2022-23 David Seegal Alpha Omega Alpha Visiting Professorship Lecture

Dr. Higginbotham is professor of ophthalmology and the inaugural vice dean for inclusion and diversity at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, positions she assumed in 2013.  She is also a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Higginbotham has been a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) since 2000, serving on the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine consensus committees and the NAM Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity. Dr. Higginbotham is a member of the governing board of the National Research Council. She also is past president of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and previous member of the Harvard Board of Overseers and the MIT Corporation. She currently serves on the board of directors of Ascension, the second largest private health system in the United States with hospitals and clinical sites in 20 states. She is a member of Ascension’s executive and audit committees and chairs the system’s quality committee.

Dr. Higginbotham received her SB and SM degrees in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MD from Harvard Medical School. She completed her residency in ophthalmology at Louisiana State University and fellowship training at Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary. In 2020, she completed a master’s of law degree from Carey Law School at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Dr. Higginbotham has authored or co-authored more than 160 peer-reviewed publications. A practicing glaucoma specialist, she remains active in scholarship related to glaucoma, ocular pharmacology, health policy, health equity, and organizational culture.