S U M M E R 2 0 1 2VanderbiltMedicineOwen and VUMC Partner 18 Curriculum 2.0 30An Amazing Memory and Life 24:: :: ::

VanderbiltMedicineVanderbilt Medicine is published by Vanderbilt University Medical Center in cooperation with theVUMC Office of News and Communications.

Copyright 2012 © Vanderbilt University

EDITORKathy Whitney

DESIGN AND ART DIRECTIONDiana Duren

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSCarole BartooCraig BoernerDoug CampbellPaul GovernLeslie HillNancy HumphreyJennifer JohnsonLeigh MacMillanJessica PasleyJan ReadSeth RobertsonJeremy RushBill SnyderMelissa StammDagny StuartJennifer Wetzel

PHOTOGRAPHY/ILLUSTRATIONDaniel Dubois Lisa HelfertJoe HowellKen JohnsElena OlivoAnne RaynerJohn RussellSusan Urmy

DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONSNancy Humphrey

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NEW MEDIA AND ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONSWayne Wood

COVER PHOTOGRAPHDaniel Dubois

EDITORIAL OFFICEOffice of News and CommunicationsT-5200 Medical Center NorthVanderbilt UniversityNashville, Tenn., 37232-2390

VANDERBILT MEDICAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATIOND-8200 Medical Center NorthNashville, Tenn., 37232-2106(615) 322-6146(800) 288-0266Fax: (615) 936-8475E-mail: medalum@vanderbilt.eduVisit us at: medschool.vanderbilt.edu/alumni

HATS OFF! Little Madeline Rose sits heads and shoulders above the Commencement crowdthanks to mom and new graduate, Leslie Meenderink, M.D. For more photosfrom May’s Commencement, see the inside back cover.

WEB LINKmc.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbiltmedicine

Picture Your Photo here! Do you fancy yourself a photographer? If so, send us your bestshot and we will choose one to publish in this space in eachissue. Photos must be a minimum of 300 dpi and 4” x 6”.Submit your digital photo to kathy.f.whitney@vanderbilt.edu.

ANNE R

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VanderbiltMedicine

Bouncing Back 10Vanderbilt Sports Medicine returns athletes to their best

taking care of Business 18Owen Graduate School of Management and VUMC in a healthy relationship

the Amazing Life and Memory of h.K. Derryberry 24A story of friendship and the power of a positive attitude

rebuilding Medical education 30VUSM introduces major curriculum revision

S U M M E R 2 0 1 2

depa r tmen t s

Making the Rounds 2

Around the Medical Center 3

Personalized Medicine 7

Alumni Profile 8

Medical Center Giving 36

Alumni Journal 40

Alumni News 41

on t he cove rFor 20 years, Vanderbilt’s SportsMedicine division has cared for athletes of all ages, keeping themsafe and getting them back to thegame they love.

f e a t u res

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS 18 REBUILDING MEDICAL EDUCATION 30AN AMAZING LIFE AND MEMORY 24

DAVID PATTERSON, M.D. 8

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Look for these stories and multimedia features online at mc.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbiltmedicine.

VIDEO: Shade Tree clinic moves to larger space.

VIDEO: Sports Concussion Center takes a team approach to treating acommon sports injury.

VIDEO: Vanderbilt researcher studies autobiographical memory.

VIDEO: Tim Vogus, Ph.D., discusses improving hospital safety.

ARTICLE: Nicotine may aid memory for some older adults: study.

on l i ne h i gh l i gh t s::

2 S U M M E R 2 0 1 2

BY JEFF BALSER, M .D . , PH .D .Vice Chancellor for Health AffairsDean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

There could never be a more exciting time to be at Vanderbilt.While medicine in this country

is undergoing a radical overhaul, we areboldly charting the course from a founda-tion of strength and timeless traditions.this issue of Vanderbilt Medicine willbring you timely information about peopleand programs bringing the nation excitinginnovation in education, patient care andresearch.

the ability to lead at this critical timein our nation’s history is built upon afoundation of extraordinary resources, andcertainly the most important of these is ourpeople. one of my primary responsibilitiesat VuMc is to help recruit the university’snext generation of leaders – faculty, staffand students ever stronger and morediverse than their predecessors. to thisend, we searched, recruited and appointedan unprecedented seven department chairsover the past year. these outstanding individuals will play a defining role in ourfuture through the many faculty they willrecruit, retain and develop, the studentsthey will mentor, and the many new pro-grams they will move us to create over thenext decade. (Please see the next page fordetails.)

Suitable for fall, this issue’s coverstory is about our Sports Medicine divi-sion within the Department oforthopaedics and rehabilitation.Vanderbilt’s program is a national leaderin treating the diverse needs of athletes of

all ages from elementary school studentsthrough the professionals. the growingprogram has been awarded several highly-competitive peer-reviewed Nih clinicalresearch awards, allowing our faculty, students and patients to experience anddevelop the most cutting-edgeorthopaedic therapies.

Many other exciting developments,from the launch of a revolutionary med-ical school curriculum (curriculum 2.0),to an innovative collaboration betweenthe School of Medicine and the owenGraduate School of Management, are profiled in this issue and are representativeof the rich tapestry of daily life here atVuMc.

Finally, i encourage you to read thetouching profile about one of Vanderbilt’smost unique research partnerships withh.K. Derryberry. h.K. is a remarkableyoung man who possesses an exceptionalautobiographical memory, thought to bethe result of structural changes within hisbrain. his collaboration with our neuro-scientists is revealing new insight into themystery of working memory.

i hope you agree this issue offers a win-dow into just a few of the many reasons theVanderbilt university School of Medicine,nearly 140 years into its history, remains arising star in American medicine. VM

mak ing t he rounds::

JOE H

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::AROUND THE MEDICAL CENTER

News and happenings at Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Vanderbilt university Medical center searched, recruited andappointed an unprecedented seven department chairs over the pastyear. each was chosen for his broad academic accomplishmentsand substantive leadership experiences.

Walter Frontera, M.D., Ph.D., a member of the institute ofMedicine of the National Academy of Sciences and former Dean ofMedicine at the university of Puerto rico, has joined Vanderbilt tolaunch a new Department of Physical Medicine and rehabilitation(PM&r). the founding chair of PM&r at harvard, Frontera is aworld leader in physiatry, the branch of medicine that deals withnot only the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease andinjury, but rehabilitation from resultant impairments and disabili-ties. the first academic department to be formed in VuMc innearly half a century, PM&r will become the home for educationand innovations in rehabilitation across a wide range of disci-plines, transforming the lives of patients, young and old.

Sam Santoro, M.D., Ph.D., already a senior leader at VuMcas chair of Pathology, became chair of an expanded Departmentof Pathology, Microbiology and immunology. he is the DorothyBeryl and theodore r. Austin Professor of Pathology. this new,larger department, merged from outstanding faculty and programsin the former departments of Pathology and Microbiology andimmunology, is ideally positioned with both the scale and facultyexcellence for world leadership, leveraging the clinical and basicscience in these highly synergistic disciplines.

Kevin Johnson, M.D., also a member of the institute ofMedicine, became chair of the Department of Biomedicalinformatics, the largest and most prestigious department of itskind in the world. Johnson, a cornelius Vanderbilt Professor andan innovator in the science of information technology, will play acritical role in helping tie together basic and clinical research activi-ties across all departments and centers at Vanderbilt in ways certainto fundamentally transform biomedical science and health care.

Four additional chairs are joining Vanderbilt this academicyear. reed omary, M.D., a research and clinical leader in inter-ventional radiology and vice chair at Northwestern university,will become chair of radiology and radiological Sciences in thefall. John York, Ph.D., a howard hughes investigator at Dukeuniversity and world leader in inositol phosphate signaling andbipolar disease, will lead the No. 1 Nih-rated Department ofBiochemistry. ian Macara, Ph.D., the harrison DistinguishedProfessor at the university of Virginia and a world leading cancerbiologist, will be chair of cell and Developmental Biology, thebasic science department that hosts one of Vanderbilt's largestPh.D. programs in the biomedical sciences. Steven Webber,

MBchB, MrcP, chief of Pediatric cardiology at the universityof Pittsburgh, begins September as chair of Pediatrics andPediatrician-in-chief at the Monroe carell Jr. children’s hospitalat Vanderbilt. Already No. 3 in the nation in Nih awards, theDepartment of Pediatrics will continue to experience a remarkableexpansion as the children’s hospital becomes ever more influen-tial in child health throughout the region and nation. VM

VUMC WELCOMES NEWDEPARTMENT CHAIRSBY JOHN HOWSER

WALTER FRONTERA, M.D., Ph.D.

IAN MACARA, Ph.D. REED OMARY, M.D.

STEVEN WEBBER, MBChB,MRCP

SAM SANTORO, M.D., Ph.D.

JOHN YORK, Ph.D.

KEVIN JOHNSON, M.D.

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Common antibiotic found to poseincreased heart risk

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a rare, but important riskposed by the antibiotic azithromycin,commonly called a “Z-pack.”

The study found a 2.5-fold higherrisk of death from cardiac arrhythmia inthe first five days of taking azithromycinwhen compared with another commonantibiotic or no antibiotics at all.

Wayne A. Ray, Ph.D., professor of Preventive Medicine, and C. MichaelStein, M.B., Ch.B., the Dan MayProfessor of Medicine and professor ofPharmacology, collaborated on theresearch published in the May 17 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Azithromycin is one of the mostpopular treatments for bacterial sinusinfections and bronchitis.

Although it was previously consid-ered to carry little-to-no cardiac risk,the researchers noted well-document-ed reports in the published literatureas FDA database reports linkingazithromycin with serious arrhythmias.Based on this evidence, the Vanderbiltresearchers sought to examine cardio-vascular deaths in patients who weretaking the antibiotic.

Tennessee Medicaid (TennCare)patient records were examined from1992 to 2006.

About 348,000 recorded prescrip-tions of azithromycin were comparedwith millions of similar records frompeople who were not treated withantibiotics or were treated with otherantibiotics.

The primary comparison was withamoxicillin, an antibiotic that is consid-ered to be heart safe and is used insimilar clinical circumstances asazithromycin. VM

- CAROLE BARTOO

In a special event celebrating the Junior League of Nashville’s 90th year of supportto children’s health in the Nashville community and its longstanding partnership with Vanderbilt University, the organization committed $1.5 million to the MonroeCarell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt to care for children with sickle cell dis-ease and asthma.The funds will help establish the Junior League Sickle Cell Disease and Asthma

Program, a medical home model treatment facility to be located at the Matthew WalkerComprehensive Health Center in Nashville.

“The Junior League has been in partnership with Children’s Hospital from the verybeginning. This generous commitment will benefit the health of children throughoutMiddle Tennessee and is both gratifying and highly consistent with the organization’slong-standing history for supporting high impact programs and services,” said JeffBalser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of the VanderbiltUniversity School of Medicine.The innovative medical home model brings together physicians, nurse practitioners

and nurse case managers from Children’s Hospital and Meharry Medical College to provide family-centered care to the community. With support services, educationalresources and personalized care available under one roof, the program will help reducehealth care costs and improve access for patients who require long-term treatment.“The Junior League has an outstanding track record of caring for children, both in

the Nashville community and here at Children’s Hospital,” said Luke Gregory, chiefexecutive officer for Children’s Hospital. Michael DeBaun, M.D., MPH, J.C. Peterson Professor of Pediatric Pulmonology, pro-

fessor of Pediatrics and director of the Vanderbilt-Meharry-Matthew Walker Center forExcellence in Sickle Cell Disease, said many children with sickle cell disease oftenstruggle with asthma, and this community-based program will create one standard ofcare for children battling these chronic illnesses.“We are extremely grateful for the unwavering support of the Junior League of

Nashville,” said DeBaun. “The funds will help provide a new paradigm of family-centered care for an underserved and deserving population of children.” VM- JEREMY RUSH

Junior League gift boosts sickle cell, asthma fight

4 S U M M E R 2 0 1 2

STEVE G

REEN

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Chronic disease fight gets $18 million boost

Vanderbilt University Medical Centerand its affiliates have received prelimi-nary notice of a three-year, $18.8 milliongrant to improve chronic disease man-agement for patients with high bloodpressure, heart failure and diabetes.

The Health Care Innovation Awardfrom the Centers for Medicare andMedicaid Services (CMS) is one of thelargest federal research grants award-ed to VUMC investigators. The fundingwill support the implementation andevaluation of MyHealthTeam (MHT), amodel of team-based care that couplescollaborative health care teams withhealth information technology in orderto improve control of chronic conditions.

Specifically, the initiative aims tohelp patients improve control of theirblood pressure and blood glucose,reduce hospital re-admissions, emer-gency room visits and reduce the cost of care.

The care management model isbased on best practices from VanderbiltAffiliate hospitals and theMyHealthTeam@Vanderbilt initiative. Thenew technologies to support care man-agement are derived from a range ofVanderbilt clinical technologies that havebeen successfully applied across a spec-trum of inpatient, outpatient and region-al efforts designed to coordinate care.

Pioneering national studies andVanderbilt experience show that bettercare management improves the healthof patients with a range of chronic illnesses.

These improvements translate intofewer serious complications, includingheart attack and stroke and fewer tripsto the clinic, hospital and emergencyroom. This, in turn, lowers clinic waittimes and improves access for otherpatients in need of acute care.

The investigators estimate the project will result in health care savingsof $38 million, including a savings of $27 million to CMS. VM

- MELISSA STAMM

Shyness study examines how brainadapts to stimuli

Shyness may be the result of deficits in two areas of the brain, new research fromVanderbilt University finds. Extremely shy or inhibited individuals are typically slow to acclimate to new people. The study, recently published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective

Neuroscience, found that individuals who identified themselves as inhibited may expe-rience habituation failure — or the inability to adapt to new stimuli — in the amygdalaand the hippocampus regions of the brain. The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine

adults with either an inhibited or uninhibited temperament. Study participants wereshown pictures of unfamiliar faces multiple times. Individuals with an uninhibited temperament demonstrated habituation in both the

amygdala and hippocampus. Their brain response increased when the faces were newbut declined as they became familiar. In contrast, individuals with an inhibited temperament failed to habituate across

repeated presentations of faces, meaning familiar faces triggered the same brainresponse as the unfamiliar. “This failure to habituate provides a novel neural mechanism for understanding the

shy and cautious behavior that is characteristic of inhibited individuals,” said JenniferUrbano Blackford, Ph.D., assistant professor of Psychiatry and Psychology and leadauthor of the study.“Individuals who familiarize more slowly may find encounters with new people over-

whelming and thus avoid new social experiences, whereas those who adjust morequickly may be more likely to seek novel social experiences.”Blackford and colleagues think that this failure to habituate may be a key cause of

social anxiety disorder, the persistent, chronic fear of a specific social situation. Socialanxiety disorder is the second most common anxiety disorder and affects approxi-mately one in 10 adults in the United States. She is continuing her research by studying inhibited children to see if this brain

deficit is present early indevelopment. Blackford conducted this

research with Amil Allen,fourth-year VanderbiltUniversity School ofMedicine student; RonaldCowan, M.D., Ph.D., associ-ate professor of Psychiatry;and Suzanne Avery, third-year Neuroscience doctor-al student. VM

- JENNIFER WETZELJennifer Urbano Blackford, Ph.D.

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VU to investigate deep brain stimulation for depression

Vanderbilt University Medical Centeris one of approximately 20 centers in anationwide clinical study investigating theuse of deep brain stimulation (DBS) as anintervention for patients with majordepression.

BROADEN (BROdmann Area 25DEep brain Neuromodulation) is the firstrandomized clinical research study toinvestigate DBS as an intervention forpatients diagnosed with unipolar majordepressive disorder (excluding bipolardisorder) who have not improved aftermultiple treatments.

DBS is a therapy that uses mild puls-es of current to regulate specific areas ofthe brain, much like a pacemaker usespulses of current to regulate the heart.

In this study, stimulation is beingdelivered to an area of the brain known asBrodmann Area 25, which is believed tofunction differently in people with majordepression and appears to be overactivewhen people are profoundly sad anddepressed.

Vanderbilt was chosen to participatein this study, which builds on the work of a research team from the University ofToronto led by Helen Mayberg and AndresLozano, because of its extensive experi-ence with various forms of neuromodula-tion and in treating psychiatric illness.

Patients enrolling in the study mustbe willing to transfer psychiatric care toRonald Salomon, M.D., associate profes-sor of Psychiatry and the principal investi-gator for the study at Vanderbilt, duringthe course of the 14-month study.

Once the study has been completed,patients will have the option to either par-ticipate in a long-term follow-up study,return to the care of their referring psy-chiatrist while maintaining DBS program-ming-related care with a BROADEN studycenter, or have the DBS system removed.

Participants must be between 21 and 70 years old, with the onset of thefirst episode before age 45, and currentlybe diagnosed with major depressive disorder. VM

- CRAIG BOERNER

Investigators from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and 12 other centers in theUnited States and Australia have found that a new drug for patients with metastaticmelanoma nearly doubled median overall survival.

More than half of patients who were treated with the novel drug vemurafenib, knowncommercially as Zelboraf, responded to treatment and experienced an impressive medi-an overall survival of nearly 16 months — far longer than the typical survival of just six to10 months for patients whose melanoma has spread beyond the initial tumor site.

Results from the Phase II trial were published in the New England Journal ofMedicine.

“This study confirms what we have discovered in our earlier trials. Many of ourpatients are exhibiting a strong, immediate response to this drug and some are livingsignificantly longer, with manageable side effects,” said Jeffrey Sosman, M.D., directorof the Melanoma and Tumor Immunotherapy Program.

Approximately half of all patients with metastatic melanoma – the most deadlyform of skin cancer – have a BRAF V600 mutation in their tumor. Vemurafenib is anFDA-approved oral drug which works as a kinase inhibitor of the BRAF V600 mutation.

While vemurafenib induced clinical responses in a significant number of BRAF-positive patients when it was approved last year, the initial clinical trials had not fol-lowed patients long enough to determine overall survival.

A total of 132 patients with stage IV, BRAF-positive melanoma were enrolled in thePhase II trial. All of the patients had received at least one form of systemic treatmentbefore enrollment in the trial.

Forty-seven percent of patients had a partial response to the drug and 6 percentexhibited a complete response, for an overall response rate of 53 percent.

The study is the first to confirm the durability of the response. VM- DAGNY STUART

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Melanoma drug nearlydoubles survival rates

SUSAN U

RMY

Melanoma patient Debra Johnson is examined by DebbieWallace, APRN, during a follow-up visit.

S U M M E R 2 0 1 2 7

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Since it was launched two years ago, a clinical decision-support program developed at Vanderbilt university Medicalcenter has tested more than 7,800 patients for genetic variationsthat affect responses to several commonly prescribed drugs.

Genetic variations affecting the anti-platelet drug clopidogrel(Plavix) and the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin (Zocor)currently are reported in patients’ electronic health records, anddoctors are notified if they prescribe either drug to patients withknown genetic variants.

During the next year, variations that affect responses to several other drugs, including the anti-coagulant warfarin, will beadded to electronic health records under the program, called PreDict (Pharmacogenomic resource for enhanced Decisionsin care and treatment).

While the impact of the program on clinical outcomes is not yet known, Josh Peterson, M.D., MPh, assistant professor of Medicine and Biomedical informatics, estimated that genetictesting conducted to date has helped avoid severe gene-drug interactions in hundreds of patients.

A much larger data set will be required to “convince us andthe rest of the world that this is the way to prescribe medicine,”said Dan roden, M.D., assistant vice chancellor for PersonalizedMedicine, during a “PreDict town hall” held at the Medicalcenter in June.

the program’s potential value is huge, said Joshua Denny,M.D., MS, assistant professor of Biomedical informatics andMedicine. in a study of nearly 53,000 Vanderbilt outpatients, 65percent had been prescribed drugs with known genetic interactions.

using genetic testing to guide prescribing for these patientscould avoid an estimated 383 severe adverse drug events over fiveyears, he said.

in the case of clopidogrel, which is frequently given to prevent formation of blood clots after catheterization or stent procedures, about 20 percent of patients carry a specific geneticvariation that prevents them from adequately responding to thedrug. As a result, they’re at higher risk for heart attack or stroke.

in 2 percent of patients who carry another genetic variation,simvastatin is associated with an increased risk of muscle toxicityand possible kidney damage.

in both cases, giving physicians genetic information inadvance can help them determine whether their patients should beprescribed a different dose or drug.

Vanderbilt is “well-positioned” to pioneer this new way ofprescribing medicine, roden said, because of its strong, 49-year-old clinical Pharmacology program and major investments in

biomedical informatics and genome science that have been madeby the university since the 1980s.

in addition, Vanderbilt is the recipient of a clinical andtranslational Science Award (ctSA), which recently was renewedfor another five years for $46 million. the award, from theNational center for Advancing translational Sciences of theNational institutes of health, is the university’s largest single government research grant.

the ctSA is administered by the Vanderbilt institute forclinical and translational research (Victr), which, since theinitial award in 2007, has built an efficient framework for con-ducting biomedical research in partnership with Nashville’sMeharry Medical college.

“the ctSA program has been a national experiment toimprove the pace and efficiency of clinical and translationalresearch across the country,” said Gordon Bernard, M.D., associate vice chancellor for research and senior associate dean for clinical Sciences. “We believe it has been successful.”

through its contributions to PreDict and to BioVu,Vanderbilt’s massive DNA databank, for example, Victr hasaided the university’s emergence as a major player in personalizedmedicine. VM

GENETIC TESTING GUIDESPRESCRIPTIONSBY BILL SNYDER

GETTINGPERSONAL

Update on Vanderbilt’s Personalized Medicine Initiative

WEB LINKFor more information, about PREDICT and VICTR, visit mc.vanderbilt.edu/predictpdx and mc.vanderbilt.edu/victr/pub.

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WRITTEN BY JESSICA PASLEYPHOTOGRAPH BY LISA HELFERT

Scholarship Allowed Alum to Pursue His Passion

it’s an adage that was preached to himthroughout his childhood and has

become a tenet by which he lives.Patterson grew up in a large family in

the small town of Franklin, Ky., about 50miles north of Nashville. the youngest of20 children, he came to Vanderbiltuniversity in 1977 with a definite careerin mind. he wanted to be a physician.he just wasn’t sure how he was going toaccomplish it.

“i grew up in a small, segregated,Southern town without black physicians,”Patterson said. “i became excited aboutthe chance to join the profession, helppatients solve problems and boost theminority health care numbers. Diversityis extremely important for the best educa-tional outcomes.”

upon graduating from Vanderbiltuniversity in 1981 with a bachelor’sdegree in chemistry, Patterson wasoffered many choices for medical school.he opted to stay at Vanderbilt.

“it really worked out for the best,”said Patterson of his decision to remain inNashville. “At first i thought it would be

wise for me to change environments sothat i could get another experience, but atthe end of the day, it was one of the bestdecisions.

“Generous scholarship supportallowed me to choose Vanderbilt.Without it, i would not have been able to attend medical school.”

Patterson was one of 149 studentsawarded the Justin Potter MedicalScholarship while at VuSM. the four-year scholarship (available from 1964-1994) provided full tuition, a smallstipend and the chance of a lifetime – he was able to leave medical school withvery little debt.

According to Vanderbilt records, theaverage graduating debt for all VuSMstudents in 2012 is $140,500. the free-dom from such a heavy financial burdenallowed Patterson to pursue his passionand not let his debt determine his med-ical path.

“People are looking at the amount of debt they will incur and how to tackleit the fastest so that they can get startedwith their lives,” Patterson explained. “All

“To whom much is given, much is expected…”Luke 12:48. the phrase is commonly includedin graduation and other ceremonial events. Butfor David Patterson, M.D.’85, the passage ismore than that.

Debt of Gratitude

Nationwide competition is strongfor underrepresented in medicine(URM) students, highlighting theneed for scholarship support.Vanderbilt considers diversity in thebroadest sense:

• URMs are those populationsunderrepresented in the medicalprofession relative to their num-bers in the general population,like African Americans,Hispanics, Native Americans andother Pacific Islanders.

• Minorities include those groupsunderrepresented in the generalpopulation of the United States.This term would also includethose in the URM group.

• Diversity includes all groups inthe URM and minority categoriesas well as economic, rural, sexualorientation, regional and reli-gious.

• The 2011 entering SOM class had19 URM matriculants, or 18.2 percent of the incoming class.

a l umn i p ro f i le::

of that plays a really big role in people’s decision-making processes.”

Patterson, an associate clinical profes-sor of Medicine at both GeorgeWashington university Medical centerand Georgetown university Medicalcenter, has been a partner in an internalmedicine practice in Washington, D.c.for 23 years.

chosen by his peers as one ofWashington’s top Doctors by

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Washington Magazine, he is currentlypresident of the Vanderbilt MedicalAlumni Association Board, where heserved as a regional representative for four years before being named president-elect in 2008. he will complete his tenureas president this fall. he is also the 2012School of Medicine reunion chair.

“When i look at my successes, what-ever they are, a huge portion comes frommy education as an undergraduate andgraduate student at Vanderbilt,” he said. “i often remind residents that i am one ofthe people who is lucky to get to do what ido. it is rewarding to go to work every day.

“our jobs are important and we aregiven a tremendous responsibility – notonly to our patients but to those whocome after us.”

With the strong support and encouragement of his wife, Linda S.Young, BA’ 81, the pair established ascholarship in honor of Patterson’s parentsto celebrate their lifelong commitment toeducation.

“My parents, neither of whom had theopportunity for much in the way of a for-mal education, preached to all of us that –to whom much has been given, much isexpected in return,” said Patterson. “istrongly believe in that and that we standon the proud shoulders of those who havegone before us, making a way for us so thatsomeday we may provide strong shouldersfor the next generation.”

the Alice and V.K. PattersonScholarship provides financial support fordeserving medical students at Vanderbilt,especially those who are underrepresentedin medicine (urM).

“Both of our families strongly believein education,” Young added. “our hopeis that the scholarship will help peoplewho are really smart and ambitious, butcannot afford medical school, go on tobecome doctors.”

the Pattersons’ gift helped to kick-start the Scholarship initiative forVuSM. the purpose of the initiative is togrow the scholarship endowment to allowstudents to choose Vanderbilt regardless

of financial circumstances. it also targetsreducing the amount of student debtupon graduation.

“At this juncture, the scholarship effortat Vanderbilt is very important in helpingour graduates be the best they can be with-out the crushing debt that many face,” saidPatterson. “i am biased, but the educationwe offer here is second to none. We have to

figure out ways to help students dramaticallylower and eliminate debt.

“i hope that others are encouraged toparticipate in this scholarship effort atwhatever level of giving seems appropri-ate. every donation counts.” VM

WEB LINKTo learn more about VUSM’s Scholarship Initiative,please visit vanderbilthealth.org/MDscholarship.

DAVID PATTERSON, M.D.

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Vanderbilt Commodore Christina Foggiesuffered from a concussion and an ankleinjury her freshman year, but thanks tothe care she received from VanderbiltSports Medicine, she enters the 2012-2013 season in good health.

vande rb i l t s po r t s med i c i ne ::

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WRITTEN BY LESLIE HILLPHOTOGRAPH BY JOE HOWELL

BOUNCING

VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL PLAYER

CHRISTINA FOGGIE, THE TOP SCORER, MALE OR

FEMALE, AT HER NEW JERSEY HIGH SCHOOL AND

THE TOP-RATED RECRUIT, CAME INTO HER FRESH-

MAN SEASON IN 2010 DOING ALL IT TOOK TO

MAKE PLAYS, TAKING THE INEVITABLE BUMPS AND

ELBOWS FROM HER OPPONENTS.

AT THE SIXTH GAME OF THE SEASON AT BOWLING

GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY IN OHIO, THE

COMMODORES TRAILED BY 12 AT THE HALF, BUT

BROUGHT IT WITHIN THREE POINTS WITH 14 MIN-

UTES TO GO. WITH NINE MINUTES TO GO, FOGGIE’S

SEASON TOOK AN UNIMAGINABLE TURN.

back

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12 S U M M E R 2 0 1 2

she fell to the hardwood and was knockedunconscious. As the packed court wentsilent, Vanderbilt athletic trainer MicheleLoftis immediately rushed to assist Foggie,who appeared to have a seizure. Loftiscalled for a spine board as a precautionarymeasure.

Back in Nashville, Alex Diamond,D.o., MPh, assistant professor oforthopaedic Surgery and rehabilitationand Pediatrics and the women’s basketballteam physician, knew it was bad newswhen he saw Loftis’ phone number appearon his cell phone. As Loftis rode in theambulance with Foggie, Diamond calledahead to the hospital to request tests andscans, and then consulted with physiciansas the results came in.

With the possibility of spine fractureor brain bleed, the concussion diagnosiswas a relief but still had major implica-tions for Foggie, both as an athlete and ascholar. the Vanderbilt Sports Medicinedivision would play a key role in returningher to the court and the classroom.

Striking a Balancethe Vanderbilt Sports Medicine divi-

sion and its team of physicians, nurses,athletic trainers and physical therapistscare not just for college athletes likeFoggie, but for anyone seeking an activelifestyle, from ultra-marathoners to back-yard gardeners. Knee and shoulderinjuries are the most common, but treat-ment is also given for injured ankles, hips,hands, necks, backs and concussions.

With six clinics throughout Middletennessee and Western Kentucky,Vanderbilt Sports Medicine reaches alarge portion of the general population.they also care for all high school athletesin Davidson and Williamson counties,Vanderbilt and Belmont university ath-letes, the Nashville Sounds baseball teamand Nashville Predators hockey team.

“We’re busy. We start most days ofthe week with educational conferences, seepatients in the clinic during the day andthen cover sports teams in the eveningand on weekends. We’re a very busy prac-tice, but it makes us good and makes usone of the leading Sports Medicine divi-sions in the country,” Diamond said.

Sports Medicine is about finding thebalance between ensuring athletes’ healthand letting them do what they love.

“Safety is our first concern no matterwho you are or what team you’re on,”Diamond said, “but we don’t want tomake the opposite mistake of being tooconservative and holding players back.

this is their passion and what they’veworked their whole life for. it’s a balanc-ing act to know what is best for them.”

one of the most important newresources is the Vanderbilt Sportsconcussion center, a joint venturebetween the Vanderbilt orthopaedicsinstitute and Vanderbilt Neurosciencesinstitute, to give the same state-of-the-artconcussion care to all athletes, from gradeschool to the pros.

A return from a concussion is a delib-erately slow process because coming backtoo fast can worsen symptoms, and anoth-er concussion before the brain is healedcan be devastating.

“A brain injury is like any otherinjury in that it needs time to heal,”Diamond said. “An athlete first has to tol-erate school and regular life, and thenwe’ll slowly step them back into activity.”

For Foggie, this meant sitting on thesidelines. her concussion was just the firstof several incidents in a year plagued byinjury. With another concussion in

Safety is the No. 1 concern, but must bebalanced with not holding a player backunnecessarily, says Alex Diamond, MPH,D.O., the Vanderbilt women’s basketballteam physician.

Hit by a screen on defense,

JOHN R

USSELL

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January during practice and an ankle thatkept locking up, trainer Michele Loftisconstantly had her eye on Foggie.

“She’s one of those kids you jokeabout keeping in a bubble. i always sawher after practice with something wrong,”Loftis said. “it was hard to see her on thesidelines because i could tell she wanted tobe in. She’s a tough kid.”

indeed, ‘aggressive’ is a commonlyused word to describe Foggie, who felt theafter effects of her injury for severalmonths. “i wasn’t sure if i would ever getback to normal, not just for sports but foreveryday life. i played the rest of the sea-son but never felt right,” she said.

in the off-season last summer,Foggie’s headaches and short-term memo-ry loss finally lifted and she had arthro-scopic surgery to clear some scar tissue inher ankle that had built up from repeatedsprains, the non-invasive procedurerequiring just a few days of rehab.

Finally feeling healthy going into hersophomore season last fall, Foggie wasdetermined to play in every game butnever expected the amazing success shewould have. She led the Southeasternconference in scoring, averaging 17.9points per game and was named Firstteam All-Sec by the Associated Press.

Game Changerthe 20-year history of Vanderbilt

Sports Medicine is a story of growth.When Kurt Spindler, M.D., director ofVanderbilt Sports Medicine, arrived in1991, he was just the second faculty mem-ber in the department with about 1,100annual patient visits. today there are 14faculty, more than 40,000 annual visitsand $1.5 million in research funding.

the Sports Medicine field has alsochanged rapidly, with technical innova-tions keeping more athletes in the game.in the 1980s, an AcL tear was a career-ending injury, but today, with advances inminimally-invasive arthroscopic surgery,athletes are back in a matter of months.

Spindler, Kenneth D. SchermerhornProfessor of orthopaedics and

rehabilitation, points to arthroscopy andthe Mri as major game-changers in thespecialty.

“Arthroscopy dramatically changedSports Medicine because you could getinto the joint and get to the issue withlower morbidity, which means the patientgets back faster,” he said. “the Mri has

allowed us to appreciate damage that wecouldn’t detect on plain X-rays or even onphysical exam. Physical exam of patientscan lead you in the right direction, butespecially in the shoulder, it’s not reliableto differentiate between which anatomicstructure is torn. Mri lets you be positiveabout the injury.”

The pre-concussionbaseline testing for com-munity recreational ath-letes includes a comput-erized assessment offactors including reac-tion time, memory andattention span.The Vanderbilt Sports

Concussion Center isnow offering pre-con-cussion baseline testingto all community recre-ational athletes, inadvance of many high-impact seasonal sportsresuming this fall.Testing includes the

computerized ImPACT(Immediate Post-Concussion Assessmentand Cognitive Testing)test, a balance assess-ment and an individualneurologic history.“This gives our physi-

cians a snapshot of yourbaseline brain function,”said Andrew Gregory,M.D., associate professorof Orthopaedic Surgeryand Rehabilitation. “Thenif you have a concussion,we can compare yourcurrent function to knowwhen you are back atthat baseline and it issafe to return to activity.

“It allows us to com-pare your brain functiondirectly to you, not to anaverage of people acrossthe country. Each con-cussion should be han-dled on an individualbasis, and you want thatlevel of personalizationto know when your brainhas healed,” Gregorysaid.This was previously

only offered to highschool, college and pro-fessional athletes onteams covered byVanderbilt SportsMedicine, but is nowbeing made available toany adults and adoles-cents ages 12 and older.“This is geared toward

anyone in recreationalsports, but especiallycontact sports like foot-ball, hockey, rugby andsoccer, and it is impor-tant to have the testdone before there is aninjury,” Gregory said.The ImPACT test is a

20-minute computerizedtest of factors includingreaction time, memoryand attention span.It also gathers data on

a patient’s physical char-

acteristics, concussionhistory and neurologicalprofile, including historyof disorders that canaffect recovery fromconcussion such aslearning disabilities,attention deficit disorder,dyslexia and autism.One exercise asks

participants to remem-ber a word list and recallthose words later.Another requires partici-pants to press a certainkey depending on theshape shown on screen.Testing is offered at

three clinic locations: TheVanderbilt OrthopaedicInstitute on Vanderbilt’smain campus, theVanderbilt Bone and JointClinic in Franklin, andVanderbilt Orthopaedicsat Mt. Juliet.Call the Vanderbilt

Sports Concussion Centerhotline at 875-VSCC toschedule an appointment.Out of pocket cost is $50for the test.

- LESLIE HILL

SPORTS CONCUSSION CENTER

Pre-concussion baseline tests available to community athletes

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But Spindler says Sports Medicinephysicians always have to respect the bio-logical clock.

“there is a timeframe for healing oftissues, whether it’s muscle, tendon orbone. People want a quick fix but thingsdon’t always heal quickly. We just puteverything in position to heal, and it’s upto biology to do the rest.”

Spindler experienced first-hand thelimits of the early years of SportsMedicine when he tore a muscle during ahigh school football game in 1975, and it

led to swelling that cut off a nerve in hisleg. he asked his orthopaedic surgeonwhat he needed to do to play footballagain, and when he completed those steps,the doctor still said he couldn’t play.

“i was 17 years old, pretty wild atthat age, and my father thought i wasgoing to strangle the doctor, but i wascalm. i said, ‘thank you, i’ll send you myclippings.’”

Spindler decided to make a career ofkeeping athletes on the field and has builta Sports Medicine division at Vanderbilt

that values research and innovation.“one of the things we’re most proud

of is we have trained a lot of the futureNih researchers and received the highestresearch awards,” Spindler said. “if youasked everybody in the country who is thebest in clinical outcomes sports medicineresearch, i think we would be named ineveryone’s pool.”

there are four major multi-centerclinical studies currently under way, threeof which are Nih-funded (see sidebar onnext page).

“these studies are designed to guideclinical practice, and there are no equalstudies to these in the world,” Spindlersaid. “they set up predictive models, so ifyour son or daughter tears their AcL andyou want to know their prognosis after itgets fixed, we can predict that. it really isindividualized or personalized medicine.”

The Trusted TrainersMichelle Johnson, A.t.c., often feels

like a second mom to the hundreds of ath-letes she cares for at John overton highSchool. As the school’s sole athletic train-er, she spends every afternoon rehabilitat-ing injured students, taping ankles andicing sore shoulders. During games, shepaces the sidelines, ready to offer medicalcare or motivation.

Athletic trainers like Johnson,employed by Vanderbilt Sports Medicine,are stationed at every public high schoolin Davidson and Williamson counties andsome private schools – 27 in all – at nocost to the school district.

“Less than half of the high schools inAmerica have athletic trainers, and we’refortunate that Vanderbilt is willing to pro-vide that community support,” said MitchBellamy, A.t.c., assistant director ofSports Medicine. “today’s kids are all big-ger, stronger and faster, and the collisions

Under the direction of Kurt Spindler,M.D., the Sports Medicine division has40,000 annual visits and $1.5 million inresearch funding.

“There is a timeframe for healing of tissues, whether it’s muscle, tendon orbone. People want a quick fix but thingsdon’t always heal quickly. We just puteverything in position to heal, and it’s up to biology to do the rest.”

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OWELL

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are more violent. there’s no questionwe’re seeing more injuries and thoseinjuries can affect them for the rest oftheir lives.”

there are about 3.5 million injurieseach year in the united States to children14 and under playing sports, and highschool athletes have about 2 millioninjuries per year. About 8 percent of chil-dren drop out of sports each year becauseof an injury, missing out on the valuable

lessons of teamwork, confidence, achiev-ing goals and dealing with setbacks. Asathletes specialize in one sport at everyounger ages, overuse injuries are moreand more common.

Johnson is there to keep them on thefield. Because she sees the students everyday, she knows when to tell them to walkit off and she can observe how they’rerecovering after a concussion. She alsoknows when to joke playfully about a

player’s mistake or when to have a moreserious talk to get their head back in thegame.

“Years ago we didn’t have this luxury,”said overton high School head baseballcoach Mike Morrison, “and it’s hard tobelieve how we functioned without it. if akid says he doesn’t feel quite right, it’s easyto say who he should go see. She’s availableanytime, and it’s great to have someonewho can diagnose and knows what to do.

As the massive Baby Boom generation advances in agethey’re marching forward on increasingly creaky knees, andevery crack, click and pop is an audible reminder of the growingimpact that treating osteoarthritis will have on the U.S. healthcare system for decades to come.

Osteoarthritis, degenerative arthritis and the joint replace-ments that sometimes follow, already constitute a top 5 healthexpenditure, estimated at nearly $14 billion per year by theAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Currently, morethan 20 million people in the United States need non-operativemanagement for osteoarthritis, and nearly 1 million will havejoint replacement surgery.

Those figures are expected to double over the next 20 years. “There is an onslaught coming of people who are going to

need joint replacements,” said Kurt Spindler, M.D., Kenneth D.Schermerhorn Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery andRehabilitation at Vanderbilt.

“No matter what we do, joint replacements are going to goup, and we need to meet these needs by increasing capacity andbetter managing outcomes earlier on.”

As with many chronic conditions, prevention and early diag-nosis are the keys to improving osteoarthritis-related outcomesand reducing or delaying the number of surgical procedures,such as arthroscopic ligament, cartilage and meniscus repair aswell as joint replacements.

It’s here where Vanderbilt truly shines, thanks to its leader-ship in several multi-center prevention and treatment studiesand the institution’s commitment to evidence-based medicine.

• The Multicenter Orthopaedic Outcomes Network (MOON),led by Spindler, is a longitudinal study of 2,500 patients whohave had anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction toidentify predictors of successful reconstruction.

According to Spindler, these patients offer a good studymodel, as the changes seen in the knee following ACL injurymimic the changes seen in degenerative arthritis, only theyoccur much more rapidly. Also, knee trauma is a primary riskfactor for developing arthritis later in life.

• Vanderbilt is also taking part in the NIH-sponsoredMeTeOR trial, which involves eight centers and is led by JeffreyKatz, M.D., co-director of the Brigham Spine Center at Brighamand Women’s Hospital in Boston. This study is examining thebenefits of arthroscopic surgery vs. rehabilitation for peopleover age 45 who have both arthritis and a tear of the meniscus.

Spindler said the results of this study, due out within thenext year, will play a role in determining Medicare reimburse-ment rates for knee arthroscopy in the future.

• Frank Harrell, Ph.D., chair of Vanderbilt’s Department ofBiostatistics, has developed a statistical model to predict out-comes following ACL surgery. Using characteristics such asage, body mass index, smoking history, mechanism of injury andactivity level, Harrell’s model can predict — for individualpatients — the risk of reinjuring the knee as well as future lev-els of knee pain.

“Everyone thinks personalized medicine is looking at yourgenome to figure out what’s going on,” Spindler said. “That’strue, but it’s also about statistical modeling based on patientcharacteristics. There will be people six years after an ACL injurywho have no arthritis and no pain, and we’ll leave them alone.

“Let’s identify the people who are going to have pain, aregoing to have arthritis and let’s figure out how to modify theirrisk factors. This statistical modeling is what physicians need tomake decisions based on the individual patient, which is whatpersonalized medicine is all about,” Spindler said.

- DOUG CAMPBELL

THE OSTEOARTHRITIS EPIDEMIC

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coaches don’t have a clue about sportsmedicine. We just say ‘put some ice on it.’”

Johnson’s players have her cell phonenumber, know where her training room isand are quick with high fives and hugswhenever they see her. they know she isavailable to them at all times.

After ensuring the safety of the ath-letes, her next most important role is tocommunicate with parents. At the highschool level, they make all the calls aboutwhether their child participates, andJohnson ensures they have all the informa-tion they need.

As the world’s elite athletesgathered at the 2012 SummerOlympics, there was a pro-found sense of loss amongthe U.S. equestrian team.

Craig Ferrell, M.D., med-ical chairman for theFédération ÉquestreInternationale (FEI), the worldgoverning body for equestriansports, and the physician forthe U.S. Olympic equestrianteam, died May 29 atVanderbilt University Hospital

as a result of injuries sus-tained when he fell from hishorse while playing polo.

Dr. Ferrell was professorof Clinical OrthopaedicSurgery and Rehabilitation atVanderbilt University MedicalCenter, board certified inOrthopaedic Surgery and amember of the AmericanOrthopaedic Society forSports Medicine. He was afounder of the Bone and JointClinic in Franklin, Tenn.,which became VanderbiltBone and Joint in 2009. Hehad planned to travel with theU.S. equestrian team toLondon for the 2012 SummerOlympics. Partnering withRiders4Helmets, he champi-oned widespread helmet usein equestrian sports.

In April he received theTennessee MedicalAssociation’s DistinguishedService Award, given annuallysince 1963 to exemplarymembers of the associationfor notable achievements.

The TMA cited Ferrell’s “sub-stantial efforts in raising thebar in equestrian safety andhis unwavering support foradults with special needs.”

In his 30-year relation-ship with Olympic swimmingand equestrian sports, Dr.Ferrell traveled the globecaring for the world’s mostelite athletes. He competedas a collegiate swimmer atthe University of Notre Dameand naturally gravitated tocaring for swimmers, begin-ning his relationship with theU.S. Swimming Team at theirtraining camp in 1979.Working his way through theranks, he became a teamphysician for the 1996Olympics in Atlanta.

“The coolest experiencewas running down the rampwith all those Olympians andcoming into the opening cere-monies. I felt very patrioticand part of something big,”he said in a VUMC Reporterprofile.

Dr. Ferrell was part ofseveral committees to makeathletics safer, especially inhigh-risk equestrian sports.He championed a rule thatwent into effect before theBeijing Olympics, banning rid-ers from continuing competi-tion if they fall off their horse.

After the Atlanta games,Dr. Ferrell continued as chairof U.S. Swimming SportsMedicine, but took on teamphysician duties for equestri-an sports as well. Ferrell andhis wife, Lorraine, were expe-rienced riders and the otherOlympic physicians wereafraid of horses, so the fit wasobvious. Ferrell cared solelyfor equestrian athletes at theSydney, Athens and BeijingOlympics.

Dr. Ferrell is survived byhis wife, Lorraine, sons Aaron(Tanya) and Jonathan, andtwo grandchildren, KateFerrell and Michael CannonFerrell, born in May.

- LESLIE HILL

JOE H

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JOE H

OWELL

Community outreach is a primary missionof Vanderbilt Sports Medicine. Athletictrainers like Michelle Johnson are sta-tioned at every public high school inDavidson and Williamson counties.

REMEMBERING CRAIG FERRELL, M.D.

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At the collegiate level at Vanderbilt,the Sports Medicine athletic trainers andphysicians are given sole discretion aboutwhether players participate.

“We feel very fortunate that we’re ata place that has this outstanding medicalcenter that has a great specialty in sportsmedicine, and it’s just a few steps awayfrom our athletic department,” said DavidWilliams, vice chancellor for universityAffairs and director of Athletics. “i feel ascomfortable as i can sending our studentsout onto the field because i know the peo-ple we have in Sports Medicine are thebest in the business and they’re going tomake the best decisions for the child.”

At all levels, from high school to col-lege to professional, Diamond says athletictrainers are a key part of the equation.

“they’re like a Swiss army knife. theycan handle pretty much everything youthrow out at them. they also know theathletes, from being there every day, andthere’s a great dynamic of back and forthbetween physicians and athletic trainers.it’s a two-way street and an open door andwe constantly are talking and updating. Wetrust each other, so that allows us to takebetter care of our athletes.”

christina Foggie heads into her jun-ior year and the 2012-2013 season ingood health and high spirits. She said shecouldn’t have done it without Loftis andDiamond and the Vanderbilt SportsMedicine program.

“i’ve spent so much time withMichele and Dr. D., and i love thembecause they have all our best interests atheart. they did a great job getting meback to health and keeping me in everygame. it’s about health first, rather thanwins,” she said. VM

WEB LINKTo view a video about Vanderbilt’s multidisciplinarySports Concussion Center, please visitmc.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbiltmedicine.

A GOOD CALL

A new smartphone application for coachesputs an athletic trainer, a personal assistantand a meteorologist all in the palm of theirhands.

The free iPhone and Android app, calledCoachSmart, is the ultimate resource for coach-es, offering real-time information on heat indexand lightning strikes, frequently asked sportsmedicine and safety questions, and a group con-tact feature.

A collaboration between Vanderbilt SportsMedicine, the Medical Center’s StrategicMarketing Department and the Monroe CarellJr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, the app isan extension of Vanderbilt Sports Medicine’sexpertise.

“We have Vanderbilt athletic trainers sta-tioned at 27 high schools in Davidson and Williamson Counties, but we wanted away to reach sports teams where we do not provide care, such as youth leaguesand schools in other counties,” said Alex Diamond, D.O., assistant professor ofOrthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation.

“We wanted to create a resource for coaches that would enable them toaddress safety concerns even if a certified athletic trainer was not on site.”

CoachSmart features:• The Home Screen gives current temperature, humidity, heat index and

lightning strike information.• The Map Screen is based on the user’s GPS location. One map shows

lightning strikes within 25 miles, while another uses information from nearbyweather stations to post current conditions, including heat index and wind chill.

• The Contacts function allows the user to compile team members’ contactinformation and send a message to the entire team with the touch of a button.

• The Resources section includes information that athletic trainers com-monly dispense, such as hydration tips, injury prevention, concussion guidelines,and when to go to the emergency room. The resources will be continuouslyupdated as more information is needed or guidelines change.

In a survey of local coaches during the development of the app, the mostrequested feature was a lightning warning. If lightning strikes nearby, the appsends an alert to the phone and the resource section provides information onwhat to do.

“Our coaches said they could feel when it was too hot to play, but they wereconcerned with severe weather, specifically lightning. Lightning can strike with-out warning, and that is one of their biggest fears,” said Mitch Bellamy, A.T.C.,assistant director of Sports Medicine.

CoachSmart has included the Tennessee Secondary School AthleticAssociation (TSSAA) heat index guidelines.

“Even though the app lists TSSAA rules, all the information is based on thephone’s current location and can be used by anyone, anywhere. Heat indexchanges mile-to-mile and lightning can strike with no warning, so it’s importantto have that exact information,” Bellamy said.

“We’ve targeted coaches with this app, but it is a great tool for anyoneinvolved in outdoor activities – fishing, camping, cycling, golf. It’s our way of help-ing keep everyone safe outside.”

- LESLIE HILL

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WRITTEN BY PAUL GOVERNILLUSTRATION BY ANTHONY FREDA

C. Wright Pinson earned his MBA in 1976 as a young engineer at IBM, and whenhe later embarked on a career in academic surgery and began submittingstudies to medical journals, he was told by a senior faculty member that itwould be best if he never included his MBA in his list of credentials.

Health care has changed since then.

Clinicians with business skills today are recruited for the top spots in academicmedicine. The deepening Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management-VUMC relationship is a sign of the times.

Owen Graduate School and VUMC partner to combine clinical understanding and business acumen

TAKING CARE

OF

BUSINESS

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said Pinson, deputy vice chancellor forhealth Affairs and ceo of the Vanderbilthealth System (MD ’80). “this businessis going to change based on the shift inavailable funding. this will create extraor-dinary pressures that will require discon-tinuous, innovative solutions. the peopleengaged in finding those solutions willhave a tremendous opportunity to make amonumental and valuable contribution toour society.”

tim Vogus, Ph.D., is one of thosepeople. he is an assistant professor atowen, but is often found walking thehalls of the Vanderbilt heart and Vascular

institute, where he surveys employees,helps design new safety practices, and provides consultation services to the leadership team.

Standing at the intersection wherehealth care and business meet, Vogusstudies organizational culture as a founda-tion for health care safety and reliability.he uses employee surveys to gain viewsinto that world.

“What a culture survey ideally can do is give you a leading indicator of out-comes. if our culture is problematic, that’sprobably an indicator that we may be yetto experience some bad errors.”

According to Vogus, the study ofsafety lapses is too narrow a basis forimprovement. “culture gives a bettersense of what the true underlying causes

for something are. But culture is not static,it’s not, ‘oK, we’ve got a great culture,we’re done.’ culture needs to be re-accomplished and re-enacted over andover again.”

A Model RelationshipAddressing the health care cost crisis,

while also improving quality and safety,will require a combination of clinicalunderstanding and business acumen, andit has accordingly become common forVuMc physicians and staff to enroll atowen, and for owen faculty and studentsto do work at the Medical center.

A vibrant strategic interplay hasdeveloped between these two componentsof the university, fostered by Pinson andLarry Van horn, Ph.D., associate profes-sor of Management and executive directorof health Affairs at owen. Pinson lecturesat owen, where he holds a secondary faculty appointment, while Van hornteaches in the Master of Public healthprogram at the School of Medicine.

“What we do here is a unique rela-tionship in the world of business school-medical center combinations. You wouldbe hard pressed to find another programwith richer, deeper, more productive rela-tionships between the business school andthe medical center than what you’ll findhere,” Van horn said.

owen takes full advantage ofNashville’s being a health care industryheadquarters. According to Van horn,approximately 30 percent of owen gradu-ates go into health care, and he estimatesthis to be the highest ratio among all u.S.graduate schools of business.

“The issues that we facein the delivery of health care are at a critical turning point,”

JOE H

OWELL

Tim Vogus, Ph.D., helped design a safe-ty and quality curriculum for staff andfaculty at VUMC.

WEB LINKTim Vogus, Ph.D., discusses hospital safety. To view this video, pleasevisit mc.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbiltmedicine.

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The Bottom LineVan horn studies the economics of

health care.“i’m about cost — money, economics,

finances. i would argue that’s the No. 1challenge facing our industry. health careis $2.6 trillion of spend, one out of everysix or eight Americans is working inhealth care, 50 percent of health care isfinanced through government payers, andwe’re running out of money. We’ve gotsome big challenges. i think having moreand more physicians who understand theeconomics, the business side, and howthat is going to have to evolve and change,is a win. So i think there are some funda-mentals that support this relationship[between owen and VuMc] being awarm one,” Van horn said.

titus Daniels, M.D., MPh,M.M.h.c., has two iMacs sitting side-by-side on his desk, their displays linked toallow easier viewing of chunky spread-sheets detailing the individual performanceof clinical faculty. in January Danielsbecame vice chair for clinical Affairs inthe Department of Medicine, a job thatincludes a focus on financial performance.in 2010, a couple of leaders at VuMcprompted him to enroll at owen.

“We need to be able to maintain ourfinancial standing — which really is aboutour clinical operations — in order toensure that we have tools and infrastruc-ture and processes necessary to supporthigh-quality patient care,” Daniels said.“the training available from owen helpssolidify a formality in the thought processand the approach to problems, to ensurethat we’re looking at delivering high-qualitycare while also understanding that wehave to be fiscally responsible in how wedo that.”

Statistician Bruce cooil, Ph.D.,M.S., the Dean Samuel B. and evelyn r.richmond Professor of Management atowen, has used statistical modeling to aiddiagnosis and treatment of coronary arterydisease, and to predict cost and length ofstay for various other types of patients.cooil has recently been working with thechildren’s transformational health carecenter at VuMc, testing the relevance of

various patient data for measuring operat-ing room (or) efficiency.

“Bruce is assisting us in developing amodel for true or efficiency — some-thing that we feel is very different fromutilization,” said tammy Wingo, Ph.D.,MBA, director of business analytics at

Monroe carell Jr. children’s hospital anda former student of cooil’s in the execu-tive MBA program at owen. “thesedeveloped metrics will serve as a windowinto the patient experience across the con-tinuum of care, and therefore, can help usto improve our processes so that we not

A vibrant strategic interplay between Owen and VUMC has been fostered by C. Wright Pinson, MBA, M.D., left, and Larry Van Horn, Ph.D.

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Beyond the back-and-forth consulting and lecturing, there are multiple levels to theOwen-VUMC relationship.

• In 2008 Larry Van Horn,Ph.D., and C. WrightPinson, MBA, M.D.,launched the Master ofManagement in HealthCare (MMHC), a one-yearpart-time program (onenight per week, one week-end per month) enrollingsome 30 students peryear, including equalnumbers of physicians,clinical managers andnon-clinical managers/staff. Employers sponsormost of the students.

Two-thirds of the currentclass is employed atVUMC, and several VUMCleaders lecture in the program. Along with theircourse work — healthcare accounting, market-ing, economics, etc. —students complete real-world consulting projectsfor sponsoring employers.It’s perennially Owen’s top program for studentsatisfaction.

• Owen’s first-year healthcare MBA students spend aweek observing patientcare at VUMC, in placessuch as the operatingroom, the emergency roomand the neonatal ICU.

• VUMC has eight adminis-trative internship slots peryear for Owen students.

• Vanderbilt is seeking togrow its joint M.D.-MBAprogram, which has main-tained an enrollment oftwo to four students.

• Owen offers the nation’sonly courses in transplantadministration for MBAstudents, led by VUMCTransplant Center admin-istrator Ed Zavala, MBA.

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+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ELEMENTS OF THE OWEN AND VUMC PARTNERSHIP

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Experiential learning has long beena point of pride for the Owen GraduateSchool of Management. Case competi-tions, extracurricular club activities andin-class simulations are just a few ofthe opportunities afforded studentsthroughout the academic year. Eachfall, though, students can go a step further by signing up for an intensivehands-on experience in one of severaldisciplines. Immersion Week, as it’sknown, gives students a competitiveedge by exposing them to real-worldsituations outside a traditional class-room setting.

Larry Van Horn, Ph.D., associateprofessor of Management and ExecutiveDirector of Health Affairs, and ScarlettGilfus, Program Coordinator for HealthCare, organized the health care immer-

sion course for students pursuingHealth Care MBAs. The course exam-ined the real world of U.S. health caredelivery through the perspectives ofphysicians, nurses, patients, scientistsand administrators.

“The Health Care Immersion is avaluable start to the Vanderbilt HealthCare MBA program. It leverages ourunique position in Nashville as thenation’s hub of health care delivery.During the week, students gain manydifferent perspectives on the chal-lenges facing the health care deliverysystem and leave with a better contextfor the business education that follows,”Van Horn said.

On day one, students changed intoscrubs and headed into the operatingrooms at Vanderbilt University Medical

Center, where they stood next to doc-tors and nurses and watched surgeriesbeing performed. Other activitiesincluded visits to the LifeFlightOperations Center, which managesVanderbilt’s critical-care helicopterservice, and the Mass SpectrometryResearch Center, which provides labo-ratory support for researchers acrossthe University.

“It was a one-of-a-kind experiencethat prepared us for the rest of our cur-riculum at Vanderbilt,” says GarrickBerberich, an MBA candidate for 2013.“We got to see all aspects of the healthcare industry and discuss the front-lineinteractions between providers andpatients.”- SETH ROBERTSON

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HEALTH CARE IMMERSION WEEK

only become more efficient, but alsodeliver the highest quality patient carepossible.”

robin Steaban, r.N., VuMc associ-ate chief nursing officer and chief admin-istrative officer at the Vanderbilt heartand Vascular institute, receives weeklyconsultations from owen’s Vogus. “hehas helped us understand the science ofsafety and how to translate it into opera-tions,” she said.

While most research on high-reliabilityoperations — nuclear power, air trafficcontrol, aircraft carriers — dwells on orga-nizational structure, Vogus looks insteadat interpersonal processes. “if you and iare working together on a nursing unit,what is it that we’re doing together, bothin interactions and behaviorally, to makeit highly reliable? that’s really the focus of my research and that’s what i’ve beenstudying and assessing with VhVi andothers.”

Vogus and an owen colleague, asso-ciate professor ranga ramanujam, Ph.D.,helped design a safety and quality curricu-lum for staff and faculty at VuMc(including the new year-long VanderbiltPatient Safety and Quality PioneerProgram). ramanujam, who studies howorganizational structure and processesaffect health care outcomes, says safetyand reliability are about much more thanfront-line engagement and vigilance —they’re also about fostering collaborationand communication. And to make anyheadway, safety and reliability need to beseen as a priority at all levels of the organi-zation. “Safety isn’t just about being safe,it’s about a broader set of managerialcapabilities,” he said.

A Real-World ViewFormer industrial engineer Danny

Bonn, M.M.h.c., is an administrativedirector with Vanderbilt Medical Group.he says a major strength of owen’sM.M.h.c. is the way it combines eveninglectures by owen faculty with weekendlectures by people working in health care.“it gives you the real-world view of howhealth care looks at economics, marketing,

accounting and so on. We were able to beinformed of a lot of different things in ashort period of time.”

Before entering owen, Shellianelliott, M.A., M.M.h.c., was an organi-zational learning specialist at VuMc.today she manages the General Surgeryclinic, the colorectal Surgery clinic andthe Burn clinic. “My earlier backgroundwas in counseling and psychology. in mycurrent role i’m looking at budgets anddecisions that impact the bottom line, aswell as working with people,” she said.“Where i am now is more balanced thanmy old training mode.”

We asked some owen faculty mem-bers and their former students what may bein store for providers and health systems.

“What’s ahead is increased publicscrutiny about errors and reliability,” saidowen’s ramanujam. “What we’re goingto see is much more attention to thinkingabout the process of delivery very system-atically. even if an organization is veryreliable today, the reality is they willincreasingly face a shrinking margin forerror, so what seems safe enough todaymay not seem safe enough tomorrow.that would mean you would need to keepcoming up with ways to become more andmore reliable.”

VuMc’s Daniels said provideraccountability will increase across the

board, an increased role for primary carewill be a keystone of reform, and highlycompensated, procedure-based cliniciansstand to be most impacted as payers dis-continue fee-for-service in favor of globalpayments.

VuMc’s Mark Kelley, M.D., whoearned the Master of Management inhealth care degree from owen, looks formajor changes, as well.

“We all believe there needs to be fundamental reform across the board. the tricky question is, is the right way todo that moving toward a government-runsingle payer system, or is it a system that’sstill a private system but with a very dif-ferent set of incentives for the providersand for the patients?

“everybody still wants everything fornot so much money, and many peoplethink the people delivering health care arethe problem. there needs to be a readjust-ment of expectations on both sides, andi’m just not sure everyone is ready for that.

“At least we’re probably more pre-pared to deal with change once we’ve beenthrough a program like owen. You canlearn to adapt, and try to figure out wherethe opportunities are.” VM

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GAINING A NEW PERSPECTIVE

Time spent at Owen Graduate School of Management changed the thinking of MarkKelley, M.D., M.M.H.C., chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgeryat Vanderbilt.

“I think a lot of us in the program were looking for a magic set of knowledge thatwould allow us to circumvent the barriers that we encounter trying to get things done atVanderbilt. I started to realize that some of those barriers were inherent in working at acomplex institution, and that they were going to be present in any place like this, so youjust have to learn how to manage them better.

“Sometimes the biggest barrier is you, not knowing how to approach things in a waythat’s going to be positive and achieve your goals. All of us are presented with challenges,and you naturally try to convince people to do what you think will work best, to make astrong argument for your case, thinking you’ll win everyone over. But you realize that’s not going to work. The only thing you can really change is the way you approach things.

“That’s actually been very useful to me. The knowledge gained from the core courses has been useful, but the leadership development component of the programgave me insight about things that I could do differently to be more effective,” Kelley said.

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H.K. Derryberry and his grandmother, Pearl

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WRITTEN BY LESLIE HILLPHOTOGRAPH BY DANIEL DUBOIS

in the summer of 1990, Mary* was 19 years old, six months pregnant,sitting on a cooler of beer, watching her boyfriend and his friends cut hayin Maury county, tenn. When they left the fields after the sun wentdown, her boyfriend was driving with the radio up loud. Mary said some-thing, and as he turned to hear her better, he lost control of the vehicle.it spun and went backward down an embankment, buckling against atree and tossing Mary out the open window.

and memorythe Amazing Life

of h.K. Derryberry

*Editor’s note: Mary’s last name has beenomitted at the request of her family.

She

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was flown to Vanderbilt with massive headinjuries and would not survive. theboyfriend had only minor injuries andjoined their mothers in the waiting roomas a doctor posed this question: “Do youwant us to take the baby or let him gowith her?”

the boyfriend and his mother, Pearl,had no say in the matter, but Mary’s mothersaid, “take him. Salvage what you can,” and Pearl says she is forever grateful for that decision to save the life of her grandson,h.K. Derryberry. the little boy was givenhis father and mother’s middle initials,shortened to h.K.

But there were no guarantees for ababy born at 27 weeks and weighing justover 2 pounds in 1990. h.K. was in theneonatal intensive care unit for 96 days. A severe brain hemorrhage likely causedhis cerebral palsy, and the prematuritykept his retinas from forming, resulting in congenital blindness.

“i made a bargain with God in theNicu. i said you save him and i’ll spendthe rest of my life trying to make his lifebetter,” Pearl said, a promise she has kept,becoming h.K.’s primary caretaker andadvocate, a father, mother and grandmotherin one.

Born with a GiftWhat happened to h.K.’s brain as he

fought for survival left him with deficitsbut may also have bestowed an amazinggift: perfect memory of everything that hasever happened to him. especially amazing

considering there is so much in his lifemost of us would want to forget.

Now 22, he can remember that timehe ate spinach alfredo before watching StarSearch on March 19, 2003.

that it was 70 degrees when he wonsecond place in the 60-meter dash duringthe Junior Blind olympics on oct. 13,1999.

that episode of Everybody LovesRaymond, when ray and Debra went golf-ing together and got in a big fight, that hewatched after having physical therapy onSept. 22, 2003.

that Dec. 26, 2004, was not only thedate of the devastating indian ocean

tsunami but also the day Vanderbilt foot-ball player Kwane Doster was killed. oh,and in 2006, that was the same day GeraldFord died.

he knows the date of every blooddonation he made since turning 18,proven by pulling out his red cross donorcard with the perfectly correct datesentered in little squares on the back.

his single grandmother raised him ashis alcoholic father drifted in and out ofhis life. he was held back in school, afterthe intelligence of a blind boy with braceson his legs and a stunted right arm wasquestioned. he spent many weekends sit-ting at a table at Mrs. Winner’s chicken& Biscuits, quietly listening to talk radioor gospel, as his grandmother worked theregister.

then two men entered his life – first alocal businessman, then a budding memo-ry researcher – and both believe h.K. has alot to teach us.

An Unlikely Friendshipit’s a day Jim Bradford remembers as

“sometime in the fall in probably 1999.”h.K. remembers that day as “Saturday,oct. 16, 1999. it was 55 degrees that day.”

it’s the day Bradford had finished uphis usual tennis game and was headed for acup of coffee at the Brentwood, tenn.,Starbucks but veered into Mrs. Winner’schicken & Biscuits instead. inside, theonly person was a 9-year-old, 53-poundboy with an overgrown haircut and miss-ing baby teeth. he asked a cashier aboutthe boy and was told, “that’s h.K. he’sour sweetheart.”

Bradford thinks he probably offendedthe cashier with the look on his face whenhe was told h.K. sits there while hisgrandmother works, but “i was thinkingmy kids couldn’t have sat still like that for10 minutes. it touched me. i had neverreached out to people with disabilitiesbefore, but my eyes teared up and my chinquivered a little and i walked over andintroduced myself,” Bradford said.

At age 9, h.K. couldn’t really carry ona full conversation and just asked question

H.K. at age 11

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after question. Bradford answered a fewand then got out quick.

“i didn’t want to answer all thosequestions, but all week i thought abouthim sitting there in that restaurant. i wentback the next Saturday and he started upwith the same sequence of questions.”

Bradford, an executive at unifirstwith a wife and two grown daughters,started going to Mrs. Winner’s everyweekend he was in town to spend an hourwith h.K. eventually he asked Pearl if shetrusted him enough to take h.K. some-place, and they went to run a few errands.

today h.K. spends almost everyweekend at the Bradford residence, andthe pair hold court at chick-fil-A at 6 p.m.every thursday night. When they walk in,it’s like a celebrity has entered the build-ing. All the cashiers wave and call outgreetings; the manager, who gave h.K. 52coupons for christmas – one for everyweek in 2012 – comes out to say hello.People know h.K. will be there and comejust to eat with him. h.K. is unforgettableand he certainly remembers all of them.

When h.K. meets new people, healways asks their birthday and tells themon which day of the week they were born.iPhones are pulled out to confirm, and asmile of amazement forms on their faces.

“in a typical weekend, he tells me 12or 14 things that happened in the past,”Bradford said. “i stopped looking it upbecause he’s always right.”

Pearl says Bradford is the father andgrandfather h.K. never had. h.K. calls himhis mentor and always addresses him as“Mr. Bradford.” they act like an old-fash-ioned comedy duo, Bradford setting up thejoke and h.K. delivering the punch line,often accompanied by an excited giggle.

“one time we were looking for some-thing in the grocery store, going up anddown the aisles with the basket. And h.Ksaid…”

right on cue h.K. comes in: “this isthe blind leading the blind!”

“My wife and i are empty-nesters, andwe include h.K. in 90 percent of every-thing we do,” Bradford said. “he’s a kidyou just can’t help but love. We have aspecial relationship that’s wonderful forme. i’ve seen him develop in skills andhave been able to introduce him to folks,and he’s allowed me to do a lot of things.”

they’ve sat in the private boxes attennessee titans games and on AlanJackson’s tour bus. he has taken the con-trols of a friend’s private plane, and sat inthe chair of Nashville’s mayor, Karl Dean.one year, h.K got 590 birthday cards andthey had to put a bucket on the frontporch for the mailman’s delivery.

h.K. graduated in June with his highschool diploma from tennessee School forthe Blind. he plans to take some onlinecourses through hadley School for theBlind, but his dream is to be a motivationalspeaker. Bradford has already arrangedsome engagements for h.K. with therotary club and at local schools, and theyare working up a routine together. thetheme is overcoming the odds and stayingpositive, two lessons h.K. knows betterthan anyone.

“i want people to know how impor-tant it is to have a positive attitude. Whenthings don’t work out, it can really get youdown, but you have to stay positive,” hesaid.

Studying H.K.’s BrainMuch of what we know about the

brain today has come from exceptionalcases. there’s Phineas Gage, the 1850srailroad worker who survived a metal rodthrough the brain, his resulting change inpersonality giving doctors the idea that different parts of the brain had differentfunctions.

Nashville businessman Jim Bradford has been a friend and mentor to H.K. Derryberry forthe past 13 years since he noticed the young boy sitting alone at a table at Mrs. Winner’sChicken and Biscuits.

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When H.K. meets new people, he always asks theirbirthday and tells them on which day of the week theywere born. iPhones are pulled out to confirm, and asmile of amazement forms on their faces.

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then there’s h.M., or henryMolaison, the most-cited case in all medicalliterature. in the 1950s, parts of his brain,the hippocampus and amygdala, wereremoved in an attempt to curb severeepileptic seizures. that part was successful,but h.M. lost the ability to create newmemories, pointing to the hippocampusand amygdala as important structures formemory.

Pearl says h.K.’s memory was appar-ent from an early age. on their frequenttrips to the doctor, he could recite hisanswers to medical history questions fromage 5. Despite his blindness, he knewexactly where he was along the drive fromtheir east Nashville home to tennesseeSchool for the Blind.

then in 2001, when h.K. was 11years old, Pearl heard him talking to him-self in the other room: “in 1996, i hadheel cord surgery and it was Valentine’sDay,” he said. Pearl got out her calendarto confirm the date. She asked about other

dates, what day christmas was on, whenthey went on that picnic, and he was rightevery single time.

Now Pearl jokes that h.K. is herexternal hard drive. her friends will call toask h.K. what channel eSPNu is becauseit’s faster than scrolling through the guide,or to help them remember their own med-ical history before surgery.

h.K. doesn’t mind being their “datemachine.” he loves to remember. Whenhe’s thinking of a particularly juicy memory,his muscles will tense, his head will start tobob and weave, a big grin will break outon his face and his voice will get fast andexcited. he gets to experience being rightback in that wonderful time.

“i think about all the good stuff,” hesaid. “i remember the negative but i don’tdwell on it because it’s history.”

it was h.K.’s medical history thathelped confirm his hyperthymesia, a con-dition of exceptional autobiographicalmemory, meaning memories that havepersonal relevance.

his longtime neurologist tom Davis,M.D., professor of Neurology, said h.K.could recite his whole medical record froman early age, including which providers hehad seen on which day and what his weightand blood pressure were at all his visits.

“he wasn’t doing it to show off, itwas just in casual conversation. When hewas young, i think he thought everyonehad this ability. can’t everybody remem-ber every single thing they’ve done? But ashe got older, he realized how unusual itwas. Plus, i had a long, detailed record ofhis life right in front of me. i could actual-ly check it and knew he wasn’t just makingit up,” Davis said.

Davis approached h.K. about partici-pating in research, which he eagerly agreedto, and introduced him to Brandon Ally,Ph.D., assistant professor of Neurology,Psychiatry and Psychology at Vanderbiltuniversity Medical center.

then Ally, along with his co-authorand lab manager erin hussey, gatheredh.K.’s entire medical record, which wason paper prior to 1996. they learned

about his neurological deficits but alsoculled factual details on which to test h.K.

the research revealed that h.K. has anormal iQ of 97 but confirmed his excep-tional autobiographical memory. From age11, his accuracy of recollection jumps to90 percent and is near perfect from thenon. then, using structural Mri imagingto look at h.K.’s brain, Ally and collabora-tor Manus Donahue, Ph.D., from theVanderbilt university institute of imagingScience, discovered two factors that mayexplain why he is so much better at recon-structing his memories than the rest of us –an amygdala four times bigger than normalwith connections to the hippocampus 10times greater than normal. (these are thesame brain structures removed in the semi-nal case of h.M.)

“these previous case studies wereabout removing parts of the brain and seeing what fails,” said Ally, who has beenresearching h.K.’s memory for nearly twoyears. “h.K. gives us the other side of that,somebody with a super ability.”

the amygdala is about the size of an almond and sits at the base of the hip-pocampus, deep in the brain’s temporallobe. it is thought of as our emotion center – overstimulate the amygdala inmonkeys and get a fearful or manicresponse. the hippocampus is the primarybrain structure responsible for makingmemories. it takes all the information in asituation – sights, sounds, smells – bindsthem together and tags them for futureretrieval.

in h.K., it seems that his exceptionallylarge amygdala is charging every personalexperience with self-relevance and emo-tion, turning everyday occurrences like eating lunch and watching tV into semi-nal life events.

Changing the Way we Think about Memory

“if i gave him a list of 10 words toremember and asked him about them 20minutes from now or if i asked him whowas the 20th president of the u.S., hismemory for this type of information would

Brandon Ally, Ph.D., said studying H.K.’sautobiographical memory and brain is a“once-in-a-career” experience.

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be no different from yours or mine. that’sepisodic and semantic memory. But if iasked him what he had for dinner or whathe watched on television three months agoto the day or how he was feeling on a particular day, he could remember exactly.that’s autobiographical memory,” Ally said.

Given the date March 19, 2003, h.K.doesn’t have the perfect ability for seman-tic memory, able to look up that date likean encyclopedia and know it was the daythe u.S. invaded iraq. instead he startsreliving the day in his memory just as ithappened. he first recalls what he watchedon tV, and then will remember thatPresident Bush broke in to announce theinvasion of iraq.

“one of the things we’ve spent yearsconfirming is that the brain does not worklike a tape recorder and a memory cannotjust be recorded or cued up,” Ally said. “A memory is reconstructed from separatepieces of information that we might haveencoded. For the most part our memory isnot totally accurate because we’re con-stantly reshaping and reconstructing.”

For h.K., however, reconstructing amemory isn’t difficult and his accuracy isnearly infallible for memories after age 11.he says going back in his memory iseffortless. it just happens. Dates comewithout any sort of calculation. he’s rightback there, living the memory exactly as ithappened the first time.

“Most of us remember things as athird-party observer, hovering above thescene. But we have a few flash-bulb mem-ories of really important things – our wedding day, what we were doing on Sept. 11 – that are seen through first per-son. For h.K., 80 percent to 90 percent of his autobiographical memories are firstperson. he’s always right back in it,” Ally said.

Ally’s research of h.K. was publishedin the journal Neurocase in April, the samejournal that published the first known caseof hyperthymesia in a woman named JillPrice in 2006. Price has said she is hauntedby her gift because she can remember allthe negative events in her life and dwells ondisappointments and embarrassments.After the condition was named, more peo-ple were identified, including Taxi actressMarilu henner, and there are believed tobe about 20 cases worldwide. h.K. is onlythe second case to be presented in scientificliterature and the first to have structuralimaging to examine the brain.

Ally came to Vanderbilt in 2010 withno idea that an individual with perfect auto-biographical memory lived just a few milesfrom campus. “Given that there’s only ahandful of these folks in the world, it’s aonce-in-a-career thing for sure,” he said.

Although it is hard to apply lessonslearned in an exceptional case like h.K.’sto the general population, Ally says theyoung man has the potential to change theway scientists think about autobiographicalmemory.

“if you look at the literature criteria,one of the hallmark components of autobi-ographical memory is visual imagerybecause you have to mentally time travelback to the event, and for most of us thathappens through the visual domain. ourMri work showed that h.K.’s occipitallobes [brain region involved in vision] arevery active and well connected to otherbrain regions. So a next step would be tofigure out what role his occipital lobes playin all of this,” Ally said.

he hopes to recruit a cohort of indi-viduals who were born blind like h.K. fora functional imaging study.

this research also has implications for Alzheimer’s disease because one of the

first things to go is autobiographical mem-ory. Ally wonders if h.K. could point topotential brain targets for deep brain stimulation or pharmacotherapy.

“While the role of this drasticallyincreased amygdala size and increased hippocampus connectivity in his memoryability is not definitive – we can’t say withcertainty this is why he has perfect memory –it certainly makes sense and provides thestarting point of us understanding whatmight be contributing to this,” Ally said.

“We have to try to gain as much dataand insight from people like h.K. as wecan. he’s a special case, but it takes theseonce-in-a-career cases to get new insightinto how the brain works.” VM

H.K. graduated from the Tennessee Schoolfor the Blind in June.

Although it is hard to apply lessons learned in anexceptional case like H.K.’s to the general population,Ally says H.K. has the potential to change the wayscientists think about autobiographical memory.

WEB LINKBrandon Ally, Ph.D., discusses H.K.’s autobiographical mem-ory and its implications for the rest of us. To view the video,please visit mc.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbiltmedicine.

KEN JOHNS

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REBUILDINGMEDICALEDUCATIONThis fall Vanderbilt University School ofMedicine will transition to an innovative,four-year curriculum that has been characterized as its most comprehensiveeducation revision in decades.

WRITTEN BY CAROLE BARTOOILLUSTRATION BY DAN PAGE

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it is a switch from a highly regarded, buttraditional, one-size-fits-all curriculum toa complex, integrated, collaborative andflexible course schedule that includes lesstraditional lecture and more clinical andcase-based experience.

Kim Lomis, M.D., associate professorof Surgery and associate dean forundergraduate Medical education, isleading a team of faculty and students inlaunching the new curriculum. She sayswhen she shows the colorful chart of thefully implemented coursework to faculty,she still gets a few glassy-eye looks.

“We are still working to educate thefaculty on the structure and flow, butwhen implementation is complete, thereal difference will be that clinical, scien-tific and humanities learning will takeplace in the workplace throughout all fouryears,” she said.

She fully recognizes the School ofMedicine is doing this before a large audi-ence of parents, alumni and colleagues

who will be watching board scores andresidency placements closely for any signof strain.

Leadership across the School ofMedicine, the Medical center and theuniversity recognizes the change as neces-sary and a step toward an exciting andevolving model of medicine.

“today, the delivery of health care isvastly different than it was even a decadeago. the rate of scientific discovery and theaccumulation of knowledge is acceleratingso rapidly that in order for our students tocontinue to be tomorrow’s leaders, we feelthis curriculum change is necessary. Whatour faculty and administrators have createdtogether with the students may very wellset a new standard for teaching and learn-ing for other medical schools to follow,”said Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chan-cellor for health Affairs and dean of theSchool of Medicine.

Bonnie Miller, M.D., senior associatedean for health Sciences, has been a driving

force behind the curriculum change since2006.

“We needed a curriculum that is agileand better equipped to meet the needs ofour students. the traditional curriculumwas no longer consistent with how peopleuse science to provide up-to-date medicalcare. it was time for us to incorporate newresearch and concepts about how peoplelearn and how they apply what theylearn,” Miller said.

Lomis and Miller are quick to pointout that the new curriculum is not drivenby a shortfall in instruction at Vanderbilt,but rather by the need for a fundamentalchange in how medicine is practiced.

“the driver is the acknowledgementthat leading physicians need a new skillset. We will focus less on what they learnand more on how they learn. With thepace of scientific change and discovery, weneeded to stretch learning out,” Lomissaid. thus, lifelong learning is key to therevised curriculum. William Stead, M.D.,associate vice chancellor for health Affairsand chief strategy and information officerat VuMc, has been heavily involved indeveloping methods to teach incorpora-tion of ever-changing and progressing scientific information.

“he calls it a 40-year curriculumrather than a four-year curriculum,”Lomis said.

Another element is instruction inteamwork: students will work together onmore team and group projects, faculty willteach collaboratively, and the School ofMedicine will share learning experienceswith other health disciplines like nursing,pharmacy and social work.

“in my dad’s era, it was the individualphysician’s knowledge that largely deter-mined the outcome for patients, but nowa collaborative approach is needed,”

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CURRICULUM 2.0 AT A GLANCE:

• Embracing innovation and improvement by integrating biomedical and social sci-ences as well as humanities into the practice and understanding of medicine

• Integrating learning with patient care by immersing students in clinical environ-ments beginning in the first year and continuing through the entire curriculum

• Translating discovery into practice by tapping medical breakthroughs at Vanderbiltand across the world for new knowledge

• Supporting professional growth by creating personalized learning plans and flexi-bility and offering supportive learning communities

• Creating physician leaders through focus on scholarship, discovery, critical thinkingand curiosity and chart progress in competency-based assessments

Called Curriculum 2.0,

Lomis said. “We work in teams every dayin clinical practice and participate in teamresearch across disciplines across campus.

“everyone is thinking differentlyabout medicine, and this is ultimatelygood for patients.”

INPUT FROM STUDENTS Since the design committees began

working on curriculum 2.0 several yearsago, students have been involved, approach-ing it the same way they approach mostthings. they see it as an opportunity totake their own education apart and seehow it ticks, and then put it back togetheragain – differently, and better. they arenatural leaders and agents of change.

“the traditional system is set up nowto generate the same results it has pro-duced in the past, but if we keep creatingphysicians in the same manner, the healthcare system might never successfullychange,” said Billy Sullivan, a fourth-yearmedical student who joined the curricu-lum committee his first year, and willserve as co-chair next year.

Another major trend is blending factswith critical thinking or problem-solvingskills. this is in contrast to the traditionalsystem of teaching and testing with thegoal of transmitting great volumes of fac-tual knowledge and engendering a skillfulability to recall them.

“the concept of a great leader inmedicine used to conjure an image of thecowboy physician, like a Doc Martin, whohad all the answers on his own,” Sullivansaid, adding that is not what he aspires tonow. he says he can expect his patients toarrive for appointments with internetprintouts and an expectation that he willlisten to them.

“We realize there is too much infor-mation, and it is changing too fast to knowit all. i admire physicians who are able tohear a patient’s question and sit beforethem and say with confidence, ‘i don’tknow, but i will find out,’” Sullivan said.

Sullivan took a one-year break fromhis medical training to complete a Mastersof education in Learning and instruction.

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The traditional curriculum was no longer consistent withhow people use science to provide up-to-date medicalcare. It was time for us to incorporate new research andconcepts about how people learn and how they apply whatthey learn.” – Bonnie Miller, M.D.

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he says even in K-12 education circlesthere is a trend away from solely focusingon the acquisition of factual knowledge.

“it used to be the more knowledge,the better. instead, today, it’s teaching thetransfer of problem-solving skills to newsituations,” he said.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF INTELLIGENCE Lomis says that’s a great example of

why the new curriculum is needed.“Scientists struggle in today’s model

with getting practitioners to appreciatewhat is new, what discoveries have beenmade, and how they can apply it to theirpractice,” Lomis said. “the fact is the paceof changing information will never slowdown. this is further evidence that a dif-

ferent kind of intelligence is needed intoday’s health care system.”

Lomis uses a colorful stair-step chartto illustrate the dimensions of learning. Atthe lowest step are the facts studentsmemorize. then as learners they matureand build up to learning concepts andprocedures. Finally, they begin to apply,analyze and evaluate.

At the very top of the steps is what iscalled “metacognition,” the place wherestudents can truly be creative.

traditionally, the latter two stepsbegan mostly after graduation from med-ical school. Lomis says curriculum 2.0begins incorporating higher levels oflearning right from the start so that bygraduation students are primed to become

creative physicians, well-positioned to dis-cover and lead.

“We need to spend a lot less time at thefact-remembering stage because, frankly,computers and even our phones can retrievebetter than our brains,” Lomis said.

With curriculum 2.0, the hard workand dedication to becoming knowledge-able about medicine comes through case-based or problem-based learning, followedby early clinical experience that allows stu-dents to begin taking ownership of theproblems they will see in practice.

required research projects in thethird or fourth year will further enhancecritical thinking skills while allowing stu-dents to build mentoring relationshipswith Vanderbilt investigators.

34 S U M M E R 2 0 1 2

PUTTING KNOWLEDGE TO WORK IN CREATIVE DISCOVERY

Conrad Myler, M.D., co-chaired the curriculum com-mittee with fourth-year studentBilly Sullivan for the 2011 schoolyear. Now a first-year anes-thesiology resident at VUMC,Myler recalls he entered theSchool of Medicine as the firstcomponents of the re-designwere launching. Many depart-mental lectures previouslytaught in traditional, depart-ment-led, lecture style hadalready become team-taughtblock courses.

“I knew about it when Iwas being recruited and wasexcited about it. For me it fitthe way my brain works,”Myler said. “I would say it wasoverdue.”

During the next phase ofchanges to the curriculum theMedical School administrationinvited faculty to design a newtype of elective course that hadnever been offered before

which would be piloted byfourth-year students. Thefourth year of medical schoolhad traditionally focused onpreparing for the intensity ofinternship by maximizingexposure to clinical care whiletying up loose ends and travel-ling to interview with potentialresidency sites. Now, a seriesof electives will be offered togive students a much closerlook at applying basic scienceand current evidence into clinical practice in their areasof interest. Myler says theexperience showed him thepotential power of thesecourses.

“It really hit me fourthyear, when I took our immer-sion course in perioperativecare,” Myler said.

He explains that immer-sion means taking students at a higher level of knowledge andputting them with top experts in a single area, like cancerhematology or perioperativecare. Critical thinking, creativethinking, applying basic science

and transitioning to independ-ent lifelong learning were thegoals of this course.

“In this immersion course,we were able to really put touse what we had learnedbefore. Early in medicalschool, even in the new cur-riculum, there is still a lot ofrote learning for the basic biology of complex concepts,for example the clotting cas-cade (the chain reaction ofchemicals that interact to form a blood clot).

“First year we were memorizing vitamin K depen-dant clotting factors labeledwith numbers like 2,7,9, 10, not to be confused with 3,7,9,and 10, which are the cranialnerves with parasympatheticinnervations. At times it feltlike memorizing phone num-bers,” Myler recalled.

In a traditional curricu-lum, by graduation, studentswould have memorized clottingfactors, as well as medicationsand diseases that impact clot-ting, and would have seen

interesting examples of howthose facts apply. But essen-tially, the learning would stopthere. Instead, the new fourth-year immersion coursesallowed students to glimpsethe next step.

“I was sitting down withan expert in hematology andthe clotting cascade. She wasshowing us the new drugs andresearch information that hadcome out even in the last year.I realized I was able to listen,and understand fully and askthe right questions. She couldshow me how to assess thenew information and apply it tomy practice, and to look for thenext question,” Myler said.

By talking with those onthe cutting edge, studying cur-rent evidence and protocols,Myler was able to experiencethe essence of discovery andevidence based medicinethrough the application of sci-entific rigor during medicalschool, at a time when he wasready for it.- CAROLE BARTOO

Lomis and Miller say as curriculum2.0 progresses, it will become more flexibleso that the students can shape it. By thethird and fourth years, they will have theirown highly personalized education plansdesigned for their own learning needs.

“Part of why we have done so well sofar is because students are of such highcaliber. We tell them, ‘this is us trying toget out of your way.’ Let’s free thesebright young people to shape their educa-tion, then they will be ready for continu-ous quality improvement in practice,”Lomis said.

Meanwhile, critics might ask why oneof the top medical programs in the nationwould tinker with a very successful cur-riculum. After all, Step 1 u.S. MedicalLicensing exam scores at Vanderbilt arewell above the national average, contribut-ing to the success the medical studentsenjoy in matching to the best residencyprograms.

Lomis promises great care is beingtaken to ensure that quality measures donot suffer, but she says there is plenty ofproof the old model stopped working longago. When physician job satisfactiondeclined in the 1990s, the robert WoodJohnson Foundation researched the rea-sons. Doctors cited increased fragmenta-tion, the emergence of managed care,dilution of physician decision-makingauthority and society’s increased skepti-cism toward professionals. Lomis says thatview was in large part due to the type ofpractice physicians were trained to engagein, one which no longer fits the changinghealth care model.

“challenges were attributed to thesystem, and doctors saw it as imposed onthem,” Lomis said. “We need to train ourstudents, residents and fellows to knowthey are part of a system and they canshape it. So this is an important question:in four years of medical school, how do wecreate doctors who will change medicine?”

We might have the answers soon.Since 2010, graduating VuSM studentshave been exposed to elements of the newcurriculum. Former curriculum

committee co-chair conrad Myler,M.D., says he wishes curriculum 2.0 hadbeen fully in place for his training. he andSullivan say they will continue workingwith Lomis and other students and facultyto see that the rollout of curriculum 2.0goes smoothly.

“i want people to know that studentscoming into the Vanderbilt university

School of Medicine are already very smartand have proven themselves worthy acquir-ers of factual information,” Sullivan said.“But top-of-the-line physicians are neversatisfied with status quo, they want to havea role in making things better. those arethe kinds of students we have here and thekinds of physicians we will be.” VM

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S U M M E R 2 0 1 2 35

We need to train our students, residents and fellows toknow they are part of a system and they can shape it.So this is an important question: In four years of med-ical school, how do we create doctors who will changemedicine?” - Kim Lomis, M.D.

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:: medical center giving

Dear canby robinson Society,

commencement is a time of lookingback and looking forward. to see how farwe’ve come and what’s ahead of us. ourclass of 2012 is taking the next step intheir careers as leaders in medicine, and iam ending my term as canby robinsonSociety Board president. it seems like aperfect time to reflect on all that we’veaccomplished together.

As members of the society, i like tothink we’re following the model set by Dr.George canby robinson, dean of theSchool of Medicine from 1920 to 1928,who was a visionary in improving medicaleducation and bringing together teaching,patient care and research under one roof.We’ve played a part in helping create thesefuture leaders in health care. We’ve beenable to lighten their burden of medicalschool debt by supporting scholarships,and we’ve supported these students as professors, mentors, volunteers and friendsduring this challenging journey.

As president of the crS Board, i havehad the good fortune to meet many of theoutstanding canby robinson Scholars.

More recently, i have had the privilege ofmaking that special phone call, in which iinform the applicant that they have beenawarded this honor. All of these youngmen and women were attracted toVanderbilt by the quality of educationthey knew they would receive as well as thewarm and collegial culture of our facultyand staff. however, they would not havecome here without the benefit of financialsupport. Without the crS Scholarship,they would graduate with enormous debtthat likely would impact their ability topursue research, teaching, communityservice and even their interest in some ofthe less remunerative specialties. the ability to offer medical scholarships is trulylife-changing, and i have been able to seethat every day.

every gift at every level makes a difference for these students. through thecollective impact of your gifts, we supportscholarships for outstanding students,endowed chairs for faculty, early efforts ingroundbreaking research and up-to-datefacilities. All this is made possible by thegenerosity of friends and colleagues whogive faithfully year after year.

Your sustained giving in turn sustainsthese good efforts. We will all reap the

benefits of educating tomorrow’s leaders inmedicine. it’s been such an honor to workside by side with you, and i’m looking for-ward to our next steps.

Paul Sternberg Jr., M.D.Board PresidentCanby Robinson Society

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MAKe A DiFFereNce BY SuPPortiNG SchoLArShiPS

P R E S I D E N T ’ S L E T T E R

Students who enroll in the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing at Vanderbilt University possessthe drive to make a difference in health care. Philanthropy supports the education of these future healthleaders to the benefit of us all.

“Building our scholarship endowment through philanthropic support is the key to reducing debt and help-ing students build a career path of innovation and impact,” says Jeffrey R. Balser, M.D., Ph.D., dean of theSchool of Medicine and vice chancellor for Health Affairs. “By giving to endowed scholarships, donorshelp bring the brightest medical and nursing students to Vanderbilt. Thank you for your support.”

36 S U M M E R 2 0 1 2

120School of Medicine

36School of Nursing

$140,500Medicine

$69,900Nursing

73%of 2012 graduates in the School ofMedicine incurreddebt to attend school

95%of students at theSchool of Nursingreceive some form of financial aid

For more information about the CanbyRobinson Society, contact the StewardshipOffice by mail at Vanderbilt University, Suite820, 2100 West End Ave., Nashville, TN 37240-7711, by phone at (615) 936-0439 or by email atstewardship@vanderbilt.edu. Visit the website at www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/crs.

ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS AVERAGE DEBT AT GRADUATIONClass of 2012

FACTS

Frank c. Spencer, M.D. ’47, keeps apicture of an old, dead mesquite tree onhis office wall at New York university’sLangone Medical center.

“it’s to remind me of where i camefrom,” he explains. “i was born on theother side of that tree on a farm in texas.it’s the kind of thing that makes you feelvery lucky, which is a strong antidote forarrogance.”

it was out of that sense of gratitudethat Spencer and his wife, in honor of his50th medical school reunion, funded theDr. Frank c. and connie ewell SpencerMedical Scholarship for worthy studentswho could not otherwise attend medicalschool. Spencer continues to support thescholarship fund, and more than 30 stu-dents have benefited from his generosity.Spencer has also included the School ofMedicine in his estate plans, and hisbequest gift will further add to the supportprovided through the Spencer Scholarship.

“i see this scholarship as a payback,”he says. “My interest is funding brightpeople who need some financial supportto get through medical school. the bestinvestment you can make is in brightyoung people.”

Spencer graduated from college at 17and applied to two medical schools intexas. they turned him down, saying hewas too young. overhearing some stu-dents discuss the merits of Vanderbiltuniversity, he applied. he received anacceptance letter from Vanderbiltuniversity School of Medicine in 1943,beginning his own journey from the lonemesquite tree.

At Vanderbilt, he graduated top ofhis class as a Founder’s Medalist andheaded to Johns hopkins in Baltimore tobegin his surgery training. he trainedunder famed hopkins surgeon AlfredBlalock and then followed William

Longmire, who helped found ucLA’smedical school, to california. Soon after,Spencer was called for military duty inKorea. it was there that he radicallyaltered WWii-era battlefield proceduresfor treating arterial injuries, saving manylimbs by treating wounds more rapidlywith arterial grafts. this was contrary toofficial military orders, which clearly stat-ed, “All arterial injuries will be ligated.”Ligation of an artery results in amputationof the leg in about 50 percent of patients.

“i wasn’t looking for any recognition.i just didn’t want to take a leg off if i did-n’t have to,” he remembered. his tech-niques spread and Spencer was called toWashington to receive the Legion ofMerit Award.

“All that is flattering as long as youdon’t believe it too much,” he said. “i havea great disdain for arrogance. Much of yourgood fortune depends on other people.”

Back in the States, Spencer returnedto hopkins, where he was one of the firstsurgeons to perform coronary bypass. helater helped start a surgery program at the

university of Kentucky and then headedto NYu, where he was chair of the depart-ment of surgery for more than 30 yearsand remains on the faculty as physiciandirector of patient safety.

Supporting students is a way for himto show he remains grateful. “Supportinga university to me is a privilege,” he says.“if you look at the history of civilization,there’s a striking parallel between thegrowth of civilization and the growth ofuniversities. A university is the best mech-anism for transmitting valuable knowl-edge. otherwise you’d be reinventing thewheel every 100 years. A university isinvaluable to society.”

Still active in his mid 80s, Spencerworks at the medical center five to six daysa week but takes off one month every yearto go bass fishing in Maine. he neverharms the fish, just takes a picture andthrows each one back.

“i don’t consider myself generous,”he says. “i’m just grateful.”

- JENNIFER JOHNSTON

MINDFUL OF HIS HUMBLE ROOTS, SCHOLARSHIP DONOR IS HAPPY TO SHARE HISGOOD FORTUNE

“My interest is funding bright people who need some financialsupport to get through medical school. e best investment youcan make is in bright young people.” - FRANK SPENCER, M.D.

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med i ca l cen te r g i v i ng::

Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., met promi-nent Nashvillian and Vanderbilt Board oftrust emeritus member ridley Wills iifor the first time in 1998, shortly afterreturning to Vanderbilt universityMedical center from residency and fel-lowship training and a faculty position atJohns hopkins.

But the generosity that connectedthem for life occurred a full decade earlier.

Balser, now vice chancellor forhealth Affairs and dean of Vanderbiltuniversity School of Medicine, was twoyears shy of completing the M.D./Ph.D.program at Vanderbilt university Schoolof Medicine when he was awarded theMeade haven M.D./Ph.D. Scholarship.

it’s funded by the family of longtimeVanderbilt supporter Wills, retired seniorvice president of the National Life &Accident insurance co. and third-genera-tion member of Vanderbilt’s Board oftrust, and his wife, irene, after the death ofridley Wills’ father, Jesse e. Wills, in 1977.

the scholarship allowed Balser tocomplete the M.D./Ph.D. program,which typically takes seven to eight years.the length and cost of an M.D./Ph.D.program makes full scholarship supportessential. While VuSM is the recipient ofa federal grant from the Nationalinstitutes of health that supports a por-tion of the cost for about 25 percent ofVanderbilt’s current 94 M.D./Ph.D. stu-dents, the remainder of the support comesfrom a combination of endowment, schol-arships, the Dean’s office and the individ-ual departments.

in 1988 Balser was told only that aprominent Nashville family was support-ing his scholarship. “i wrote a thank younote. i understood, and was so grateful,that their support was making it possiblefor me to finish my program.”

After Balser became dean of theSchool of Medicine in 2008, he asked forinformation about the Meade havenScholarship and learned it was named afterthe Wills’ Belle Meade home. the couple,whose son, Morgan, is a 1996 graduate ofVuSM, also fund the Wills Scholarship toprovide assistance to worthy medical stu-dents based on financial need.

“i was stunned, because i had metMr. Wills on several occasions. the verysame evening i knew i would see Mr. andMrs. Wills at a dinner, so i approachedthem and said, ‘Do you know who hadthe Meade haven Scholarship? i did.’they didn’t know either. it was one ofthose special moments.”

Balser said the two have gotten toknow each other very well since that time.

“We love to talk about how thingscome full circle, how some things you’vedone long ago have a big impact down theroad. i think it’s very fair to say that with-out the Meade haven Scholarship my lifewould have been very different. i verylikely would have landed somewhere elsefor M.D./Ph.D. training.”

Wills said that he and his wife areproud of all Balser has accomplished.“We’ve been impressed with his leader-ship. he’s energetic and bright and theSchool of Medicine is a great source of

pride for everyone who loves Vanderbilt.”the majority of students entering

medical schools across the country areconfronted with unmanageable costs thatrequire them to take on substantial debt,forcing students to make choices thatlimit them when pursuing their desiredcareer paths in medicine. Vanderbilt nowcompetes head-to-head with the nation’smost elite medical schools for the world’sfinest students.

Some inclined to attend Vanderbiltare nevertheless forced to choose otherschools with more robust scholarshipendowments, particularly when faced withincurring large debt obligations.

Student scholarships and endowedchairs are Balser’s two top funding priori-ties at the School of Medicine. therecently launched Scholarship initiativehas a straightforward purpose: to grow thescholarship endowment so that every stu-dent accepted — an elite group of about250 from among the 5,600 who applyeach year — can choose Vanderbilt with-out concern for burdensome debt.

the class of 2012 graduated with anaverage total educational debt level of$140,500. Some medical student coupleshave debt loads exceeding $300,000.

irene Mathieu, a member of the classof 2014, said that Vanderbilt became herNo. 1 choice for medical school after shefound out she was receiving a full four-year canby robinson Society Scholarship.

“i have been able to focus on my pas-sions of primary care and health in under-served communities around the world —passions that are decidedly not lucrative.But thanks to the canby robinson (schol-arship) i do not have to consider financeswhen weighing career options and havebeen able to fully explore these areas inmedical school,” she said.

“i want to help shape foreign andtrade policies by advocating for the healthrights of communities impacted by thesepolicies. Agricultural and free trade agree-ments are particularly fascinating to mebecause of their effects on poverty, migra-tion and disease risk. thanks to my schol-arship, these dreams will not be limited by

FRIENDSHIP BUILT ON PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATION

38 S U M M E R 2 0 1 2

JOHN R

USSELL

Ridley Wills II, left, funded the scholarshipthat helped Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., completehis rigorous educational program.

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S U M M E R 2 0 1 2 39

debt,” said Mathieu, who is considering acareer in internal medicine and pediatricsand a master’s degree in public health.

Michael casner, president of theVuSM class of 2013, received thecornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship, whichfunds 40 percent of his tuition. casner,who plans to pursue emergency medicine,said that not only did the scholarshipmake a Vanderbilt medical educationaffordable, it also showed him thatVanderbilt wanted him. “that intangibleaspect meant more to me than the numer-ical value of the offer,” he said.

he said being able to leave medicalschool without enormous debt hasallowed him to focus on things he valueswithout the worry of how he will repay his debt.

“For residency training i’d like to bein an urban environment, which typicallymeans a higher cost of living. While i stillhave some student loans to repay, know-ing they aren’t as large as they could bemakes the financial aspect of living in abig city a little less daunting.”

Balser said having a fully fundedM.D./Ph.D. scholarship to Vanderbiltallowed him to invest the time to learn thefundamentals of discovery science early inhis career.

“i wasn’t burdened with substantialdebt after my medical training, so i wasable to spend more time engaging in post-doctoral research training while raising afamily. the scholarship made everythingpossible. it’s a key reason i’m so passion-ate about trying to raise more money forstudent scholarships.

“When i think about philanthropy, ithink about the Wills family,” Balser said.“For me, philanthropy isn’t just an idea, it’sa personal experience, and when i thinkabout the impact the Wills family has hadon my own life and career, it helps mearticulate how important scholarship sup-port is at Vanderbilt.” - NANCY HUMPHREY

For more information about giving to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, contact the Office of Development and Alumni Relations by mail at 2525 West EndAve., Suite 450, Nashville, TN, 37203-1775, by phone at (615) 936-0230 or by email atmedicalgiving@vanderbilt.edu. Visit the website at vanderbilthealth.org/giving.

the expansion at the Monroe carell Jr. children’s hospital at Vanderbilt willhave a lasting impact on the Middle tennessee community. And the support fromthat community will have a lasting impact on the hospital. More than 335 donors,companies, foundations and organizations provided $13 million to the project.

“Nashville is a great community,” says richard W. “rick” Dreiling, chairmanand ceo of Dollar General and also chair of Monroe carell Jr. children’shospital Board. “our people are genuine, and we actively work to make our com-munity better. the hospital is an outgrowth of that, and we’re very excited to be apart of its future.”

Dollar General corporation is giving more than $1 million to benefit theNeonatal intensive care unit, part of children’s hospital’s 33-bed, 30,000-square-foot addition. “every time you see a child who is struggling from premature birth ora disability, it reinforces this belief that every child should have the same start inlife,” he says. “every child deserves to be healthy and get an education.”

For Martha ezell, a nurse educator and a board member of children’shospital, her support springs from personal experience. her family’s long relation-ship with Monroe carell Jr. sparked their interest in the hospital.

“We are so very fortunate to have a resource like children’s hospital righthere in our community,” ezell says. “We are one of the many families in this areawho have a Vanderbilt story. We are blessed to be able to support the hospital.”

the family made a gift to name a patient room on the Pediatric critical careunit to honor pediatric cardiologist Vernat exil, M.D.

the impact of gifts from community supporters will be felt for decades to come, says Susie Stalcup, vice chancellor of Development and Alumni relations.“Vanderbilt made a bold commitment to children’s health when it began thisexpansion project during the economic recession, and our supporters made that boldcommitment together with us,” she says. “the opportunity to expand our capacityto care for patients and families will be transformative. By caring for the childrenwho need us the most, we are creating a brighter future for all of us.” - JAN READ

A COMMUNITY HOSPITAL, IN THE BEST SENSE OF THE WORD

WEB LINKFor more information visitvanderbilthealth.org/MDscholarship.

Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs, and Ann Carell, honoraryboard member of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and wife ofthe late Monroe Carell, cut the ribbon at the May expansion celebration.

SUSAN U

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40 S U M M E R 2 0 1 2

Service Award winner, Margaret (Peggy) Joyce, B.A. ’51. theSaturday, oct. 27, reunion activities will feature student presenta-tions followed by a new event, our first ever medical alumni luncheon/tailgate in Langford Auditorium. Afternoon homecoming/football festivities and our anniversary class parties on Saturdayevening will round out the VuSM reunion weekend. to learnmore about the VuSM reunion 2012, please visit our VMAAwebsite which will be continuously updated during the comingmonths: https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/alumni/.

VMAA Events and ProgramsFor the past several months, the VMAA has been actively

involved with members of our Vanderbilt medical community. We extend a special note of appreciation to both robert Snowden,M.D. ’69, (VMAA Board regional representative) and Josephcook, M.D. ’64 (newly elected VMAA Board regionalrepresentative), who graciously served as hosts for regional dinnersearlier this year in Pensacola, Fla., and Durham, N.c., respectively.in addition, the VMAA hosted spring events for our VanderbiltMeacham (Neurological Surgery), Friesinger (cardiology),roentgen (radiation oncology), Luton (Psychiatry), andorthopaedic Societies. Most recently, we supported our students’ annual 5K Shade tree trot, which raised $21,000 for the Shade tree clinic. in addition, we assisted with the Post-Doctoral Fellows Poster Symposium and Ph.D. qualifying celebration. A busy summer was highlighted by the June 25 welcome picnic for our new Vanderbilt medical house staff.

VMAA Welcomes New Board Membersthe VMAA welcomes the following newly elected or appointed

board members whose four-year terms will begin at reunion 2012:regional representatives: Joseph A. cook, M.D. ’64, (Southeast),Maj. Gen. Stephen L. Jones, M.D. ’78, B.A. ’74, (Northeast),Loren h. Marshall, M.D. ’84, hS ’87, (Mid-West) and Mary Laird Warner, M.D. ’90, (Mid-West) and Specialty Societyrepresentatives: Melissa r. Kaufman, M.D., Ph.D. (hS ’07, Fe’09, FAc ’09-present, Vanderbilt urology Society), Joseph WilsonJr., M.D. (B.A. ’73, Fe ’83, Friesinger Society), and Sara habibian,M.D. ’02, hS ’06, (Burnett Society).

Best Wishes,

Reunion 2012 Special Anniversary Class Celebrants

Reunion 2012 Reunion 2012Anniversary Years Class Social Chair(s)

Quinq Plus 1961 & earlier W. Anderson Spickard Jr., M.D.50th (Quinq) 1962 Lansdon B. robbins ii, M.D.

harold L. Moses, M.D.clifford L. Garrard Jr., M.D.

49th (Quinq) 1963 ronald e. overfield, M.D.robert W. ikard, M.D.

46th 1966 Gary W. Duncan, M.D.45th 1967 William B. ralph Jr., M.D.41st 1971 Joseph W. huston iii, M.D.40th 1972 J. Brevard haynes Jr., M.D.36th 1976 J. Gregory Sikes, M.D.35th 1977 James W. Felch, M.D., Ph.D.

Linda S. Ludin, M.D.31st 1981 George D. Wright iii, M.D.

ellen P. Wright, M.D.30th 1982 carl r. hampf, M.D.

David L. cross, M.D.26th 1986 John W. Macey Jr., M.D.25th 1987 erich B. Groos Jr., M.D.21st 1991 Deborah D. Beyer, M.D.20th 1992 Kenneth J. carpenter, M.D.

chace t. carpenter, M.D.16th 1996 Anne F. Anderson, M.D.15th 1997 Sara F. Patterson, M.D.11th 2001 James D. Grippo, M.D.10th 2002 Sara habibian, M.D.6th 2006 Matthew P. Landman, M.D.

celeste o. hemingway, M.D.5th 2007 Adam S. Pitts, M.D.

Vanderbilt Medical Alumni Reunion 2012our next biennial VuSM reunion, oct. 25-27, is fast

approaching. reunion festivities will begin on thursday morning,oct. 25, with a golf outing at Vanderbilt’s Legends club followedby an evening welcome reception at the country Music hall ofFame and Museum. on Friday, oct. 26, the reunion schedule fea-tures cMe opportunities, the Quinq class inductions (classes of’62 and ’63), luncheons for all alumni, and our traditional GrandDinner celebration at Loews Vanderbilt hotel. this year theGrand Dinner will honor our 2012 VMAA Distinguished AlumniAward recipients, John M. Leonard, M.D. ’67, and David h.Walker, M.D. ’69, as well as VMAA Alumni Achievement Awardwinner, robert F. Miller, M.D. ’82, and VMAA Distinguished

ANN H. PRICE, M.D.Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs, School of Medicine

CONTACTVanderbilt Medical Alumni AssociationVanderbilt University Medical CenterPhone: (615) 343-6337Fax: (615) 936-8475medalum@vanderbilt.eduhttps://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/alumni

S U M M E R 2 0 1 2 41

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Lecture in ophthalmic plastic sur-gery at the American Academy ofOphthalmology meeting inOrlando, Fla., in October 2011. Heis founding director of OphthalmicPlastic and ReconstructiveSurgery and clinical professor ofOphthalmology at VUMC. Heserves as chairman of theAmerican Society of OphthalmicPlastic Surgery Foundation and isa member of the advisory board ofthe Vanderbilt Eye Center. He ismarried to the former JuliaArterberry (MA ‘71) and they havefour children.

80sTimothy Givens, M.D. ‘87, hasbeen associate professor of pedi-atrics and medical director of theEmergency Department atChildren’s Hospital Colorado,since 2009. He was recentlynamed section head of pediatricemergency medicine, in theDepartment of Pediatrics at theUniversity of Colorado School ofMedicine. He is married toPatricia Givens, R.N., associatechief nursing officer at Children’sHospital Colorado and formerchief nursing officer at theMonroe Carell Jr. Children’sHospital at Vanderbilt. They havefour children: Elliott, 25,

Jacquelyn, 23, Daniel, 21, andSam, 18.

Michael Kaleko, M.D., Ph.D., HS‘86, has been appointed scientificdirector of Synthetic Biologics, adeveloper of synthetic DNA-basedtherapeutics and innovative dis-ease-modifying medicine.

Art Klose, M.D. ‘83, HS ‘85, wasnamed Physician of the Year inCarteret County by the medicalstaff at Carteret General Hospital.

Thomas McLeod, M.D. ‘88, is thevolunteer medical director of theSalvation Army’s Good SamaritanMedical Clinic in Rochester,Minn., which serves uninsuredresidents and has 3,000 patientvisits per year. He is also a pri-mary care physician at the MayoClinic, a position he’s held for 20years.

Robert Means, M.D. ‘83, FE ‘89,professor of Internal Medicineand executive vice dean at theUniversity of Kentucky College ofMedicine, was installed as the66th president of the SouthernSociety for Clinical Investigation atits annual meeting in NewOrleans in February.

60sRobert Carey, M.D. ‘65, FE ‘72,Harrison Distinguished Professorof Medicine at the University ofVirginia, received the Edward H.Ahrens Jr., Award from theAssociation for Patient OrientedResearch in April 2012. The awardis given for distinguished careerachievement in clinical and trans-lational science. In addition, Careyhas been elected a member of theboard of directors of theAmerican Heart Association.

James Maddy, M.D. ‘63, and hiswife, Judith Knight Whitsitt, R.N.,celebrated their 50th weddinganniversary in June. Maddy had aprivate practice in internal medi-cine at Casper Clinic in Casper,Wyo., for the last several years ofhis practice, while Judith workedin the clinic as a nurse. The cou-ple has six children.

Fremont Wirth, M.D. ‘66, is theneurosurgery co-director of themovement disorders program atSt. Joseph’s/Candler HealthSystems in Savannah, Ga., andassociate clinical professor ofsurgery/neurosurgery at the

Medical College of Georgia. Heserved as president of theAmerican Association ofNeurological Surgeons, directorof the American Board ofNeurological Surgery and co-director of Neuro-Oncology at theNancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer &Research Pavilion at St.Joseph’s/Candler.

70sRalph Wesley, M.D. ‘72, HS’73,FAC, presented the keynoteWendell Hughes Memorial

KEYMD - Medical School Graduate

HS - House staffFE - FellowFAC - Faculty

Read Vanderbilt Medicine online, and send in your alumni news at www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbiltmedicine.Digital photos (200-300 dpi and at least 4 by 6 inches) are always welcome and will be included as space permits.

David Frantz, M.D., Thomas Nygaard, M.D. ‘78, Chad Hoyt, M.D., HS‘97, and Chris Thompson, M.D., participated in the InternationalCardiovascular Diseases Conference, which was held in Dar esSalaam, Tanzania, in January. The conference was in conjunction withthe Cardiology Tanzanian Outreach Project, which aims to cultivateand improve cardiovascular care throughout East Africa.

Levi Watkins Jr., M.D. ‘70, delivered the keynote address at the 34thAnnual University-wide Research Symposium at Tennessee StateUniversity in April. Watkins is the associate dean of the Johns HopkinsUniversity School of Medicine and professor of Cardiac Surgery. Heattended Tennessee State University where he majored in biology andserved as president of the student body.

Russell Leftwich, M.D. ‘78, HS ‘81,chief medical informatics officerfor the Tennessee Office ofeHealth Initiatives, is the recipientof the 2011 HIMSS Physician ITLeadership Award. The award ispresented to one individual who, inthe judgment of the board of direc-tors, has demonstrated significantleadership in the area of applyingIT to the needs of physicians, serv-ing the society and/or the industry.

a l umn i news::

42 S U M M E R 2 0 1 2

Mary Dekker Nettleman, M.D.‘81, has been appointed vice president for health affairs anddean of the Sanford School ofMedicine at the University ofSouth Dakota. Nettleman is anationally-recognized expert inepidemiologic and health out-comes research and has servedas chair of the Department ofMedicine at Michigan StateUniversity College of HumanMedicine since 2003.

David Reagan, M.D. ‘85, HS ‘88,Ph.D. ‘82, has been named chiefmedical officer for the TennesseeDepartment of Health. In thisposition Reagan will serve as anadviser to the commissioner onmatters of health policy andassist in setting priorities for thedepartment.

90sMichael Bobo, D.D.S., M.D. ‘97,HS ‘00, maintains private practiceof oral and maxillofacial surgery inMurray, Ky., and Union City, Tenn.He recently completed construc-tion on a new office and brought inan associate surgeon to the prac-tice. He and his wife, Sharon, cele-brated 20 years of marriage andhave three sons: Christian, 12,Clayton, 10, and Carson, 8. Thefamily owns and operates DeeplyRooted Farms, where they raiseAngus cows, Highland cows andClydesdale horses.

Scott Gibbs, M.D. '92, was electedpresident of the West VirginiaAcademy of Otolaryngology Head

and Neck Surgery in October 2011.In August he will serve as thechief of Otolaryngology at the V.A.Medical Center in Huntington,W.Va.

George Goldin, M.D., HS ‘94,joined the Redmond RegionalMedical Center’s board oftrustees in January. Goldin haspracticed in the Department ofGastroenterology at the HarbinClinic since 1997.

Richard Hackett, M.D. '95, left the White House in January 2011,where he served on the NationalSecurity staff as director of med-ical preparedness, to rejoin theU.S. Department of Health andHuman Services as chief medical

Michael Blood, M.D. ‘81, center, participated in a two-week medicalmission trip to Haiti in November 2011. With a medical team of 30, theywere able to see 3,000 patients and perform 30 surgeries. This washis 16th trip to Haiti since 2005. Steve O’Sheal, M.D. ‘81, performed thepathology reading on surgical specimens.

Left to right: Lee Gordon, M.D. ‘90, associate professor of Surgeryand Cancer Biology at Vanderbilt, Mark Fogarty, M.D. ‘90, an internistin St. Louis, Mark Earnest, M.D. ‘90, Ph.D., professor of Medicine atthe University of Colorado School of Medicine, and Jeff Sippel, M.D.‘89, MPH, chief medical officer at Centura Health in Denver, enjoyeda back-country ski trip to the Fowler-Hilliard Hut outside Leadville,Colo., in January.

Eric Zacharias, M.D. ‘93, an assistant clinical pro-fessor at the University of Colorado HealthSciences Center, has authored the book “TheMediterranean Diet: A Clinician’s Guide forPatient Care” (Springer). He and his wife movedto Colorado for the great offerings of outdooractivities and excellent climate. They enjoy run-ning, cycling, telemark skiing, and hiking togeth-er and with their children.

book f o cusEric Rowinsky, M.D. ‘81, hasjoined Stemline Therapeutics,Inc., as executive vice president,chief medical officer and head ofresearch and development. Theclinical state bio-pharmaceuticalcompany develops novel oncolo-gy therapeutics that target can-cer stem cells.

S U M M E R 2 0 1 2 43

Cole, is playing hockey in theJunior League in Canada.

Martin Newman, M.D. ‘97, hasbeen ranked among the top physi-cians in the nation and was hon-ored with the prestigious 2011Patients’ Choice Award, given tophysicians who receive top scoresby their patients and top qualitymeasures.

2000-Rachel Bloch, a third-yearVanderbilt medical student, andMichael Wolf, M.D. ‘12, were mar-ried May 18 in Nashville. Wolf isan intern at the Monroe Carell Jr.Children’s Hospital.

D.J. Campbell, M.D., FE ‘07, hasjoined the board of directors ofChattahoochee Bank of Georgia(CBG). Campbell has been aboard-certified plastic surgeon atthe Aesthetic Center of Gainesvilleand Braselton, P.C. since August2007. He resides in Gainesvillewith his wife, Jennifer, daughter,Hannah, and son, Blevin.

Rob Isaak, M.D. ‘07, has joinedthe University of North CarolinaDepartment of Anesthesiology asa clinical assistant professor andas a member of the liver trans-plant anesthesiology team.

Sean Kelly, M.D., HS ‘00, hasbeen named chief medical officerby Imprivata. He will work closelywith clinical and IT leadership toidentify trends that drive innova-tive new products for improvingphysician efficiency.

officer and deputy director of bio-medical advance research anddevelopment authority.

Renee B. Iacona, Ph.D. ‘98, hasbeen promoted to section directorof statistics and programming forAstraZeneca Pharmaceuticalswhere she will manage a staff ofmore than 100 across Wilmington,Del., and Sodertalje, Sweden.

Kimberly Klippenstein, M.D. ‘90,HS ‘94, FE ‘97, is an oculoplasticsurgeon in Nashville and wasrecently named a KentuckyColonel by Gov. Steve Beshear forcare rendered to patients fromKentucky. She is a member of theCanby Robinson Society and aclinical instructor in ophthalmolo-gy at Vanderbilt. Her oldest son,

Jonathan Kim, M.D. ‘04, began afellowship in cardiology at EmoryUniversity in July 2011. His study“Cardiac Arrest in Long DistanceRunning Races” was published inthe Jan. 12 issue of the NewEngland Journal of Medicine. Heand his wife, Angela, welcomed ason, Benjamin, who was bornNov. 4, 2011.

Andrew Lautz, M.D. ‘10, and KaraMoranski, Ph.D., are engaged tobe married. Lautz is a pediatricresident at Children’s Hospital inPhiladelphia.

Kelly Moore, M.D. ‘00, MPH, themedical director of the TennesseeImmunization Program, receivedthe 2012 Natalie J. Smith, M.D.,Memorial Award for outstandingprogram management, at theannual meeting of the NationalAssociation of ImmunizationManagers in February.

John Phillips, M.D. ‘10, andCatherine Hawley, M.D. ‘12, weremarried April 7 in Winston-Salem,N.C. Hawley is a resident in diag-nostic radiology at Harvard’sBrigham and Women’s Hospitaland Phillips is a resident in radia-tion oncology at the HarvardRadiation Oncology Program.

Daniel Stover, M.D. ‘08, HS ‘12,was awarded a fellowship in med-ical oncology at MassachusettsGeneral Hospital/Dana-FarberCancer Institute in July. In addi-tion, he was given the Hold YoungPhysician Leadership Award bythe Southern Medical Associationin December 2011.

Julie Thwing, M.D. ‘02, HS ‘06,and her family moved to Dakar,Senegal, where she has accepteda position as resident technicaladviser with the U.S. President’sMalaria Initiative. She will behelping to oversee a budget of $20million in malaria control inter-ventions and will be providingtechnical assistance to theNational Malaria Control pro-gram. She will be the only Centersfor Disease Control andPrevention staff in the country.She and her husband, Ed, hadbaby boy, Jeremiah, on Aug. 7,2011.

a l umn i news ::

John Warner, M.D. ‘92, has beennamed chief executive officer forUT Southwestern Hospitals,effective Feb. 1. Warner hasbeen one of the leaders of theplanning process for the new460-bed state-of-the-art hospi-tal scheduled to open in 2015.

Kimberly Vinson, M.D. ‘03,assistant professor ofOtolaryngology, has beennamed assistant dean forVUSM’s newly organizedOffice for Diversity. She willfocus on diversity amongmedical students and willwork on a curriculum to teachabout health disparities.

Jordan Metzl, M.D., FE ‘97, has published“The Athlete’s Book of Home Remedies,”which includes hundreds of doctor-approved,do-it-yourself remedies for numerous sportsinjuries. He is a sports medicine physician atNew York City’s Hospital for Special Surgery.Metzl is also a 29-time marathon runner andhas completed nine Ironman Triathlons.

book f o cus

Monita Soni, M.D., HS ‘97, has authored the book“My Light Reflections” (AuthorHouse), a collec-tion of poems. Soni is president of the Huntsville,Ala., Literary Association and founder ofPrimePath, a diagnostic pathology laboratory.

book f o cus

44 S U M M E R 2 0 1 2

i n memor i am::

Calvin Applewhite, M.D. ‘43, diedFeb. 2. He was 92. Dr. Applewhite issurvived by his wife, LaVerne; chil-dren, Rebecca, Charlotte, Virginiaand Elizabeth; 11 grandchildren andfive great-grandchildren.

Anne Utley Barnes, M.D. ‘55, diedFeb. 18. She was 85. Dr. Barnes issurvived by children, Sidney Jr.,and James; and three grandchil-dren.

Charles Betts, M.D. ‘51, died Nov.6, 2011. He was 86. Dr. Betts issurvived by his wife, Mary; chil-dren, Leah, Charles and Craig; 10grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Dixon N. Burns, M.D. ‘45, HS ‘52,died March 24. Dr. Burns is sur-vived by three children, threegrandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Robert Davies, M.D., HS ‘69, diedJan. 13. He was 72. Dr. Davies issurvived by his wife, Suzanne;children, Elizabeth and Meredith;stepchildren, Catherine andChristopher; and one grandchild.

Michael Faulstich, M.D., Ph.D.,HS ‘96, died April 21. He was 53.

Dr. Faulstich is survived by hiswife, Kim; children, Paul, Natalieand Maria; and parents, Helenand Jerry.

William Harrison, M.D., HS ‘50,died April 27. He was 91. Dr.Harrison lived in Houston. He issurvived by children, Cindy, Bill,Melissa, Douglas and James; 11grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

William H. Hill, M.D., HS, FE ‘63,died in April. He was 81. Dr. Hill issurvived by his sister Jean; andmany nieces and nephews.

Jack A. Jaffe, M.D., BA ‘56, MD‘59, HS ‘60, died Dec. 15, 2011. Dr.Jaffe is survived by children, Jackand Dara.

Joanne Linn, M.D. ‘50, HS ‘53,FAC ‘02, died Jan. 27. She was 85.Dr. Linn is survived by children,Mary Louise, Margaret, Josephand David; seven grandchildren;and three great-grandchildren.

Shields Livingston, M.D., HS ‘51,died June 28, 2011. He was 72. Dr.Livingston is survived by his wife,Harriette; children, Barbara,Marian and Thomas; five grand-

children and two great-grandchil-dren.

R. Gordon Long, M.D. ‘55, BA ‘52,died April 6. He was 81. Dr. Longis survived by his wife, Francoise;and children Chris and Andrew.

William Lyle, M.D., BA ‘41, MD‘44, HS ‘47, died Feb. 28. He was92. Dr. Lyle is survived by his wife,Sara; children, Laurie, Lane,Lillian, Bill and John; step chil-dren, Chole and Caress; 15 grand-children and step-grandchildren;and six great-grandchildren andstep great-grandchildren.

Richard Mathews, M.D. ‘66, ofDallas, died May 13. He was 72.

David Mullins, M.D. ‘49, HS ‘52,B.A. '46, died April 13. He was 86.Dr. Mullins lived in Pelike, Ala. Heis survived by his wife, Marilyn;children David and Claudia; fourgrandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Lech Pietrasz, M.D., FE ‘95, diedMarch 27. He was 55. Dr. Pietraszis survived by his wife, Marta.

Ron Rice, M.D. ‘72, HS ‘78, died

Dec. 19. He was 65. Dr. Rice issurvived by his wife, Pam; andchildren, Bradley and William.

Jourdan Roane, M.D. ‘56, HS ‘57,B.A. '53, of Memphis, Tenn., diedMay 13. He was 80.

Thomas Whitley, Jr., M.D., HS‘73, died Jan. 29. He was 69. Dr.Whitley is survived by his wife,Jennifer; children, Carson,Harrison, Tim and Rob; and onegrandchild.

John Yardley, M.D., HS ‘54, diedDec. 7, 2011. He was 85. Dr. Yarleyis survived by his wife, Eritha;children, William, Madeleine andElizabeth; six grandchildren andtwo great-grandchildren.

James Zickler, M.D., BA ‘43, MD‘47, HS ‘57, died April 23. He was90. Dr. Zickler is survived by hiswife, Bobby; children, Jane, Dottyand Jim; seven grandchildren andfive great-grandchildren.

Charles Zirkle, M.D. ‘41, HS ‘46,died Jan. 23. Dr. Zirkle is survivedby his wife, Betty; children, Helen,Ian and Kevin; 11 grandchildren;and seven great-grandchildren.

.

Lonnie S. Burnett, M.D., professor ofObstetrics and Gynecology, emeritus,and former chair of the department,died April 3, following a brief illness. Hewas 84. After distinguishing himself asa faculty member at Johns HopkinsUniversity, Dr. Burnett was recruited toVanderbilt in 1976 as chair of theDepartment of Obstetrics andGynecology, where he served in thatrole for 19 years. He is recognized forhis contributions in gynecological

oncology. In 1993 the Vanderbilt Obstetrical Gynecological AlumniAssociation (“The Stork Club”) was renamed the Lonnie S. BurnettSociety. In 1995, he was named the Frances and John C. BurchProfessor at VUMC. Under Dr. Burnett’s leadership, the departmentincreased in size and national reputation. More than 100 residentscompleted their residency training during his tenure. In recognitionof his support of and devotion to medical student scholarship, Dr.Burnett was elected president of the Canby Robinson Society in 2006.Dr. Burnett is survived by his wife, Betty, and children, Anne andMichael Julian.

John M. Flexner, M.D., professor ofMedicine, emeritus, died Dec. 27, 2011. Hewas 85. Dr. Flexner was a U.S. Navy vet-eran who attended Yale University, earn-ing a B.A. there in 1950, followed by amedical degree from Johns Hopkins in1954. That same year he began an intern-ship in internal medicine at Vanderbilt,joined the School of Medicine faculty in1959, and over the years devoted himselfto treatment of hematology/oncology

patients, with a special interest in pain control and end-of-life issues.He was also a tireless educator of students, residents and fellow fac-ulty members. He was elected an American Cancer Society Professorof Oncology, one of only 17 in the country; he was a co-founder, alongwith David Barton, M.D., of Alive Hospice; and he was one of the earlyphysicians interested in pain management. His first wife, Barbara,who for many years was director of the Radiation TechnologistTraining Program, died in 2002. In 2003, in a hospital chapel packedwith well wishers, Dr. Flexner married his second wife, Glenda, whosurvives him, as do four children, 10 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

21

3

Pictured here:OfficersPresidentDavid W. Patterson, M.D. (‘85)Washington, DC

President-electClifton R. Cleaveland, M.D. (HS ‘64) (FE ‘70)Chattanooga, TN

Regional DirectorsWilliam J. Anderson, M.D. (‘69)Nashville, TN

John T. Cobb, M.D. (‘78)Atlanta, GA

Carl A. Grote Jr., M.D. (‘54)Huntsville, AL

Jill Hutton, M.D. (‘96)Houston, TX

Kenneth Bruce Jones, M.D. (‘78)Jonesboro, AR

W. Ben Kibler, M.D. (‘72, HS ‘73)Lexington, KY

Susan Niermeyer, M.D. (‘79)Denver, CO

David Niver, M.D. (‘75)Alamo, CA

Thomas W. Nygaard, M.D. (‘78)Lynchburg, VA

Steven F. O’Sheal, M.D. (‘81)Birmingham, AL

Ming Robinson, M.D. (‘88, HS ‘92)Irvine, CA

Alan S. Rosenthal, M.D. (‘64) (HS ‘64) (FE ‘66)La Jolla, CA

Robert T. Snowden, M.D. (‘69)Pensacola, FL

Mitchell S. Steiner, M.D. (FE & FA ‘93-’95)Memphis,TN

W. Bedford Waters, M.D. (‘74)Knoxville, TN

Young Alumnus RepresentativeChloe E. Rowe, M.D. (‘03)New York, NY

Graduate Student RepresentativeLaura Titus BurnsNashville, TN

Specialty Society RepresentativesOran Aaronson, M.D. (HS ‘99)Meacham Society rep. – Nashville, TN

Sam S. Chang, M.D. (‘92, HS 92)Urology Society - Nashville, TN

Thomas T. Dovan, M.D. (HS ‘97)Orthopaedics Society rep.-Nashville, TN

James W. Felch, M.D. (‘77, HS 77)Savage Society rep--Nashville, TN

Benjamin P. Folk, III, M.D. (HS 89, FE 87)Friesinger Society rep.-Leland, MS

Richard Goldstein, M.D. (HS ‘90, FE ‘86, PhD ‘94, FAC ‘99-03)Scott Society rep. -Louisville, KY

H. Newton Lovvorn Jr., M.D. (‘63, HS ‘64)Burnett Society rep. – Nashville, TN

Robert Mallard, M.D. (‘74, HS ‘78, FAC ‘83)Christie Society rep. - Nashville, TN

Paul Sternberg, M.D.CRS Past President – Nashville, TN

Anderson Spickard III, M.D. (‘89, FAC ‘95-Pres)

Brittingham Society rep. -Nashville, TNRichard F. Treadway, M.D. (‘64, HS ‘65)Luton Society rep. – Nashville, TN

Shih-Hsin Eddy Yang, M.D. (HS ‘06)Roentgen Society rep. – Birmingham, AL

House Staff RepresentativesKevin Sexton, M.D.Nashville, TN

Aaron Shaver, M.D. Nashville, TN

Ex-Officio MembersJeffrey R. Balser, M.D., Ph.D. (‘90)

Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Dean, School of Medicine -Nashville, TN

Ann H. Price, M.D. (‘78, HS ‘79)Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs, School of Medicine -Nashville, TN

Bonnie M. Miller, M.D. (HS ‘80)Senior Associate Dean for Health Sciences Education – Nashville, TN

VUSM RepresentativeMichael Ryan Casner (VMS 2013)Nashville, TN

Post-Doctoral Organization President Tara Schwetz, Ph.D.Nashville, TN

Staff Members (non-voting)G. Roger Chalkley, D. Phil. (FAC ‘86-Pres)Sr. Assoc. Dean for Biomedical Research

Donald Brady, M.D. (‘90)Assoc. Dean GME

Scott M. Rodgers, M.D. (‘94)Dean for Students

Board of DirectorsVanderbilt Medical Alumni Association Board of Directors

1) School of Medicine graduate Rachel Apple, left, and her mother,Ann Price, M.D., VUSM’s associate dean for Alumni Affairs, are allsmiles on Commencement Day.

2) Joseph Knadler, Kelly Kohorst and Brad Lewallen give Founder’sMedalist Daniel Koehler a few pointers.

3) From left, School of Medicine students Sarah Deery, GabrielaAndrade, Katie Ayers and Alia Durrani start the celebration followinggraduation.

PHOTOS BY ANNE RAYNER

pho to g a l le r y ::

VanderbiltMedicineVanderbilt UniversityD 8200 Vanderbilt University Medical Center NorthNashville, TN 37232-2106

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This paper is certified to Forest Stewardship Councilstandards, which promotes environmentally responsible, socially acceptable, and economicallyviable management of the world’s forests.

“I’m honored to be the �rst student to receive the 1978 School of Medicine Class Scholarship. Getting to know the members of this class and hearing about their career paths has been a valuable part of my Vanderbilt experience.”

— Nicholas Giacalone, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Class of 2013

As a medical school applicant, Nicholas Giacalone knew that Vanderbilt was the place for him, yet he believed his state school options would provide more com-petitive �nancial aid packages. Giacalone, a native of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, was thrilled to be wrong. His decision to come to Vanderbilt was made possible by scholarship support.

Giacalone is the recipient of the 1978 School of Medicine Class Scholarship and also receives support from the Sue and Nelson Andrews Scholarship and the David Hitt Williams, M.D. Memorial Scholarship.

“I’m inspired by the generosity of so many who are making my dream to practice medicine a reality,” says Giacalone.

�e Scholarship Initiative for

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

To support the education of future physicians through scholarships, visit vanderbilthealth.org/MDscholarship or contact Mary Beth �ompson at mary.beth.thompson@vanderbilt.edu or (615) 322-8846.

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