Gordon R. Bernard, M.D.

Gordon R. Bernard, MD is Executive Vice President for Research and Chief Research Officer, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). He joined the faculty at Vanderbilt in 1981 as a physician scientist and became Medical Director for the Medical Intensive Care Unit and Director for Pulmonary and Critical Care research programs in 1983. Dr. Bernard’s research has primarily focused on improving the care and outcomes of critically ill patients with sepsis and the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and he established the Vanderbilt Coordinating Center in 1987 to support the large multi-institutional and international clinical investigations he was leading. Dr. Bernard is a member of the American Association of Physicians and has written or co-authored more than 350 original articles and book chapters. He currently serves as Executive Vice President for Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). In the latter role, Dr. Bernard serves as the Director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, and P.I. of Vanderbilt’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), an NIH-funded program that is supported by one of the largest single grants in VUMC history, greater than $140M over the first 15 years. In these roles, Dr. Bernard oversees the extensive, multifaceted clinical and translational research programs of VUMC including the establishment of the Learning Healthcare System, an infrastructure built to encourage and support pragmatic clinical trials embedded in hospital operations.