Starting July 11, Ekta Vyas, PhD, MS, will join Keck Medicine of USC as the organization’s new chief human resources officer. She will oversee the development and execution of human resources strategies in support of the business plan, mission and goals of Keck Medicine.

Her appointment was announced on June 1 by Rod Hanners, chief executive officer of Keck Medicine.

Vyas, who most recently served as the deputy chief human resources officer at UC Davis Health, will also communicate departmental needs and plans to her Keck Medicine colleagues on the executive management team and the board of directors.

During her tenure at UC Davis Health, Vyas launched several initiatives in employee experience, engagement and organizational culture —  including a robust assessment of HR services’ effectiveness. Additionally, she played key roles in her former organization’s clinical leadership team, strategic planning initiatives and efforts to advance health equity, diversity and inclusion.

Prior to that, Vyas led multiple HR efforts at Stanford Healthcare and Stanford Children’s Health. She has also served on the board for the International Association of Human Resources Information Management and is an elected member of the Forbes HR Council. Vyas was recently chosen as one of the Top 25 Healthcare Leaders to Follow by the professional analytics platform Perceptix.

In his announcement, Hanners stated his strong confidence in Vyas.

“I have no doubt that her strategic thinking, compassion and sense of innovation will strengthen our organization as we move into the future,” Hanners said.

Vyas is a proud mother of two boys, Aniket and Abhishek. Her spouse, Manish Raj, works as an IT consultant. In her spare time, Vyas enjoys singing and playing the sitar, plus traveling with her family.

To learn more about Vyas, her background and her goals, click here.

— Kate Faye