STEM CenterWilliam J. Degutis Women in Science and Health Lecture Series

The 2026 William J. Degutis Women in Science lecture was given by Mana Kasongo-Robinson, MD and MS FACEP, on May 18, 2026.

Born in the then Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dr. Kasongo-Robinson has spent much of her adult life in the pursuit of both of her passions: medicine and journalism. After graduating from DePaul with a degree in American Studies in 1993 and receiving a Master’s degree from the Columbia School of Journalism, Dr. Kasongo-Robinson worked as a freelance reporter for many news venues including InStyle Magazine and Institutional Investor. Additionally, Dr. Kasongo-Robinson co-founded the Black Star News, a weekly investigative newspaper in New York City.

While maintaining her journalism roots, Dr. Kasongo-Robinson went on to receive her medical degree from Rush Medical School and completed her residency in emergency medicine from New York University/Bellevue in 2006. She has had articles published with ABC news, Newsweek, Real Health Magazine. Presently, Dr. Kasongo-Robinson is an attending physician and the director of the emergency room at Phoebe Worth Hospital in Sylvester,  Georgia . She has an interest and expertise in emergency health care issues, rural medicine, African and African-American politics, and women’s health and health equity. She has spent time doing medical mission work in Kenya several times and Haiti days after the devastating earthquake in 2010. She is currently a member of the advisory committee for the College of Health and Science Dean's Advisory Council at DePaul.

As an emergency physician in rural southwest Georgia, she had been an essential frontline physician during the Covid 19 pandemic and in addition to taking care of very sick patients with limited resources, she has been a frequent guest on Newsy, the largest web-based newsroom. Dr. Kasongo-Robinson enjoys spending time with her wonderful husband, Mark (LAS, Philosophy, 92) and two young children, Marshall and Malaika. She has also been named 2021 top doctor as well as top emergency medicine specialist in 2021 along with top woman in medicine in 2022, and is currently a fellow on the Academy of Emergency Physicians. She also spends once or twice a month treating residents at one of Albany’s nursing homes. In addition to being an active member of her community and church, Kasongo-Robinson is also a member of Jack and Jill of America and the National Medical Association.

You can read more about the event and view a recording of the 2026 William J. Degutis lecture on the CSH YouTube channel.​

The 2025 William J. Degutis Women in Science and Health Lecture was given by Linda C. Degutis, DrPH, MSN. on April 16th, 2025. The title of the 2025 lecture was "Injuries Are NOT Accidents​".

Linda C. Degutis, DrPH, MSN is a Lecturer at Yale School of Public Health. In addition, she serves as a consultant on several projects related to suicide prevention, and also consults on other public health issues, including gun violence. An internationally known expert in injury and violence prevention and policy, she was Executive Director of Defense Health Horizons, a program of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine based at the Uniformed Services University following her tenure as Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Previously, Dr Degutis held faculty positions in Emergency Medicine, Public Health, Surgery, and Nursing at Yale University after serving as one of the first trauma program coordinators in the US and working clinically in trauma and emergency care. She is Past President of APHA, a former Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow working in the office of the late Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN), and former Chief Science Officer for The Avielle Foundation.

Dr. Degutis has been actively involved in policy initiatives to prevent firearm violence through APHA as well as Connecticut Against Gun Violence. She has published numerous articles on injury and violence prevention and intervention, and served as a technical advisor for the film “The Sweetest Land”. She is the co-editor of “Gun Violence Prevention: A Public Health Approach” that was published in 2021 by APHA. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, and continues to serve on several non-profit boards.

Dr. Degutis, a native of Chicago, Illinois, earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from DePaul University, and her MSN and DrPH degrees from Yale University. She currently lives in Decatur, Georgia.

You can view a recording of the 2025 William J. Degutis lecture can be found on the CSH YouTube chnnel.

The 2024 William J. Degutis Women in Science lecture was given by Margaret "Maggie" Amsler, MS, on May 2nd, 2024. The lecture was held in McGowan South (1110 W. Belden Ave) Room 104, with both in-person and virtual attendees.

Amsler herself is a part of Antarctica's history. After earning her undergraduate degree at DePaul, she pursued her master's degree and continued her Antarctic studies at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. A career move brought her to the University of California Santa Barbara, where as a staff research associate, she participated in an additional ten expeditions in Antarctica.

In the years since Amsler ​was on the first-ever US sponsored winter cruise along the Antarctic Peninsula, on one of the first-ever manned submersible in Antarctica, logged 500 dives, and even has an island named in her and her husband's honor for the work that they have done in the past 35+ years.​

You can view a recording of the 2024 William J. Degutis lecture can be found on the CSH YouTube chnnel.

The 2023 William J. Degutis lecture was given by Francesca E. Duncan, PhD on April 13th. This lecture was titled "Modulating Female Reproductive Function across the Lifespan".

Dr. Duncan is the Co-Director at the Center for Reproductive Science and a part of the Department of Obstetrics and Genecology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Duncan leads a research program focused on understanding the cellular mechanisms of how aging - both physiological and iatrogenic - impacts reproductive potential at the levels of the gamete and ovary.

She has co-authored more than 90 manuscripts in the area of productive biology, and her work has been highlighted by the BBC radio, in Discover Magazine, Marie Claire Magazine, and CNN Health.

You can view a recording of the 2023 William J. Degutis lecture can be found on the CSH YouTube chnnel.

The 2022 William J. Degutis lecture was titled "Einstein's Waves: Cosmic Sounds from Black Holes and Neutron Stars" and was presented by Dr. Vicky Kalogera of Northwestern University on April 14, 2022.

Dr. Kalogera is an expert in the astrophysics of compact objects, black holes and neutron stars (the death remnants of stars), studying their formation and evolution especially in systems of multiple stars. In 2018 she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and in 2021 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

You can view a recording of the 2022 William J. Degutis lecture can be found on the CSH YouTube chnnel.

The 2021 William J. Degutis lecture was titled "On the Origins of Gender: Brain Sex Differences, Neuroplasticity and Women's Advancement in STEM" and was presented by Dr. Lise Eliot of Rosalind Franklin University.

Lise Eliot is a Professor of Neuroscience and Executive Chair of Foundational Sciences & Humanities at the Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University. She received a B.A. degree Magna Cum Laude in History & Science from Harvard University, a Ph.D. in Cellular Physiology & Biophysics from Columbia University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Division of Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine.

You can view a recording of the 2021 William J. Degutis lecture can be found on the CSH YouTube chnnel.