Global Health Research Interests: Epidemiology, Surgery, Surgical Infections, Infection Prevention and Control, Patient Safety

Country: Kenya

Global Health Research Interests: Pediatrics, Surgery

Country: Ecuador

Global Health Research Interests: Cancer, Otolaryngology, Public Health, Surgery

Project Countries: Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya

Ryan H. Belcher, M.D. M.P.H. is originally from Walnut Ridge, AR. He received his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Arkansas and his medical degree at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha honor medical society. He then completed his otolaryngology-head and neck surgery residency at Emory University with global health honors. During his residency, he participated in a year-long Global Health Scholars Program that included spending a month in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, working alongside and teaching their otolaryngology staff and residents. He then completed his pediatric otolaryngology fellowship at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt and subsequently joined the faculty as an assistant professor. Due to his passion for global surgery he obtained a Master's in Public Health from the Vanderbilt School of Medicine with an emphasis in global health graduating in 2021.

Dr. Belcher helped develop and is the Surgical Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Pediatric Thyroid Nodule and Cancer Program as well as a member of the Vanderbilt Cleft and Craniofacial team. His clinical interests are pediatric thyroids, head and neck masses, craniofacial syndromes including cleft lip and palate, velopharyngeal dysfunction and speech outcomes, mandibular distraction, and global health related endeavors. He has published several book chapters and over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles in these clinical areas. His passion for global health has led to performing surgery internationally for cleft lip and palate among other craniofacial syndromes in Ethiopia, Kenya, Cameroon, Philippines, Guatemala and Mexico. In 2021, Dr. Belcher was named by Nashville Business Journal to their annual 40 under 40 for young professionals in Nashville, TN who are making a difference in their business and community. He has served as a Senator for the Vanderbilt University Faculty Senate, representing the Vanderbilt School of Medicine and is a Next Generation Board Member for a local healthcare non-profit, Siloam Health, which provides medical care to the local refugee and uninsured of central Tennessee.

Global Health Research Interests: Emergency Medicine, Global Health Systems/Delivery,  Implementation Science, Medical Education, Public Health, Substance Abuse

Countries: Ghana, Mozambique

Anisa Mughal is an assistant professor within the Department of Emergency Medicine and core faculty at the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health. Dr. Mughal is originally from Salt Lake City, Utah. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh. She received grant funding during medical school to study trauma patients in Cuenca, Ecuador. She was later selected as a Doris Duke International Clinical Research Fellow to study common mental health disorder prevalence in patients on methadone maintenance therapy who test positive for HIV in Hanoi, Vietnam. During residency at Maricopa, Dr. Mughal became interested in implementation science and worked with the World Health Organization to implement a trauma registry at the provincial hospital in Maputo, Mozambique. She is a reviewer for the Annals of Emergency Medicine and was selected as a Top Overall Reviewer during her first year of review. Her current research focuses on non-communicable diseases and health burden in low- and middle-income countries.

Global Health Research Interests: Clinical Trials, Community Health, Mental Health, Mobile Health, Neurology, Sleep Medicine

Country: Nigeria

Dr. Upender is an Associate Professor of Neurology and the Medical Director of Vanderbilt Sleep Disorders Center. His clinical, scholarly, and administrative efforts have been centered on practicing and promoting sleep medicine and sleep health. He has served a 5-year term on the U.S. Coast Guard Medical Advisory Committee. He has advocated for sleep health by serving a 3-year term in the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Public Safety Committee. He is currently a Defense Health Board Neurological/Behavioral Health Subcommittee member.

He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Connecticut in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiology and Neurobiology. He earned his medical degree from the University of Connecticut in 1995. During medical school, he received the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Scholarship to conduct research at the NIH. He completed a medical internship at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in 1996. He then completed a neurology residency and fellowship in neuromuscular diseases and electromyography at Washington University in 2000. Upon completing training, he joined a general neurology practice in Connecticut and later in middle Tennessee. During this time, he pursued his interests in sleep medicine and clinical research and completed numerous clinical trials in treating diabetic neuropathy, post-herpetic neuralgia, headache, and insomnia. He joined the Vanderbilt Neurology faculty in January 2011 to focus his efforts on sleep medicine. He received his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management in 2016.

Dr. Upender is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and holds certification in Neurology and Sleep Medicine. He is also a diplomate of the American Board of Electromyography.