VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER - Key Persons
Aimee Hoskins, R.N., B.S.N joined the ICU Delirium and Cognitive Impairment Study Group at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2011. Aimee began her research career in the Department of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine in 2007. Her role in research has been to take responsibility for assuring the integrity and quality of various clinical research trials and to ensure compliance with protocols and overall clinical objectives. Aimee graduated with Sigma Theta Tau and Magna Cum Laude honors from Belmont University in Nashville, TN with a bachelor's of science degree in nursing. She was honored with the Leadership Award from the Belmont Faculty. Aimee has a great desire to stay connected with the community and to serve those less fortunate. Aimee is the director of a youth outreach program named IGNITE. She volunteers at local shelters, food banks, Relay for Life, and has served as a leader on various mission trips.
Alana Lauck attended Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees. While there for her undergraduate degree, she double-majored in Spanish and Psychology. In the Fall of 2020 she obtained her Master of Science in Psychology after completing her thesis on self-blame predictors in sexual assault survivors. She joined the CIBS Center research team in October of 2020 as a research coordinator. In her current role, she evaluates the long-term outcomes of patients after they are discharged from the ICU by giving cognitive assessments. Prior to her work at the CIBS Center, she spoke at the Children's Spirituality Conference: Christian Perspectives in 2016, where she shared research about children whose parents were incarcerated. Her research from the conference was used in a chapter of Story, Formation, and Culture: From Theory to Practice in Ministry with Children, a book that looks at how spirituality impacts children as they grow up.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Surgeon
Dr. Peetz is a trauma surgeon and assistant professor in the Division of Acute Care Surgery and core faculty at the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society. His research interests include ethical issues in trauma surgery. His recently published articles include "Regional Ethics of Surgeon Resuscitation for Organ Transplantation After Lethal Injury" Surgery and "Trauma Surgeons' Perceptions of Resuscitating Lethally Injured Patients for Organ Preservation" The American Surgeon.
Dr. Peetz received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN, his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, and an MPH from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. He completed a residency in general surgery at the University of Chicago and a fellowship in Surgical Critical Care & Trauma/Acute Care Surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA. Dr. Peetz also completed a fellowship in medical ethics at the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA.
Amanda Gann received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Iowa with a minor in Health Promotion. While earning her bachelor's degree she was involved in several research opportunities at the Comparisons in Health and Psychology lab and the College of Public Health. Prior to joining the CIBS Center, Amanda served as a research specialist on several dementia and delirium-related studies at the Indiana University Center for Aging Research.
Job Titles:
- Associate Application Developer
Austin Williams is an associate application developer and a part of the Data Management Core at the Vanderbilt Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship (CIBS) Center. Austin has been at Vanderbilt since 2011, including 9 years with Vanderbilt Sports Medicine as an athletic trainer. Austin attended Middle Tennessee State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in athletic training. He completed a full stack web developer program in 2020, as part of the Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management and the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering. He enjoys, both front and back end developing, with a special interest in database developing and modeling.
Job Titles:
- Director of Data Quality, Clinical Program Manager
Brenda Pun, DNP, RN is an advanced practice nurse with a special interest in critical care, who serves as the Director of Data Quality at the Vanderbilt Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship (CIBS) Center. Brenda received a bachelor's degree in nursing from Wheeling Jesuit University, a master's degree from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. She is involved in a variety of research projects that focus on improving the care and outcomes of critically ill patients and their families. In addition, she is dedicated to helping advance the understanding on how to best translate and implement new evidence into bedside care practices.
Cailey received her B.S. in Computer Engineering from Lipscomb University in 2018. She is currently a PhD student in the Electrical Engineering Department at Vanderbilt University. Her research interests include applying big data and deep learning techniques to challenges in the medical field, with a focus on diseases and disorders in the brain.
Caroline I. Birdrow is a biostatistician in the Department of Biostatistics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She received her Master of Science in Biostatistics from Vanderbilt University in 2021 and her Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Washington and Lee University in 2016. She will be working with the CIBS center on management of data and the statistical analyses of a variety of studies.
Dr. Maxwell's research is directed at understanding outcome trajectories of older adults after physical injury and development and implementation of interventions to facilitate patient-centered, post-injury care. Dr. Maxwell's identification of the high prevalence of physical frailty among injured older adults led to a study that determined the influence of pre-injury cognition and functional status on one-year outcomes (functional decline, mortality, and readmissions). Dr. Maxwell is interested in interventions with a nursing focus to help older adults understand what is happening to their bodies as they age, so that they can make informed decisions that improve quality of life, reduce health care utilization, and increase readiness for end-of-life.
Job Titles:
- Research Coordinator
- Lead, Clinical Core
Cayce Strength, RN, BSN is a registered nurse who graduated from Middle Tennessee State University, School of Nursing in Murfreesboro, TN. She has been a nurse since 1998 with a specialty in Intensive Care nursing. Cayce has been working at Vanderbilt University Medical Center for more than 20 years and joined the ICU Delirium and Cognitive Impairment study group as a research nurse in 2007. In her current role as a Research Nurse Specialist III, she is a co-Project Manager for federally funded clinical trials, both observational and multi-center RCTs. Previously, she attained a level RNIII status in the Medical ICU where she worked with the staff in competencies, nursing protocols, precepting new staff nurses and facilitating group meetings and quality improvement. Addition professional activities include educational lectures on delirium monitoring and management, sleep and sedation in the ICU, and long-term cognitive impairment at hospitals across the United States and nursing conferences such as AACN's NTI and the Tennessee Society of Perianesthesia Nurses (TSPAN) conference. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International-Honor Society of Nursing, the Tennessee Nurses' Association and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. She has worked in her community as a volunteer with the American Red Cross, and assisted with Hurricane Katrina Victims as a Disaster Assistance Team member.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Critical Care Medicine
Christina Boncyk, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Critical Care Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She graduated summa cum laude from Northern Michigan University where she received a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry. She received her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in 2013 and stayed in Madison to complete her residency in Anesthesiology at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. She then completed her critical care medicine fellowship at Vanderbilt University Hospital in 2018 before joining the faculty and receiving a T32 research training grant.
Her research efforts involve patient outcomes following ICU survival with long-term research interests including identification, management, and de-escalation of potentially inappropriate medications administered during and after critical illness.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
- Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at Vanderbilt University
Christina J. Hayhurst is an assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at Vanderbilt University. She completed her anesthesia residency at the University of Virginia and her critical care fellowship at Vanderbilt. She currently works as an intensivist in the cardiac and burn ICU's at Vanderbilt. Her research interests include opioid induced hyperalgesia, post-ICU pain syndromes, and motoric subtypes of delirium. She joined the Center for Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, & Survivorship (CIBS) in 2014.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Radiology & Radiological Sciences
Colin McKnight, MD, is a graduate of Duke University and attended medical school at Oregon Health and Science University. After completing a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Post-Baccalaureate Research Fellowship, he received his radiology residency and neuroradiology fellowship training at the University of Michigan. He joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2016 as an Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences. His academic interests are focused on using advanced imaging techniques to better understand the pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying central nervous system disease.
Job Titles:
- Associate Application Developer
Job Titles:
- Director of the Rush Alzheimer 's Disease Center
Dr. Bennett Directs the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center (RADC) at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is the principal investigator (PI) of two community-based, prospective cohort studies of aging and risk of dementia in which all participants are organ donors (brain, spinal cord, nerve and muscle), the Religious Orders Study and the Rush Memory and Aging Project (ROSMAP). Together, the studies have enrolled >3,600 persons, have collected up to 25 waves of clinical data, and performed >1,500 autopsies. His studies identify risk and protective factors associated with Alzheimer's dementia and other common conditions of aging, and identify novel therapeutic targets for cognitive decline. He serves on numerous national and international advisory boards, and is currently a member of the National Advisory Council on Aging for the National Institute on Aging. He sits is on numerous editorial boards. Dr. Bennett was the recipient of the 2018 Potampkin Prize for Research on Picks, Alzheimer's Disease, and Related Dementia. He has more than 750 peer-reviewed publications with more than 95,000 citations and an h index=148. More information regarding RADC studies can be found at www.radc.rush.edu.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor of Health Policy
David Stevenson is currently an Associate Professor of Health Policy in the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Dr. Stevenson's primary research interests are long-term care and end of life care. His previous work has focused on a broad range of topics in these areas, including the evolution of Medicare's hospice benefit, end-of-life care for Medicare Advantage enrollees, long-term-care financing options for the future, and the impact of Medicare Part D in the nursing home pharmacy sector. He has worked in various research and policy settings, including the U.S. Public Health Service, the University of Washington School of Public Health, the Urban Institute, the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, and Medstat. Dr. Stevenson received a B.A. in religion from Oberlin College, a S.M. in health policy and management from the Harvard School of Public Health, and a Ph.D. in Health Policy from Harvard University. His previous faculty appointment was in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, from 2004-2013.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director for Education and Training
- Global Health, Zambia
- Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of Education and Training in the Vanderbilt Institute of Global Health
Dr. Heimburger is Professor of Medicine and Associate Director for Education and Training in the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH). An internist, physician nutrition specialist, and global health scientist, he directs VIGH's education and training programs for Vanderbilt students and trainees, including the Global Health Track in Vanderbilt's Master of Public Health Program. His research focuses on nutritionally-related non-communicable diseases, especially identification of causes of short- and long-term complications and comorbidities of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. Among these is the contribution of a refeeding-like syndrome to early antiretroviral therapy-associated mortality in underweight Zambian adults (R21AI076430), which led to an 1,800-participant randomized intervention trial in Tanzania and Zambia with colleagues in 5 other countries, the NUSTART Study (EDCTP IP.2009.33011.004, S. Filteau, PI). He was also Co-PI of R21TW010471 (Wilbroad Mutale, PI, 2016-18), which assessed capacity to prevent and manage major HIV-related non-communicable diseases in primary care centers in Zambia. He has had major NIH support for research training and global health capacity building (NCI, FIC, NIDDK, NIAID, CDC). Among these are the University of Zambia-Vanderbilt Training Partnership for HIV-Nutrition-Metabolic Research (UVP, D43TW009744, 2015-2020, PI, focused on building NCD research capacity at the University of Zambia SOM); the Vanderbilt-Emory-Cornell-Duke Consortium for Global Health Fellows (R25TW009337, 2012-2022, PI); the NIH Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars and Fellows Support Center at Vanderbilt (R24TW007988, 2009-2015, Co-PI); the Vanderbilt-Zambia Network for Innovation in Global Health Technologies NIH/FIC (D43TW009348, 2012-2017, Co-PI); the Vanderbilt-CIDRZ AIDS International Training Research Program (AITRP, D43TW001035, 2009-2016, Co-PI); the Vanderbilt Training Program in Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology of Cancer (R25CA160056, 2012-2022, Co-PI); and establishment of the University of Guyana MPH Program (1U2GGH000689, CDC, PI).
Dr Alessandro Morandi got his delirium training at Vanderbilt, where he also completed his MPH degree. He helped conduct several of the Center's large cohort studies and randomized controlled trials. Currently, Dr. Morandi is a geriatric consultant in the Department of Rehabilitation of the Fondazione Teresa Camplani in Cremona, Italy. He is the current president of the European Delirium Association and a worldwide delirium expert. He has designed several research studies on delirium in critically ill patients and rehabilitation settings, including international surveys of the ABCDEF Bundle implementation. His current focus is on delirium superimposed on dementia and on delirium education.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Fellow
- Instructor
Dr. Amelia W. Maiga is a Clinical Fellow Instructor in the Division of Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is board-certified in general surgery and surgical critical care. Dr. Maiga received her BA from Dartmouth College and then spent three years in Mali as a Peace Corps volunteer before pursuing graduate training at Duke (MD) and UNC Chapel Hill (MPH), in addition to another year in Mali as an NIH Fogarty Research Scholar. She came to Vanderbilt in 2012 for general surgery residency, three years of postdoctoral research in the VA Quality Scholars program, and a two-year fellowship in Trauma and Surgical Critical Care. Her research focuses on improving prognostication for traumatic brain injury.
Job Titles:
- Director, Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer 's Center, Professor of Neurology
- Professor of Neurology
Dr. Angela Jefferson is a Professor of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She serves as the Founding Director of the Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer's Center. She is a clinical neuropsychologist, and her research program focuses on understanding the complex interplay between vascular hemodynamics and the pathogenesis and clinical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease, neurodegeneration, and cerebral small vessel disease. Over the last 20 years her work has emphasized (a) neuropsychological and functional correlates of cerebral small vessel disease outcomes, (b) compromised vascular health as a driver of cognitive impairment and neuroimaging changes with a strong focus on cardiac contractility, arterial stiffness, and systemic hemodynamics, and (c) the intersection of systemic vascular disease, cerebral small vessel disease, Alzheimer's disease, and neurodegeneration.
Job Titles:
- Director, the ICU Recovery Center at Vanderbilt, Medical Director, Pulmonary Patient Care Center, Assistant Professor of Medicine
- ICU Recovery Center Director
Dr. Carla Sevin received her undergraduate degree from Duke University and her M.D. from the University of South Florida. She trained in Internal Medicine at Vanderbilt University and completed a Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship there. She has received additional sub specialty training at the Universtitäts Spital in Zürich, Switzerland, and the University of California in San Francisco, CA. She is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine, and Critical Care Medicine. Her professional interests and experience focus strongly on inpatient pulmonary and critical care medicine as well as the care of patients after critical illness. Since 2011 she has led the development and implementation of the ICU Recovery Center at Vanderbilt(formerly the Vanderbilt ICU Survivor Clinic). In 2014 she assumed the directorship of the Pulmonary Patient Care Center at Vanderbilt. In addition to caring for a robust inpatient and outpatient population of pulmonary patients, including those recovering from critical illness, she has worked with the THRIVE Task force of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) to further awareness, research, and education about post intensive care syndrome (PICS),and in 2017 started the THRIVE Post ICU Clinic Collaborative. Through these efforts she has had the opportunity to speak with patients, caregivers, intensivists, primary care physicians, allied health professionals and hospital administrators about the pressing need to define this syndrome and develop a means to diagnose and treat it. She is often invited to speak on the role of ICU aftercare programs in our changing healthcare environment, and the benefits and barriers to creating such programs in practice.
Dr. Catherine Fuchs has been on the faculty since 1998 and is the Director of the Student Mental Health System for Vanderbilt University Medical Center, supporting the mental health care of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. She is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Professor of Pediatrics, and she teaches in the training programs for Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry. Dr. Fuchs is a member of the Pediatric Delirium Team.
Job Titles:
- Lead, Biomarkers Core
- Professor of Anesthesiology
Dr. Christopher G. Hughes is a Professor of Anesthesiology in the Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Anesthesia Critical Care Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry summa cum laude from Indiana University in 2001 and a Doctor of Medicine degree from Indiana University School of Medicine in 2005 as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He then completed residency in Anesthesiology, including a year as Chief Resident, in 2009 and critical care medicine fellowship in 2010 at VUMC. Dr. Hughes subsequently joined the faculty of VUMC where he is a practicing anesthesiologist and intensivist. He currently serves as Chief of the Anesthesia Critical Care Medicine Division, as Medical Director of the Neuro ICU, and as a member of the VUMC Institutional Review Board. Dr. Hughes is a principal investigator in the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship Center.
Dr. Hughes' research focuses on evaluating mechanisms, prevention strategies, and potential therapies of delirium and long-term cognitive impairment after surgery and critical illness. He is also evaluating the mechanistic roles of endothelial dysfunction, blood brain barrier injury, and neuroinflammation in brain dysfunction. He is additionally a mentor or co-investigator on numerous studies across the medical center, ranging from the emergency department to the operating rooms and ICUs. Dr. Hughes has published extensively in the critical care, anesthesiology, and surgery literature and is a frequent presenter at national and international scientific meetings. He has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research, American Geriatrics Society, and industry. For more details of his work, please contact him for a copy of his Curriculum Vitae.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Assistant Professor of Pedicatris ( Neonatology ) Director of Quality Improvement and Implementation Research, Vanderbilt NICU
Dr. Dupree Hatch is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Director of Quality Improvement and Implementation Research in the Vanderbilt Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and a practicing neonatologist at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. He is board certified in Pediatrics and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. Dr. Hatch completed undergraduate and medical school at the University of Florida. He completed his Pediatrics residency, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine fellowship, and a Master of Public Health degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
Dr. Hatch's research focuses on improving the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of mechanical ventilation (MV) in the NICU. His research uses methods from epidemiology, implementation science, human factors engineering, and quality improvement. Recent and ongoing work has focused on the safety of endotracheal intubation in newborns, the epidemiology of MV use in the NICU, the interplay of sedation and MV in newborns, and developing novel methods to measure and decrease harmful MV in the NICU. In addition to his research, Dr. Hatch organizes and leads the quality improvement program in the Vanderbilt NICU.
Job Titles:
- Resident, General Surgery
Dr. Erika L. Rivera is a General Surgery resident at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She received her BS in Biology and Psychology from the University of Notre Dame. She pursued her post-graduate training (MD) at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She moved to Nashville in 2018 for general surgery residency. In 2021, she joined the CIBS center as a T32 post-doctoral research fellow. Her research interests include long-term outcomes of ICU delirium, as well as cognitive rehabilitation of patients following ICU admission.
Job Titles:
- CIBS Center Co - Director
- Grant W. Liddle Chair
- Professor of Medicine and Critical Care / Associate Director of Aging Research, VA GRECC
Dr. Ely, the Grant W. Liddle Chair in Medicine, is a sub specialist in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine who conducts patient-oriented, health services research as a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. He is also a practicing intensivist with a focus on Geriatric ICU Care, as the Associate Director for Research for the VA Tennessee Valley Geriatric Research and Education Clinical Center.
Dr. Ely's research has focused on improving the care and outcomes of critically ill patients with ICU-acquired brain disease (manifested acutely as delirium and chronically as long-term cognitive impairment). He is co-director, along with Dr. Pratik Pandharipande, of the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship (CIBS) Center, which consists of over 90 investigators from Departments of Medicine, Surgery, Neurology, Anesthesia, and Psychiatry. The CIBS Center has amassed thousands of patients into cohort studies and randomized controlled trials, who together built the methodology for ICU acquired brain disease research and newly adopted treatment paradigms including the ABCDEF Bundle. His team developed the primary tool (CAM-ICU, translated into 35 languages) by which delirium is measured in ICU-based trials and clinically at the bedside in ICUs worldwide. Dr. Ely has been continuously federally funded (NIA and/or VA) for nearly 20 years and is now embarking with the CIBS Center and Rush University Medical Center on the NIA-funded BRAIN-ICU-2 R01 to establish a brain bank and determine the exact nature of post-ICU Dementia. Dr. Ely has over 400 peer-reviewed publications.
Dr. Ely graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, Summa Cum Laude, with a BS in Biology in 1985. He continued at Tulane to receive his MPH in Public Health, graduating in 1989. He completed his medicine residency program and his postdoctoral fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina at Bowman Gray School of Medicine. However, he will be the first to say that his most amazing accomplishments are his three daughters, Taylor, and twins, Blair and Brooke Ely. His wife, Kim Ely, is an Anatomic and Clinical Pathologist who specializes in Head and Neck Cancer pathology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Medicine
Eduard E. Vasilevskis, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Public Health - Section of Hospital Medicine and a staff physician with the Tennessee Valley VA Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Care Center. He earned his medical degree at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon in 2001. He then completed residency and chief residency at the University California, San Francisco and completed a health services research fellowship at the Institute for Health Policy Studies and the Divisions of General Internal Medicine and Hospital Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco in 2008.
Dr. Vasilevskis' has been interested in examining delirium as a measure of ICU and hospital quality. Dr. Vasilevskis has validated inpatient measures of delirium performed by bedside nurses, allowing for translation of clinical measures to advance quality improvement and outcomes-research. In addition, Dr. Vasilevskis has developed a unique prediction model (Acute Brain Dysfunction Prediction Model - ABDpm) that predicts delirium for each day in the ICU. Such a model will allow for daily monitoring, bench-marking, and risk-adjustment following implementation of new delirium prevention and treatment measures. Most recently, Dr. Vasilevskis has been co-PI for a NIA sponsored trial that is investigating the medication and geriatric syndrome outcomes (including delirium, dementia, and depression) of a patient-centered medication deprescribing protocol (SHED-meds).
Elizabeth "Eli" Engstrom, BSN, RN graduated from GeorgetownUniversity School of Nursing and Health Studies with a Bachelor's of Nursing in2009. She has worked at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbiltsince 2010. Prior to joining the CIBS center, Eli worked in the Neonatal ICU asa bedside nurse and shift leader, then an ECMO specialist with the Children'sHospital. She is passionate about improving care for critically ill pediatricpatients, which is what led her to join the CIBS center in 2021. Eli lovesteaching and is excited for this aspect of her job as a Research Nurse. Whenshe's not at the hospital, Eli enjoys spending time with her family.
Ellis Morgan graduated from The University of Tampa with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in psychology. In her current role as a research coordinator, she is involved with the ICU clinical core and palliative care teams on their research studies by enrolling patients, completing assessments, and assisting with the database. During her time at the CIBS center, she is enthusiastic to learn from patients and her teams to become a more clinically experienced and well-rounded future physician. Ellis is currently applying to medical school and hopes to attend in the fall of 2021.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Lead, Long - Term Outcomes Core
Erin Collar received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Butler University and a Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in Behavioral Science and Health Education from Saint Louis University. She serves as a research coordinator with the CIBS Center, performing a wide array of follow-up and coordination related tasks pertaining to long-term patient outcomes. Prior to taking her current job at Vanderbilt, Erin was engaged in a number of different research and education related roles at Butler and Saint Louis University.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Fellow of the American Statistical Association
- Professor of Biostatistics
Dr. Harrell received his PhD in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina in 1979. He was on the faculty of Duke University for 17 years and of the University of Virginia for 7 years. He founded the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 1996 and the Department of Biostatistics at Vanderbilt University in 2003. He has taught biostatistics and research methodology to hundreds of physicians since 1980 and has been a mentor or co-mentor to several physician investigators. He is an Associate Editor for Statistics in Medicine, a member of Faculty of 1000 Medicine, and a member of the policy advisory board for the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. His specialties are development of accurate prognostic and diagnostic models, model validation, clinical trials, observational clinical research, technology evaluation, quantifying predictive accuracy, missing data imputation, clinical trials, pharmaceutical safety, flexible Bayesian design and analysis, and statistical graphics and reporting. He has worked on a large number of clinical trials.
Dr. Harrell is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and winner of its 2014 WJ Dixon Award for Excellence in Statistical Consulting. He was the 2008 Mitchell Lecturer for the Department of Statistics, Glasgow University. He was the 2012 Presidential Invited Lecturer for WNAR, International Biometric Society, the 2017 Visionary Speaker, Clinical Studies Coordinating Center, University of North Carolina Department of Biostatistics, Chapel Hill, and the 2018 Distinguished Visiting Scientist, University of Calgary Biostatistics Centre. He is an FDA Expert Statistical Advisor and was a member of the NIH Biostatistical Methods and Research Design Study Section. He is the associate director of the Research Methods program for the Vanderbilt NIH CTSA and was the director of the Statistics and Methodology Core for the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development. He is the PI of the NHLBI multinational ISCHEMIA trial DSMB statistical center. He is the author of two of the most highly cited papers (both are on development of prognostic models) in the history of Statistics in Medicine and has > 240 peer-reviewed publications (5 with >1000 citations).
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Associate Vice Chancellor for Research
Gordon R. Bernard, MD, is Executive Vice President for Research and Chief Research Officer, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). B.S. double major - Biology/Chemistry, University of Louisiana (Lafayette) 1972, M.D. Louisiana State University (New Orleans) 1976. Dr. Bernard undertook residency training at the University of Kentucky (Lexington) in Internal Medicine from 1976-79 and subspecialty training in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Vanderbilt from 1979-81. He joined the faculty at Vanderbilt in 1981 as a physician scientist and became Medical Director for the Medical Intensive Care Unit and Director for Pulmonary and Critical Care research programs in 1983.
Dr. Bernard's research has primarily focused on improving the care and outcomes of critically ill patients with sepsis and the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and he established the Vanderbilt Coordinating Center in 1987 to support the large multi-institutional and international clinical investigations he was leading. In 1994 he was asked to lead the NIH ARDS Clinical Trials Network - the principal NIH team focused on clinical research in intensive care and continued in this role until 2014. Dr. Bernard is a member of the American Association of Physicians and has written or co-authored more than 275 original articles and book chapters. Dr. Bernard was Associate Director of the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine from 1997-2001 and Division Director from 2001 to 2007. In 2004 he was named Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research and was promoted to Associate Vice Chancellor for Research in 2009, and he currently serves as Executive Vice President for Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). In the latter role, Dr. Bernard serves as the Director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, and P.I. of Vanderbilt's Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), an NIH-funded program that is supported by one of the largest single grants in VUMC history, greater than $140M over the first 15 years. In these roles, Dr. Bernard oversees the extensive, multifaceted clinical and translational research programs of VUMC. Dr. Bernard is also currently the Co-PI of the Duke/Vanderbilt Trial Innovation Center which is one of only 3 such NIH supported centers in the US.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Center for Human Genetics Research
Dr. Smith is a member of the Center for Human Genetics Research. Her research interests include amino acid deficiencies (citrulline/arginine) and genetic polymorphisms leading to disease processes exacerbated by decreased nitric oxide production such as pulmonary hypertension in children following congenital heart surgery. She was awarded the Vanderbilt Mentored Clinical Research Scholar Grant which funded her work on citrulline replacement in children undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass. She subsequently was awarded the 2005 SPR Clinical Fellow Research Award in Washington, D.C., the Elliott Newman award for best oral presentation in Clinical Research at the 23rd Annual Vanderbilt Research Forum, and was an invited guest lecturer at the 2006 Japanese Society for Pediatric Research conference held in Kanazawa, Japan for her studies in this area. She is an active member of the pediatric research team continuing to evaluate amino acid deficiencies and new biomarkers of oxidative injury in the critically ill.
Job Titles:
- MICU Clinical Pharmacy Specialist / ICU Recovery Center
Job Titles:
- Member of the Research Team
- Research Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Clinical Fellow - Anesthesia Critical Care
Job Titles:
- Future Resident, General Surgery
Job Titles:
- Resident, General Surgery
Job Titles:
- Member of the Research Team
Job Titles:
- CIBS Center Co - Director
Job Titles:
- Resident, General Surgery