her research innovation and leadership.
Finck serves as an associate professor of pediatrics and surgery at UConn Health and surgeon-in-chief at Connecticut Children’s. Her novel research is focused on identifying and developing new treatments for a variety of pediatric and neonatal diseases that affect the lungs and esophagus.
On March 28 Finck was one of eight award winners of 50 finalists announced at CTC’s Women of Innovation awards gala.
“Congratulations to Dr. Finck on winning the Women of Innovation award,” said Dr. Bruce T. Liang, dean of UConn School of Medicine. “We are proud of you.”
“Dr. Finck is an outstanding physician scientist, leader and mentor for young women who want to pursue STEM careers. She is making integral contributions to the sphere of medicine, and we are absolutely thrilled her hard work and dedication to our patients is being recognized,” said Gil Peri, president & COO, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. “As Connecticut Children’s Surgeon-in-Chief, we are proud of the impact she is making across the region and nationally.”
Each year CTC’s Women of Innovation program celebrates the growing network of women in STEM in the state who are creating tomorrow’s advancements through their efforts in Connecticut today. Honorees range from scientists, researchers, and academics to manufacturers, student leaders, entrepreneurs and technicians.
Women of Innovation finalists are nominated by their peers, coworkers, and mentors, and are selected based on their professional experience, history of innovation, ability to think creatively and solve problems, and demonstration of leadership.
Finck was nominated by Dr. Marja Hurley, professor of medicine and orthopedics, and The Group on Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS) at UConn Health.
“Dr. Finck you are doing amazing work as a surgeon, physician-scientist,” shared Hurley. “As Chair of the Group on Women in Medicine and Sciences, it is my pleasure to ensure that our women faculty are recognized for their work.”
Additionally, at the CTC Women of Innovation event UConn Health’s Dr. Katherine Coyner, an orthopedic surgeon, was honored as a finalist for academic innovation and leadership.
“We are incredibly proud of Dr. Coyner and her accomplishments,” said Dr. Augustus D. Mazzocca, chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at UConn Health. “She is an example of a great orthopedic surgeon. She is also an incredible leader and her work in encouraging young women into the engineering and orthopedic fields is something that the orthopedic community desperately needs.”
Bruce Carlson, CTC’s president and CEO said: “Over the 14 years that we have operated the Women of Innovation program, it has become clearer and clearer that Connecticut is unmistakably an excellent place for women to make significant professional, academic, and community achievements in technology fields.”
