Sunil Kripalani, MD, MSc, SFHM, FACP, is Professor of Medicine and Health Policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Kripalani directs the Center for Health Services Research and, as Vice President for Health System Sciences, is active in developing VUMC’s growing learning health system.
He is an applied implementation scientist whose research interests include health communication, medication safety, care transitions, health-related social needs, implementation of evidence-based practice, and de-implementation of low-value care. His research has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, PCORI, and CMS. He is PI on three NIH-funded studies to implement health-related social needs, genomic discoveries, and predictive models into clinical practice.
Dr. Kripalani co-leads VUMC’s Health Systems Implementation Initiative and Learning Health Systems Embedded Scientist Training and Research Center (RAPID-LHS), supports implementation science activities for the Vanderbilt CTSA and Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, and leads the research committee of the STAR Clinical Research Network. He has served as the PI or lead implementation science mentor on several postdoctoral research fellowships and faculty career development programs.
Dr. Kripalani serves on the AHRQ National Advisory Council and on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Hospital Medicine. Dr. Kripalani graduated from Rice University, received his MD from Baylor College of Medicine, and trained in Internal Medicine at Emory University, where he also completed a Hospital Medicine Fellowship and a Master of Science in Clinical Research.
Dr. Rosemary Nabaweesi is a physician scientist and advocate for optimal health care and access for all, who currently holds the RWJF Chair for Health Policy and serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health at the School of Graduate Studies, Meharry Medical College.
She leads the academic and research priorities of the Center for Health Policy at Meharry. She heads the College’s expanded efforts to address the impact of trauma on African American communities through health policy, implementation science and community-engaged research. With more than 15 years’ experience in injury research addressing differences in health care and outcomes in urban and rural communities, Dr. Nabaweesi’s work aims to improve the different built (physical) and social environments of underserved African American communities.
Both her clinical and public health research focus on addressing pressing societal issues, by studying the critical intersection of health policy, social and societal factors impacting health in certain populations, and trauma among minority populations. Her goal is to understand the complex challenges associated with trauma, women's and children's health and wellness.
While on faculty at University of Arkansas Medial Sciences, Dr. Nabaweesi co-led the development of an equity-focused faculty-recruitment tool kit and was the editor for the 2020-2021 report on initiatives to improve health care, access and outcomes for everyone.
Her current studies evaluate the effectiveness of a youth violence prevention program and a non-displacement redevelopment housing initiative.
Her academic background includes an MD from the Makerere University School of Medicine, Uganda’s largest and oldest public university. She also earned a Doctorate in Health Policy and Management, and Master of Public Health with a concentration in reproductive and population health, both from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
