When Drs. Cecilia Giachelli and Elizabeth Swisher learned they had won the 2019 UW Medicine Award for Excellence in Mentoring Women Faculty, they were both surprised. Because mentoring comes so naturally to them, they were unaware of their influence on the careers and lives of so many colleagues.

Both women are also remarkably similar in other ways. They are trailblazers who have reached the pinnacle of academic success while serving as role models, especially for women, on maintaining a work-life balance. They each have two daughters.

Dr. Giachelli holds the W. Hunter and Dorothy Simpson endowed chair in the Department of Bioengineering. She is internationally recognized for her work in the area of vascular calcification related to chronic kidney disease and atherosclerosis.

Dr. Swisher is the division director of gynecologic oncology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is the co-leader of the national Stand Up to Cancer Ovarian Cancer Dream Team, and she is medical director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Prevention Program at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

Here is what they told The Huddle about their careers and mentoring.