Joanna Bonsall, MD, PhD, SFHM

She built a direct care service line from scratch at one of the nation’s busiest safety-net hospitals — and earned Society of Hospital Medicine’s 2025 Excellence in Clinical Leadership Award  for it.

Dr. Bonsall brings a rare combination of scholarly depth and operational courage to this program. As Chief of Emory Medicine Services at Grady Memorial Hospital — a hospital that sees the full complexity of urban healthcare she has led clinical service development, faculty development, and institutional culture change at scale. Her co-directorship of Emory’s MD/PhD program and her transformation of its training curriculum demonstrate what it looks like to make lasting scholarly impact within an institution. Her decade of experience in faculty development, her service on the Department of Medicine’s Promotions and Tenure Committee, and her leadership of SHM’s Academic Committee make her one of the most well-rounded guides available for hospitalists ready to advance.

Program focus areas: Academic promotion  ·  Faculty development  ·  Scholarly impact  ·  Career advancement  ·  Navigating institutions