Johann Brandes, MD

Johann
Brandes
MD
MS Student , Applied Clinical Informatics
johann.brandes@vanderbilt.edu

I am looking forward to joining the DBMI community this
summer for the MSACI program. Keeping patients free from
complications and out of the hospital has always been a sign of
good and proactive medicine, but in times of COVID and strained
budgets this takes on an ever greater importance both in terms
of patient safety and stewardship of resources. As an oncologist
at TN Oncology my patients are often particularly vulnerable and
I believe that integration and analysis of the wealth of data
generated on a daily basis will allow me to
develop clinical decision support systems to identify those at
highest risk for complications, tailor treatments based on clinical
and genetic/genomic characteristics and potentially de‐escalate
treatment intensity where appropriate.


Prior to coming to TN Oncology, I completed residency and
fellowship training in Oncology and Pulmonary and Critical Care
Medicine at Johns Hopkins and held faculty appointments at
Johns Hopkins and Emory University. My research focused on
the identification of epigenetic mechanisms in lung
carcinogenesis and resistance to treatment and I used large
scale analysis of data form the Department of Veterans affairs to
validate hypotheses generated in the laboratory. Specifically,
we studied cancer risk after exposure to several potentially
preventative treatment interventions.


Personally, I enjoy running, mountain biking and music.
Recently, my eleven year old son has started challenging me in
complicated strategy games.

Elise Russo

Elise
Russo
VCLIC Director of Operations
Vanderbilt Clinical Informatics Center
elise.russo@vumc.org

Eric Torstenson

Eric
Torstenson
Lead Application Developer
eric.s.torstenson@vumc.org

Michael Pritchard

Michael
Pritchard
PhD Student
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
michael.j.pritchard@vanderbilt.edu

Yin receives early investigator MERIT Award from NCI

Zhijun Yin, PhD, assistant professor of Biomedical Informatics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has received the National Cancer Institute’s Method to Extend Research in Time Award (or MERIT Award) for Early Stage Investigators. See Paul Governs full article here.

VUMC team creates COVID-19 research registry

A team in the Department of Biomedical Informatics is creating a COVID-19 patient registry as a platform for research out of the electronic health records (EHRs) of patients seen at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. For the full article click here as reported by Paul Govern, News and Communications.

Rapid Development of Telehealth Capabilities within Pediatric Patient Portal Infrastructure for COVID-19 Care: Barriers, Solutions, Results

The COVID-19 national emergency has led to surging care demand and the need for unprecedented telehealth expansion. Rapid telehealth expansion can be especially complex for pediatric patients. From the experience of a large academic medical center, this report describes a pathway for efficiently increasing capacity of remote pediatric enrollment for telehealth while fulfilling privacy, security, and convenience concerns. To see the JAMIA article click here.

Arianna Nimocks

Arianna
Nimocks
Research Analyst 1
Vanderbilt Clinical Informatics Center
2525 West End Ave
arianna.nimocks@vumc.org

Many groups turning to REDCap for COVID-19 tracking

REDCap, a software application created and developed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has found widespread use in the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the full VUMC Reporter article, click here.

Study explores health impact of social isolation, loneliness

Laurie Novak, PhD, MHSA, assistant professor of Biomedical Informatics, served as one of 15 members of NAM’s Committee on the Health and Medical Dimensions of Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults. For the full article, click here.