{"id":23923,"date":"2025-08-05T09:53:59","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T13:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/?p=23923"},"modified":"2025-08-05T09:53:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T13:53:59","slug":"ruth-berggren-appointed-elizabeth-decamp-mcinerny-endowed-professor-at-geisel-school-of-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/2025\/ruth-berggren-appointed-elizabeth-decamp-mcinerny-endowed-professor-at-geisel-school-of-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruth Berggren Appointed Elizabeth DeCamp McInerny Endowed Professor at Geisel School of Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth has named Ruth E. Berggren, MD<\/a>, professor of medicine specializing in infectious disease and international health, as the new Elizabeth DeCamp McInerny Endowed Professor. Berggren\u2019s five-year term in this distinguished professorship, which began on July 1, 2025, recognizes her as a physician, educator, and advocate for health equity, bringing a wealth of experience in community-engaged scholarship and a deep commitment to advancing care for underserved populations.<\/p>\n

\"Ruth
Ruth E. Berggren, MD (photo by Mark Washburn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Elizabeth DeCamp McInerny Endowed Professorship was established in 1983 to recognize and support the work of a faculty member in promoting ethics scholarship at Geisel. The professorship honors the legacy of Elizabeth DeCamp McInerny, MD, a pioneering pediatrician whose career was marked by compassion, innovation, and dedication to the well-being of children and families. Holders of the McInerny Professorship are selected for their ability to lead and inspire future generations of physicians. William A. Nelson, PhD, MDiv<\/a>, emeritus professor of community and family medicine, of medical education, and of health policy and clinical practice at Geisel, was the previous holder of the McInerny Professorship. Nelson, a nationally renowned healthcare ethicist who directed Geisel\u2019s Ethics and Human Values Program, sought to infuse the study of ethics into the work of healthcare\u2014a charge that Berggren plans to both honor and build upon as she steps into her new role as McInerny Professor.<\/p>\n

A Commitment to Health Equity and Community Engagement<\/strong><\/p>\n

Berggren joined the Geisel faculty in October 2022 after 16 years of directing the Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Throughout her career, she has been deeply committed to addressing health disparities and the social determinants of health, building strong partnerships between academic medicine and the communities it serves. As a member of Dartmouth Cancer Center\u2019s Community Outreach and Engagement team, she is helping shape programs that address cancer prevention, screening, and care for rural and underserved populations across northern New England.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am honored to be named the Elizabeth DeCamp McInerny Endowed Professor,\u201d Berggren says. \u201cThis professorship represents a commitment to advancing health equity and preparing the next generation of physicians with the ethical decision-making skills they need to be compassionate, community-minded healers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2023, Berggren helped launch Health Equity 2.0<\/a>, an innovative initiative designed to catalyze community-engaged scholarship and provide learners with opportunities to address real-world health challenges. \u201cWe\u2019re making sure everybody has a chance to attain the best outcome they possibly can\u2014given their genetic background, given their environmental circumstances,\u201d Berggren says. \u201cWe can\u2019t promise perfect health, but we can work to eliminate unjust variations in health outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a professor, Berggren long grounded her teaching in lived experience and action, and plans to continue this work as part of her tenure as the McInerny Professor. \u201cWe can teach ethics and the social determinants of health with PowerPoint slides, but it doesn\u2019t really sink in until students encounter the real-world situations to which they can apply their learning. When students are out in communities, facing real barriers, and collaborating to overcome them, that\u2019s when they begin to truly understand ethical decision-making, which is also the work of health equity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Honoring a Legacy of Leadership\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Geisel\u2019s selection for this distinguished professorship is an ode to Berggren\u2019s lifelong dedication to the values that define the Elizabeth DeCamp McInerny legacy.<\/p>\n

Duane Compton, PhD, dean of Geisel, praised Berggren\u2019s appointment. \u201cThrough her community engagement and leadership in health equity initiatives, Ruth embodies the spirit of the McInerny Professorship,\u201d he said. \u201cHer work has already made a significant difference in the lives of patients and learners alike, and we are delighted to see the continued impact of her vision and expertise in this new role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the current moment in medicine, Berggren asserts that \u201cthere\u2019s never been a more important time to help students think through their core values as they enter a profession filled with change and challenge. From the uncertainties of insurance coverage to the moral injury that comes from being unable to provide care, future physicians need tools for personal resilience and ethical reasoning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Central to her philosophy is the notion that ethical decision-making is not a solitary act. She is \u201cthrilled to work alongside the exceptional team\u201d whose work has shaped Geisel\u2019s robust ethics program. \u201cYou never operate in a vacuum,\u201d she says. \u201cYou\u2019re always part of a team of caregivers, engaging in shared decision-making with patients and families. Communication, and understanding the context in which an illness has occurred\u2014that\u2019s what sustains good care and good judgment, especially when the path forward is uncertain.\u201d<\/p>\n

An Exciting New Era<\/strong><\/p>\n

Looking at the path ahead, Berggren sees the digital transformation of healthcare as a pressing ethical frontier. While technology expands access, particularly in rural regions like northern New England, it also introduces risk. \u201cHow do we ensure we\u2019re not deepening disparities for those on the wrong side of the digital divide? How do we preserve the human connection at the core of medicine in an era of remote monitoring and AI integration?\u201d<\/p>\n

In a world shaped by algorithms, human presence still matters, Berggren says, perhaps now more than ever. \u201cIf there\u2019s one thing I hope we preserve in this exciting new era, it\u2019s the healing power of human touch, of being seen and heard by another person. We need to prepare learners not just to understand ethical dilemmas but to meet them with clarity, compassion, and resilience.\u201d And that vital human connection, she adds, can be \u201cjust as restorative for the physician as it is for the patient. Sometimes [going] the extra mile doesn\u2019t drain you; it charges you up.\u201d<\/p>\n

About the Geisel School of Medicine<\/strong><\/p>\n

Founded in 1797, the\u00a0Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth\u00a0<\/strong>strives to improve the lives of the communities it serves through excellence in learning, discovery, and healing. The Geisel School of Medicine is renowned for its leadership in medical education, healthcare policy and delivery science, biomedical research, global health, and in creating innovations that improve lives worldwide. As one of America\u2019s leading medical schools, Dartmouth\u2019s Geisel School of Medicine is committed to training new generations of diverse leaders who will help solve our most vexing challenges in healthcare.<\/p>\n

Written by Jeremy Martin<\/em><\/div>\n
Jeremy Martin is an Advancement Writer in the Office of Medical and Healthcare Advancement at the Geisel School of Medicine.<\/div>\n
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The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth has named Ruth E. Berggren, MD, professor of medicine specializing in infectious disease and international health, as the new Elizabeth DeCamp McInerny Endowed Professor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":23925,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,1],"tags":[300,207,274],"class_list":["post-23923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-donor-impact","category-news","tag-endowed-professorship","tag-faculty-recognition","tag-medical-ethics","author-15"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/MD-Berggren-Ruth-nc1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4r3h1-6dR","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23923"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23930,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23923\/revisions\/23930"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}