News & Events

by Bill Snyder | Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015, 10:30 AM
 
 The Mid-South Clinical Data Research Network, led by Vanderbilt University’s Russell Rothman, M.D., MPP, has been approved for a three-year, $8.5 million funding award from the independent Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to expand its efforts to improve healthcare throughout the Southeast.

We'd like to formally welcome our newest member of the Department, Assistant Professor Michael Richards! We've developed the "Five Questions" interview to help us get to know Michael and the rest of our new incoming faculty members.   Five Questions with Michael Richards   Department: What drew you to the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt?

From healthaffairs.org: 
 
 As Medicaid marks its 50th year in existence, and enrollment surpasses 70 million people, the July 2015 issue of Health Affairs includes a collection of papers focused on how the program is shaped by and has reshaped care delivery.
 
 You are invited to join us on Wednesday, July 8, 2015, at a forum featuring authors from the new issue at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Panels will cover primary care, complex populations, payment, and coverage.

The Department's adjunct clinical faculty member, Dr. Timothy Jones, has accepted CDC’s nomination to become the new MMWR Editorial Board Chair. Dr. Jones completed medical school at Stanford University and a residency in Family Medicine and a Maternal/Child Health Fellowship at the Brown University/Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island program. He practiced in an underserved population in Utah before joining the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service in 1997.

A recent paper, entitled, “Multistate point-prevalence survey of health care-associated infections,” published on March 2014 in the New England Journal of Medicine, and co-authored by the Department's Marion Kainer, has received the CDC’s 2015 Charles C. Shepard Science Award in the Assessment category. It was selected from among 23 excellent papers nominated in this category from across the agency. This is a great honor, and a testament to the outstanding work done by you and your colleagues on this project!

The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) has appointed William Schaffner, MD, as its new medical director.  Schaffner will continue to serve as professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. From 2010 to 2012, Schaffner served as president of NFID. In his new role, he will succeed Susan J. Rehm, MD, who has served as NFID medical director since 2004. 

Heading to Minneapolis for AcademyHealth's 2015 Annual Research Meeting this week? Be sure to say hello to our newest, incoming faculty members Laura Keohane (Brown University) and Gilbert Gonzales (University of Minnesota). Here's where to find the Department of Health Policy's best and brightest giving their presentations and posters:   Sunday June, 14th: Melinda Buntin, David Stevenson The $2 Trillion Question: Will the Slowdown in Health Care Cost Growth Continue?

Jesse Ehrenfeld, M.D., MPH, associate professor of Anesthesiology, Biomedical Informatics, Surgery and Health Policy at Vanderbilt, was recently named to receive the Massachusetts Medical Society’s 2015 LGBT Health Award. The honor recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to LGBT health.