Executive Committee:
Principal Investigator (PI)
Sunil Kripalani, MD, MSc, SFHM, FACP
Professor of Medicine
Dr. Kripalani is the founding Director of the Center for Clinical Quality and Implementation Research and the Director of the Center for Health Services Research. He has developed, implemented, and evaluated numerous interventions to improve the quality, safety, value, and patient-centeredness of health care delivery, with a focus on health communication, social determinants of health, medication management, and transitions of care. He has experience in the development of evidence-based toolkits, mentored implementation programs, mixed-methods evaluation of interventions in clinical practice, and de-implementation of wasteful practices.
Program Director (PD)
Christianne Roumie, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine & Pediatrics
Dr. Roumie is the Program Director of the MPH program at Vanderbilt and the Deputy Director of the VA Quality Scholars Program at Nashville. She is a standing member of the Food and Drug Administration's Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee (NDAC) and serves as chairwoman. Dr. Roumie's research portfolio evaluates appropriate medication utilization as a barrier to optimal patient outcomes and as risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Additionally, her research programs on comparative effectiveness research explore ways to improve health outcomes by developing evidence-based information for patients, clinicians, and decision-makers about the most effective interventions for patients.
Robert Dittus, MD, MPH
Albert and Bernard Werthan Professor of Medicine
Dr. Dittus is the Executive Vice President for Public Health and Health Care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Senior Associate Dean for Population Health Sciences; Chief Innovation Officer, Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network, and Director of the VA Quality Scholars Program. He has trained over 100 fellows, received the Distinguished Educator Award from the Association for Clinical and Translational Science, served on the Board and as President of the Association for Clinical Research Training, and is currently a member of the AHRQ National Advisory Committee. With a scientific background in industrial engineering, epidemiology, and clinical medicine, he has longstanding experience in implementation science and was a member of the first Institute of Medicine committee on health care engineering.
Thomas Talbot, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine and Health Policy
Dr. Talbot is the Chief Hospital Epidemiologist for Vanderbilt University Medical Center and has numerous years of experience in adapting, implementing, and sustaining evidence-based practices to improve the quality and safety of patient care. Dr. Talbot is a recognized expert in the field of healthcare epidemiology and infection control, as he currently serves as a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) and recently served on the Board of Directors for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). As a part of his role as the Chief Hospital Epidemiologist, he oversees the surveillance of hospital-acquired infections, the development of education for staff and physicians, and the implementation of quality improvement interventions designed to reduce the incidence of hospital-acquired infections at Vanderbilt.
Amanda S. Mixon, MD, MS, MSPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Mixon is an Assistant Professor who joined the Vanderbilt faculty and the VA Tennessee Valley Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Care Center in 2010. She graduated from Earlham College with a BA and from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center with an MD degree. She completed a residency in Internal Medicine, VA Quality Scholars Fellowship, and Masters of Science in Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Her research interests focus on care transitions, the effect of social determinants on readmission rates, medication errors across care settings, and deprescribing in patients with polypharmacy. Her research is funded by VA Health Services Research & Development, PCORI, and NIH and has led to notable invitations including serving as an expert for the WHO’s Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medications without Harm.
Internal Advisory Committee:
Gordon Bernard, MD (Chair)
Melinda Owen Bass Professor of Medicine
Executive Vice President for Research
Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Science
Nancy Brown, MD
Hugh J. Morgan Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology
Chair and Physician-in-Chief, Department of Medicine
André Churchwell, MD
Professor of Medicine (Cardiology)
Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Chief Diversity Officer
Katherine Hartmann, MD, PhD
Lucius E. Burch Chair of Reproductive Physiology and Family Planning
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Professor of Medicine
Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Scientist Development
Gerald Hickson, MD
Joseph C. Ross Chair of Medical Education and Administration
Professor of Pediatrics
Senior Vice President for Quality, Safety, and Risk Prevention
Kevin Johnson, MD, MS
Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor and Chair, Department of Biomedical Informatics
Professor of Pediatrics
Senior Vice President of Health Information Technology
David Posch, MS
Executive Vice President for Population Health, Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network
immediate past CEO, Vanderbilt University Hospital and Clinics
External Advisory Committee:
Ross Brownson, PhD
Bernard Becker Professor of Public Health
Washington University
PI of “Mentored Training for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Cancer [MT-DIRC]”
Jonathan Perlin, MD, PhD, MSHA
President, Clinical Services and Chief Medical Officer
Hospital Corporation of America
Rose Marie Robertson, MD
Chief Science and Medical Officer
American Heart Association
Wally Smith, MD
Professor of Medicine
Director Program in Sickle Cell Disease
Director Center for Health Disparities
Virginia Commonwealth University