Layth Qassem, PharmD, completed the MS in Applied Clinical Informatics (MSACI) program in Spring 2025. He joined as Research Analyst II under Dr. Adi Bejan in March 2025. 

Formerly, he was a PharmD graduate currently expanding my education in the intersection of health and technology, specifically in the field of AI applications in healthcare. He has interests in understanding the nuances of clinical settings and machine learning, and to innovate in a way that ultimately results in better patient outcomes. He has worked on research projects related to Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). This work is promising as it can potentially speed up the process of determining the best treatment strategy for a patient, leading to better patient outcomes and helping in the fight against AMR.

Fall 2023 - Spring 2025

I am currently the pharmacist in charge of infusion services for Pacific Medical Center.  I graduated from Nova Southeastern University in West Palm Beach, Florida and moved to Hawai’i after graduation as a retail pharmacist.  I lived in Hawai’i for 4 years and then moved to Seattle.  While in Seattle I was offered a position at the University of Miami’s Cancer Center and stayed there for 2 years and missed Seattle enough to move back and start a role as a distribution pharmacist for Seattle Children's Hospital.  Finding that I prefer oncology to pediatrics, I then pursued my current position. 

I was first exposed to Epic and hospital-based workflow was at UM and was immediately interested in learning the system and gaining the opportunity to certify in Willow Inpatient and Willow Beacon.  That opportunity came up and am currently working on my Willow Inpatient and will follow with Beacon afterwards.  I enjoy pharmacy workflow improvements to decrease pharmacy to floor wait times and increase in safety.  My expertise is focused on the pharmacy side of operations and optimization of order entry for pharmacists and physicians.  I am looking to expand my knowledge in all aspects of clinical informatics and move on to an analyst position. 

Fall 2023 - Spring 2025

I am joining you from Salina, Kansas. I grew up in a small town in Kansas called Herington. I attended the United States Military Academy for undergraduate studies where I completed a B.S. in Engineering Management. I then commissioned as an infantry officer in the army and served for six years gaining a variety of experiences: Ranger school, deployment to Afghanistan, company command, etc. Upon leaving active duty I joined the reserves and entered medical school at the University of Kansas School of Medicine – Salina. After finishing there, I went on to complete anatomic and clinical pathology residency at the University of Florida; where I also earned my M.B.A. in the weekend professional program. Currently, I am a staff pathologist at a private laboratory and I teach some medical student classes on the side.

It is my hope that the training provided by Vanderbilt’s program will allow me to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs in both my private laboratory and the multitude of local hospitals that I am affiliated with. After proof of concept, I would like to work with the local medical school campus (University of Kansas School of Medicine – Salina) to incorporate public health, preventive medicine, and informatics training and eventually spearhead the creation of a preventive medicine residency program in conjunction with the existing family medicine program in town (which is focused on providing health care to rural communities). 

Fall 2023 - Spring 2025

The space where medicine and technology converge has always been my favorite place. Following my work at Intermountain’s Transformation Lab where I was principally engaged in Tele-health delivery and 3D prototyping, and then completing an internship for IBM business partner Sirius Computer Solutions, I helped launch an ‘Innovations in Clinical Care’ tract at University of Nebraska’s medical school where I interned at that their tech transfer office, continued work in 3D printing, E-learning development, and assisted on various other projects. Having spent the last four years at the University of Michigan, growing as a clinician and budding informatician, I plan to spend my time at DBMI developing as both an analyst and a leader. The disconnect between what is possible with tech and data at both a population and individual level and what actually happens in the clinic, especially in psychiatry, motivates me to assist in advancing personalized precision medicine and community health. 

Fall 2023 - Spring 2025

I am a rheumatologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. I am originally from Mexico. I completed my residency in internal medicine at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, and served as the Chief Medical Resident. Then completed my fellowship in rheumatology at the Mayo Clinic. My clinical focus revolves around the evaluation and coordination of care for patients facing treatment-refractory systemic autoimmune diseases, with a particular emphasis on systemic lupus erythematosus.

My research focus is on health services and epidemiologic research. My interests in informatics include optimizing and implementing electronic phenotyping techniques for systemic autoimmune diseases, enabling accurate diagnostics and personalized treatment strategies. Additionally, I am actively involved in streamlining clinical workflows for patients with complex and serious illnesses, ensuring efficient and effective care delivery.

Fall 2023 - Spring 2025

Currently, I serve active duty with the USAF as the medical director of primary care at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, LA. I also help lead a pilot program at WellSpan Health, providing part-time telemedicine and asynchronous care. I greatly enjoy my relationships with researchers across the country and continue working on telehealth and value-based care projects. After obtaining ABPM certification, I hope to lead healthcare operations in a hybrid environment involving the federal, private, and research sectors.

Dr. El-Sabawi is a VGM postdoctoral fellow and a cardiovascular medicine fellow. He is originally from San Diego, CA. He completed his MD training at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and medical residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. 

His prior work has focused on optimizing outcomes of transcatheter interventions and structural heart diseases. He is now focused on identifying whether proteomic signatures of myocardial remodeling/dysfunction are present early in aortic stenosis before traditional clinical thresholds for intervention. If present, this may point to known/novel pathways contributing to heart failure in aortic stenosis patients and provide an early molecular barometer for clinical surveillance and personalized timing for aortic valve replacement.