MPH News

When a team of Vanderbilt scientists in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine received a $4.5 million grant to study the role of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in asthma development, they had no idea that a global pandemic would not only interfere with and delay their initial… Read More

William Cooper, MD, MPH, and colleagues previously reported that patients of surgeons with higher numbers of reports from co-workers about unprofessional behavior are more likely to experience complications, and that patient and family reports about rude and disrespectful behavior can identify surgeons with higher rates of surgical site infections and… Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Zambia (UNZA) are partnering on a program to develop a cadre of researchers and educators to lead cancer epidemiology research and training in Zambia and to encourage U.S.-based researchers to engage in cancer research in low- and middle-income countries. In partnership with… Read More

Convalescent plasma, widely given to severely ill patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during the pandemic, does not improve their ability to survive or recover, according to a national clinical trial led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center and published in the journal CHEST. The multicenter blinded, randomized placebo-controlled, Passive Immunity Trial for our… Read More

Infants younger than 6 months were better protected from COVID-19 complications when mothers received two doses of the vaccine while pregnant, according to researchers. Mothers who received COVID-19 vaccinations during pregnancy reduced the risk of hospitalization for this age group by 80% during the delta wave and nearly 40% during… Read More

On June 29 Stephen Raffanti, MD, MPH, hung up his scrubs at the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Clinic for the last time. It was a bittersweet moment for the man who helped lead Nashville out of the darkest days of the AIDS epidemic 30 years ago. “I’ll miss you,” Raffanti told… Read More

In a new study led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers, women who filled two or more prescriptions for opioids after childbirth faced a 46% greater risk of death than women who did not. The study, led by the late Arlyn Horn, PharmD, MPH and Margaret Adgent, MSPH, PhD, research… Read More

Children with medical complexity (CMC) — children with one or more complex chronic conditions — who live in low opportunity areas utilize more acute care than those who live in higher opportunity areas, according to a new study in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.  Cristin Fritz, MD, MPH, and colleagues used the Pediatric… Read More

Renowned physician-epidemiologist Muktar Aliyu, MBBS, MPH, DrPH, who is the associate director for Research with the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH), has been named the new director of the institute, beginning July 1. Aliyu, who joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2009, is professor of Health Policy and Medicine at Vanderbilt… Read More

In recognition of significant hands-on contributions to health information technology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Sara Horst, MD, MPH, associate professor of Medicine, and Barron Patterson, MD, associate professor of Pediatrics, have received 2022 Physician Builder Awards. The eStar Physician Builder Program supports VUMC physicians and other employees in devising and implementing… Read More