News & Events

The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) has appointed William Schaffner, MD, as its new medical director.  Schaffner will continue to serve as professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. From 2010 to 2012, Schaffner served as president of NFID. In his new role, he will succeed Susan J. Rehm, MD, who has served as NFID medical director since 2004. 

Heading to Minneapolis for AcademyHealth's 2015 Annual Research Meeting this week? Be sure to say hello to our newest, incoming faculty members Laura Keohane (Brown University) and Gilbert Gonzales (University of Minnesota). Here's where to find the Department of Health Policy's best and brightest giving their presentations and posters:   Sunday June, 14th: Melinda Buntin, David Stevenson The $2 Trillion Question: Will the Slowdown in Health Care Cost Growth Continue?

Jesse Ehrenfeld, M.D., MPH, associate professor of Anesthesiology, Biomedical Informatics, Surgery and Health Policy at Vanderbilt, was recently named to receive the Massachusetts Medical Society’s 2015 LGBT Health Award. The honor recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to LGBT health.

On April 21, 2015, Carrie Fry, a data and policy analyst in the Department of Health Policy, presented a policy update at the Tennessee Primary Care Association’s semi-annual Outreach and Enrollment training. The attendees of the training were advocates from across TN who help individuals sign up for health insurance through healthcare.gov, including Navigators and Certified Application Counselors who work in a variety of settings like hospitals, charitable clinics, and health-focused non-profit organizations.

The recent earthquakes (7.8 Richter scale on April 25 and 7.3 Richter scale on May 11) have been deemed the worst natural disaster in Nepal’s history in more than 80 years. The catastrophe has resulted in upwards of 8,000 deaths and over 14,000 injuries. Eight million people have been affected by this disaster and its effects have been dramatic and far reaching.  Upwards of 60 aftershocks, landslides and an avalanche in Mt.

Sten Vermund, M.D., Ph.D., has been named assistant vice chancellor for Global Health in recognition of the growing importance of globalization to Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s research, teaching and patient care missions. Vermund, the Amos Christie Professor of Global Health, directs the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, and is professor in the Department of Pediatrics. He is known internationally for his leadership of projects aimed at HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment, HPV/cervix cancer prevention, and on maternal and child health in low resource regions.

  On March 30, 2015, the Department of Health Policy hosted its second Research into Policy and Practice Lecture, “Politics & Policy: Can they live together?” in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy at Meharry Medical College.  The distinguished panelists included the Honorable Phil Bredesen, former governor of Tennessee, and Jeffrey Selberg, the Executive Director of the Peterson Center on Healthcare. 

Congratulations to Dr. Stephen W. Patrick, who has been awarded a Burroughs-Wellcome Fund Trainee Travel Award to attend the Translational Science 2015 Meeting April 16 – 18 in Washington, DC.   Well done!