Latest IMPH Community News

Zheng named VICC associate director for Population Sciences Research

Wei Zheng, MD, PhD, MPH, Anne Potter Wilson Professor of Medicine, has been named associate director for Population Sciences Research at Vanderbilt- Ingram Cancer Center (VICC). Zheng, chief of the Division of Epidemiology and director of the Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, replaces William Blot, PhD, who retired from the leadership position on April 1 but will continue to serve in a professor emeritus role.

Study incorporates genetics with smoking history to identify high-risk smokers for lung cancer screening

A study by Vanderbilt researchers that analyzed both smoking history and genetic risk variants for lung cancer supports modifying current guidelines to include additional smokers for lung cancer screening.

NIH grant bolsters childhood status epilepticus and epilepsy research in Nigeria

The Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) has received a new research grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Fogarty International Center of the NIH to establish a large childhood status epilepticus (SE) cohort in northern Nigeria with key partners Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) and Bayero University, and with the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa.

VUMC investigator expands HIV research into South Africa

A Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigator is hoping to improve access to HIV testing in South Africa, where more than 7 million people are known to have the virus, by training traditional healers to perform the tests. Carolyn Audet, PhD, assistant professor of Health Policy in the Department of Health Policy and Institute for Global Health, has partnered with Ryan Wagner, PhD, a research fellow at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, to develop a novel HIV testing strategy for individuals living in rural communities

Vanderbilt, Zambia researchers find delirium in hospitalized patients linked to mortality, disability in Sub-Saharan Africa

Delirium, a form of acute brain dysfunction, is widespread in critically ill patients in lower resourced hospitals, and the duration of delirium predicted both mortality and disability at six months after discharge, according to a study published in PLOS ONE.

Matthew Weinger elected as 2020 AAAS Fellow

Matthew Bret Weinger, Norman Ty Smith Chair in Patient Safety and Medical Simulation and professor of anesthesiology was elected as one of the 2020 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his distinguished contributions to the fields of human factors, clinician performance, and patient safety.