Dr. Megan Kalambo, MD

Indiana University, Kelley School of Business

Age: 44

“Leader, builder, and lifelong learner passionate about people, possibility, and purposeful growth.”

Hometown: Roseville, CA

Family Members: My husband, Chilobe, and our four children: Caleb, Eliana, Naomi, and Levi.

Fun fact about yourself: If I were not a physician, I probably would have been an interior designer! Creating beautiful, functional spaces has become a real passion of mine, and I somehow keep getting recruited to help friends with their projects too!

Undergraduate School and Degrees:
Stanford University, B.S. in Biology, Class of 2003
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, M.D., Class of 2007
York Hospital, PGY-1 Transitional Internship, Class of 2008
McGovern Medical School at UT Health Houston, Radiology Residency, Class of 2012
Breast Imaging Fellowship, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Class of 2013

Where are you currently working?
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Professor of Radiology, Department of Breast Imaging
Clinical Medical Director | Breast Imaging Houston Area Locations
Faculty Co-Director, MD Anderson Leadership Institute

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles:

My leadership is shaped not only by the formal roles I hold, but also by the broader ways I contribute across the institution. In my current role as clinical medical director of breast imaging for MD Anderson’s Houston Area Locations, I lead a growing community-based academic breast imaging network. Here, I have responsibility for clinical operations, physician engagement, workflow alignment, and the expansion of high-quality breast imaging services across multiple sites. This work has given me a front-row view of what it takes to lead through growth, complexity, and change while keeping culture, quality, and patient experience at the center.

I also serve as faculty co-director in the MD Anderson Leadership Institute, which is designed to develop leaders across one of the nation’s most complex academic cancer centers. The Institute offers a structured ecosystem of coursework, mentoring, coaching, assessment, and team development, grounded in the belief that leadership is not reserved for a few formal titles, but is a shared institutional responsibility. Its programming is available to all 26,000 employees, including approximately 2,000 physician faculty, reflecting an institutional commitment to leadership development at scale.

In that role, I teach leadership development coursework, champion stronger physician engagement with the Leadership Institute, and help design programs for trainees and faculty that foster meaningful professional growth. I believe physicians benefit enormously from being intentionally connected to leadership development, coaching, mentorship, and other structured opportunities for growth. What I value most about this work is helping reinforce that leadership development is not separate from clinical excellence, but essential to building strong teams, shaping culture, and preparing people to lead effectively through complexity and change.

Beyond these formal roles, I mentor trainees and junior faculty, teach nationally, and contribute to scholarship in imaging operations and community-based academic practice. I am especially energized by work that brings people together around a shared goal and translates big ideas into something practical, sustainable, and impactful. Business school has further sharpened that interest by giving me additional tools to connect strategy, operations, innovation, and people’s leadership in ways that can expand access and strengthen systems of care.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? One of the achievements I am most proud of during business school was being promoted to full professor at my home institution. That milestone was especially meaningful because it reflected years of sustained work across clinical care, leadership, education, and scholarship, all while balancing the demands of an executive MBA, family, and a growing set of professional responsibilities.

What makes it even more significant to me is the timing. Business school was a season of growth, reflection, and stretching into a broader version of leadership. Reaching full professor during that same chapter felt deeply affirming. It recognized the foundation I had built while also reinforcing that I was continuing to evolve. It was not just a title change. It was a marker of impact, credibility, and the kind of long-term commitment required to build a meaningful career.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I am most proud of helping lead the growth of MD Anderson’s community-based academic breast imaging network. On paper, it can sound like expansion alone, but in reality, it has taken a great deal of trust, steady operational work, shared vision, and the ability to keep building while still showing up every day to deliver excellent care.

What makes me especially proud is that this work has never just been about adding sites. It has been about creating systems that can grow thoughtfully, aligning people across different locations and priorities, bringing academic standards into community settings, and keeping the patient experience at the center throughout. It has allowed us to bring specialized care closer to where patients live while preserving the quality and intentionality that matter so much in academic medicine.

That is probably why this achievement means so much to me. It reflects the kind of leadership work I care most about: work that is strategic and complex, but also deeply personal and human.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Professor Tony Stovall, PhD, MBA, was my favorite MBA professor because his teaching in marketing and leadership communication brought to life something every leader needs: the ability to make ideas resonate. He challenged us to think not only about what we wanted to say, but how to say it in a way that builds trust, creates alignment, and inspires action. His classes were engaging, memorable, and immediately useful, and they sharpened the way I think about leadership presence, communication, and influence.

Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? I chose the Kelley Physician MBA because I wanted more than business vocabulary. I wanted transformation. I was looking for a program that would challenge me intellectually, stretch me strategically, and help me grow from a strong physician leader into a broader enterprise leader.

Kelley stood out because it offered rigor, relevance, and a cohort of accomplished peers who were also navigating meaningful leadership challenges in real time. I wanted a program that understood both the complexity of healthcare and the potential of physicians to lead beyond the clinical space. It felt like the right place to sharpen my thinking, broaden my perspective, and prepare for the next chapter of leadership.

What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? The biggest lesson I gained during my MBA is that the real work of leadership is mastering the people side of business. Strategy, finance, and operations are essential, but people are the most valuable asset in any organization. They are the drivers of culture, execution, innovation, and change. The strongest plan in the world will go nowhere if people are not aligned, engaged, and empowered.

I have applied that lesson at work by leading more intentionally through people. I spend more time listening, building alignment, understanding what motivates different stakeholders, and thinking carefully about how change is communicated and implemented. The MBA helped me see that leadership at scale is not just about designing better systems. It is about bringing out the best in people and creating an environment where they can do their best work.

Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? There was not one big moment when everything suddenly felt balanced. It was really a season of life shaped by a lot of small, intentional choices. During the program, I was balancing clinical leadership, operational responsibilities, family life with four children, and the steady demands of coursework and travel. Some days ran smoothly, and some days felt like controlled chaos.

A lot of it came down to making the most of small pockets of time, protecting quiet space when I needed to focus, and shifting quickly between roles. In the same day, I might move from physician leader to mom to student and back again. What made it possible was not perfection. It was planning, partnership, faith, and staying clear on what mattered most.

That experience taught me something important: balance does not always look polished in real time. You do not have to do everything flawlessly to do it well. You just have to stay grounded, keep moving, and be intentional about where you put your energy.

What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? Be honest with yourself about why you are doing it. Your reason matters, because there will be moments when your calendar feels impossible and your energy is stretched thin. A clear sense of purpose will carry you through those seasons.

I would also say: do not treat the MBA as something separate from your real life. Bring your work into it. Bring your questions into it. Bring your uncertainty into it. The more honestly you engage, the more transformative the experience becomes. And finally, give yourself room to grow. You do not need to show up as the most polished person in the room. You just need to be open, curious, and willing to be stretched.

What was your biggest regret in business school? I would not say I have any major regrets from business school. If anything, that is a reflection of how valuable the experience has been. But if I had to choose one thing I might do a little differently, it would be to slow down more often and savor it in the moment. Like many executive MBA students, I was moving at full speed between work, family, and school, always focused on the next responsibility.

In hindsight, I would have liked to pause more to fully appreciate the conversations, the relationships, and the rare opportunity to be stretched alongside such accomplished peers. It is a small regret, but a meaningful one.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? The Kelley Physician MBA Program integrated AI into our coursework in several intentional ways. It became part of our day-to-day learning as a practical tool for synthesis, ideation, and problem framing across assignments and applied projects. It was also brought into sharper focus during a course in our second year, Emerging Medical Technologies & AI in Healthcare, which served as a “put it all together” experience by connecting AI to broader themes of innovation, strategy, finance, ethics, leadership, and implementation in healthcare.

What stood out to me was not simply that AI can make work faster. It was that AI makes judgments even more important. It can help generate options, organize thinking, and accelerate a first draft, but it cannot replace discernment, context, or wisdom. In healthcare, especially, those distinctions matter. My biggest insight was that AI is most powerful when it is paired with strong human leadership. It is an amplifier, not a substitute. The value still depends on the questions you ask, the context you provide, and the care you take in interpreting what comes back.

What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? I chose an executive MBA because I wanted an experience that felt immersive, energizing, and truly matched the stage of leadership I was in. The physician-only cohort was a big part of that. It meant learning alongside peers who understood the realities of medicine and were navigating many of the same leadership challenges in real time. There was something powerful about being in a room with people who did not need the context explained because they were living it too.

I was also drawn to the in-person residencies, the rigor of the coursework, and the chance to step away from the day-to-day pace of work long enough to think more broadly and strategically. The global opportunities and strong alumni network made it even more appealing. I was not looking for the easiest path. I was looking for the one that would stretch me, sharpen me, and connect me with a community I could keep learning from long after the program ended.

How did you finance your EMBA and what did you do to make tuition and associated costs more affordable? I approached the EMBA as a meaningful investment in my long-term leadership trajectory and financed it through intentional personal planning and disciplined prioritization. Like many executive MBA students, I had to think not only about tuition, but also about travel, time, and the many small costs that add up over the life of the program.

That process made me even more thoughtful about value, tradeoffs, and long-term return. It also reinforced one of the core lessons of business school: affordability is not only about lowering cost, but about being clear on what an investment is meant to make possible. For me, this program was an investment in becoming a stronger, more versatile leader for the long term.

What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? My ultimate long-term professional goal is to serve in a senior health system leadership role where I can help shape strategy, operations, and growth in ways that make care more accessible, scalable, and sustainable. I am especially drawn to building models that extend academic excellence beyond traditional walls and into broader communities.

Over time, I hope to lead at the intersection of clinical credibility, operational transformation, and innovation. I want to help design systems that are not only visionary on paper, but executable in real life. The kind that actually improve access, strengthen teams, and create better experiences for patients and the people who care for them.

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