Photo: Bryan Goodchild
Terence R. Flotte, MD, the Elisabeth Chair for the Dean of Medicine, executive deputy chancellor, provost and dean of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, is being recognized as a champion and supporter of women in medicine by the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA).
Dr. Flotte will receive the Larry Zaroff Man of Good Conscience Award at the AMWA’s 111th annual meeting in San Francisco in March.
“I am grateful to receive this recognition from AMWA, whose vision has led the way for women in medicine and science,” said Flotte. “The progress toward greater gender equity among chairs and senior leaders at UMass Chan Medical School is a tribute to how talented those women leaders truly are. Enabling them to use those talents as leaders has made our teams stronger, more resilient and more reflective of the people we serve.”
Larry Zaroff, MD, PhD, received his training in cardiothoracic surgery at what is now Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He spent nearly three decades as a cardiac surgeon in Rochester, New York, before pursuing his PhD in history at Stanford University, where he would later work as a professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and the Program in Human Biology. He was an avid supporter of women at all stages of their careers, inspiring AMWA Executive Director Eliza Lo Chin, MD, to establish the award to honor Dr. Zaroff’s honor commitment to the advancement of women in medicine.
“Dr. Flotte exemplifies what it means to be a man of good conscience—using his leadership, influence and moral clarity to advance gender equity and expand opportunity in academic medicine. Through deliberate action and sustained commitment, he has transformed institutional culture and created pathways for women leaders to thrive, embodying the values at the heart of this award,” said Susan Hingle, MD, AMWA immediate past president and 2026 awards chair.
Since joining UMass Chan in 2007, Flotte has led the creation of innovative programs and departments in fields including bioinformatics, RNA therapeutics, systems biology, gene therapy and digital medicine. He has fostered a strong culture of collaboration across departments and between researchers and clinicians.
An internationally recognized pioneer in gene therapy, Flotte focuses on treatments for rare genetic diseases such as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and Tay-Sachs disease. In 1995, he led the first team to use adeno-associated virus to deliver corrective genes to targeted sites in the body, including the damaged airways of adults with cystic fibrosis. He is editor-in-chief of Human Gene Therapy, the field’s longest-running journal family, and serves as president of the American Society of Cell and Gene Therapy.
