Dr. Wilkins testified before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee on Examining Our COVID-19 Response: Improving Health Equity and Outcomes by Addressing Health Disparities. It was exciting to hear her reference several of our projects and to witness the impact of our combined efforts and contributions are making on a national level!

Vanderbilt’s data-driven, systems approach aims for meaningful change.

Three members of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine faculty have been elected this year to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), the organization announced Monday, Oct. 19. They are:

Early data assessing the primary language of those who received COVID-19 tests at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and tested positive, illustrates the disproportionate impact the pandemic is having on racial or ethnic communities. Of the first 18,491 patients tested for the novel coronavirus, 1,063 speak 37 languages other than English, according to analysis of electronic health records by VUMC’s Office of Health Equity. Although this group represents 5.7% of those tested, they are 19.4% of those positive and the highest number reside in two adjacent Nashville ZIP codes.

Consuelo Wilkins, MD, MSCI, a leader in health equity at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM), has joined Gordon Bernard, MD, as co-principal investigator (co-PI) of Vanderbilt’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). The $8-million-a-year federal grant supports the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR), which since 2007 has fostered the development of innovations including BioVU, Vanderbilt’s massive DNA repository, ResearchMatch, an online national volunteer recruitment registry, and REDCap, a Web-based research management application used worldwide.