CCQIR STAFF
Robyn Tamboli, PhD
Manager, Research Programs
Robyn Tamboli, PhD is a Research Programs Manager for the Center for Clinical Quality and Implementation Research (CCQIR) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). In this role, she assists with the management of CCQIR operations and programs, the Vanderbilt Implementation and Quality Improvement Core (VIQI), and the research program of the CCQIR Director. She also provides primary support for three federally funded institutional training programs in implementation science, learning health systems, and health services research. She has worked at VUMC since 2006, previously in the Department of Surgery conducting research on the metabolic effects of bariatric surgery and as a quality improvement analyst for the bariatric surgery accreditation program. Dr. Tamboli received her PhD in Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics from Loyola University Chicago and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Jacy Weems, BSPH
Sr Health Services Research Analyst
Jacy Weems is a Sr Health Services Research Analyst in the Center for Clinical Quality and Implementation Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). She serves as a Program Coordinator for the Middle Tennessee COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Quality Improvement Project. This contract from the Tennessee Department of Health and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services emphasizes tailored education and coaching for 75 Middle Tennessee nursing homes focused on infection control, quality improvement, and pandemic-related challenges. Before her career at VUMC, Jacy served as the Assistant Director of a statewide grant program committed to benefitting nursing home resident's quality of care. She also previously served as a Community Health Council Coordinator for the Northeast TN Regional Health Office. After graduating with her undergraduate degree, Jacy served as a CDC Public Health Associate, performing community health assessments and environmental health inspections in Fort Myers, FL. She received her Bachelors in the Science of Public Health from East Tennessee State University. She is currently a part-time student in Vanderbilt University School of Medicine's Master of Public Health Program with a concentration in Health Policy.
Ricardo Trochez, MPH
Sr Health Services Research Analyst
Ricky Trochez, MPH is a Sr Health Services Research Analyst in the Center for Clinical Quality and Implementation Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). He currently manages a collaborative project with IBM Watson Health to inform and develop a hospital health equity dashboard. His duties include project planning, monitoring progress according to proposed timelines, and supervising research assistants, as well as data collection, management, analyses, and reports. Ricky has been at VUMC since 2013 and has coordinated past projects in the Center for Health Services Research, including the development of a diabetes dashboard for patients with diabetes (PRIDE study) and assessment of biometric changes in women with gestational diabetes mellitus. An epidemiologist and public health professional by training, he received both his MPH (Epidemiology) and BS (Biology) from Florida International University in his hometown of Miami, FL.
Anna Sachs, MPH
Project Manager
Anna Sachs, MPH is a Project Manager with the Center for Health Services Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). She manages several initiatives at the intersection of research and operations, where her responsibilities include aiding in the efficient completion of project goals, facilitating team meetings, conducting research, and serving as a liaison between stakeholders and collaborators. Her current projects include a research evaluation of the Vanderbilt Hospital at Home program and the implementation of clinical decision support risk prediction tools to address burdens in the emergency department (STRATIFY R01). Anna has been with VUMC since May 2021 and was previously a research project coordinator with Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center for her graduate practicum. Anna received her Master of Public Health degree in Community Health and Epidemiology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Department of Public Health in 2020. Prior, she received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, with a minor in Public Health, from Salisbury University in 2017.