Mary Ellen Koran, MD, PhD

Dr. Mary Ellen Koran grew up in Annapolis, Maryland. She attended Duke University, where she was a Pratt research fellow in Biomedical Engineering. After graduating with honors, Dr. Koran moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a joint MD/PhD in Vanderbilt's NIH-funded Medical Scientist Training Program. She completed her PhD in Human Genetics in the laboratory of Dr. Tricia Thornton-Wells, where she studied the radiogenomics of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Koran was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society, was active as a Student Advisor for the MSTP, and graduated with the Vanderbilt Founder’s Medal as Valedictorian of her medical school class. She matched into Stanford's Radiology Residency Program, where she was served as Chief Resident and pursued a dual board pathway in Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine. While at Stanford she received the Etta Kalin Moskowitz Research Award and the RSNA Trainee Research Prize.

Dr. Koran joined the faculty at Vanderbilt in 2021 as an Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences in the Nuclear Medicine division on the physician scientist tenure track. Her research interests are two-prong: 1) evaluate the genetics of AD using large-scale positron emission tomography (PET) data (including PET from the electronic health record) and 2) develop novel radiotracers for more personalized AD diagnosis and therapy.

Dr. Koran is a faculty member of the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project, she is an investigator in the Vanderbilt Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Sciences, and she is a member of the training faculty for the Vanderbilt Interdisciplinary Training Program in Alzheimer’s disease (T32)

Outside of work, Dr. Koran enjoys swimming with the local Masters' team and exploring Nashville with her husband, Cody, and their King Charles Cavaliers, Peach and Koopa.