News
Susannah Rose discusses the mission of ADVANCE AI at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Sep. 20, 2024—Vanderbilt University Medical Center was recently named a leading health system in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), according to Becker’s Healthcare. According to a list compiled by Becker’s Healthcare and the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Health Innovation at the University of California San Diego, VUMC was cited as one of 11 health systems...
Peek Into an MPH Practicum: A Q&A with an Epidemiology Track Student
Sep. 18, 2024—By Kyra Letsinger From a young age, second-year Master of Public Health (MPH) student Kaylee Ebner had a passion for health and science. It wasn’t until high school, however, that she came to find her dream career path in the most unlikely of places. In her junior year Intro to Healthcare class, she watched the...
Dr. Poehling Contributes to Advisory Committee Recommendation on Immunization Practices
Sep. 18, 2024—What is already known about this topic? Adults aged 19–64 years with risk conditions for pneumococcal disease and those aged ≥65 years are recommended to receive either 15- or 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) (PCV15 or PCV20, respectively). What is added by this report? On June 27, 2024, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended...
Katz says, Most children receive too many antibiotics for ear infections
Sep. 11, 2024—Most providers are still prescribing 10-day courses of antibiotics for acute otitis media despite recommendations calling for shorter durations of treatment, according to study findings. As Healio has previously reported, research has shown that shorter durations of antibiotics are better for some pediatric infections like acute otitis media (AOM), but this messaging has been slow to reach pediatricians. Acute...
RSV vaccine in older people cuts risk of hospitalization, says Grijalva, Self, and Zhu
Sep. 9, 2024—The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can be particularly dangerous for older people with chronic medical conditions. Each year in the United States, RSV infections in older adults result in up to 160,000 hospitalizations and as many as 10,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which in June 2023 recommended RSV...
Carolyn Audet, to Lead Implementation Science Center
Sep. 6, 2024—Two leaders in implementation science and quality improvement at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have been named co-directors of the Center for Clinical Quality and Implementation Research (CCQIR), which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Carolyn Audet, PhD, and Amanda Mixon, MD, MSPH, recently succeeded founding CCQIR director Sunil Kripalani, MD, MSc, professor of Medicine and Health Policy, and...
Peek Into an MPH Practicum: A Q&A with a Global Health Track Student
Sep. 4, 2024—By Kyra Letsinger Before coming to Vanderbilt, second-year Master of Public Health (MPH) student Joshua Atura received his bachelor’s degree in development education from the University for Development in his hometown of Tamale, Ghana, and his master’s in development studies from the University of Ghana, Legon. While working on his master’s thesis on determinants of...
MPH Graduate Eiman Jahangir Heads to Space with Blue Origin Space Launch
Aug. 29, 2024—Eiman Jahangir’s lifelong dream to fly into space is scheduled to become a reality on Thursday, Aug. 29. Jahangir, MD, MPH, associate professor of Medicine and Radiology and director of Cardio-Oncology, is scheduled to lift off on the Blue Origin rocket New Shepard from a launch site in West Texas, Blue Origin announced. The launch...
Keipp Talbot: Updated Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
Aug. 23, 2024—Summary What is already known about this topic? On June 21, 2023, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that adults aged ≥60 years may receive a single dose of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, using shared clinical decision-making. What is added by this report? On June 26, 2024, ACIP voted to update these...
MPH graduate Sophie Katz and colleagues urge practitioners to overcome “academic imprinting” and follow international trends
Aug. 14, 2024—Acute otitis media (AOM) is typically treated with 10 days of antibiotics, according to a new study in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (JPIDS).1 Notably, the investigators find the duration excessive, citing US and international guidelines advising 5 to 7 days, if antibiotics are indicated, but there is often no indication when the etiology is...
Zheng and Sudenga Study Finds Spending Too Much Time On The Couch Can Shorten Your Life
Aug. 9, 2024—It’s well known that spending too much time on the couch can shorten your life. Now, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have reported that moderate intensity, leisure-time physical activity can partially reduce the elevated risk of death from all causes due to prolonged sitting time. In a study of 8,337 predominantly low-income and Black...
Gastineau explains, approximately 3 million children witness a shooting each year in the US
Aug. 5, 2024—Hospitalization rates quintuple for youth who suffer nonfatal gun injuries. Health care costs are far higher for children suffering nonfatal firearm wounds when compared to their non-injured peers, even when the victim’s initial hospitalization is excluded from the tally, a recent study in Pediatrics reports. “Children with firearm-related injuries were more than five times as likely to require...
A healthy lifestyle may partially mitigate the effects of poverty on death rates says Zheng
Aug. 2, 2024—Study shows individuals from very low-income households have higher risk of early death. A new study illustrates the extent to which poverty impacts health: individuals in households with annual incomes below $15,000 are at three times the risk for early death compared to those in average-income families. The research, led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center...
Dr Natasha Halasa Discusses New Vaccine Surveillance Network Projects
Aug. 1, 2024—Natasha Halasa, MD, MPH, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), discusses the active population-based surveillance she helps to conduct as principal investigator (PI) of the Vanderbilt site of the New Vaccine Surveillance Network, which was established in 1999 by the CDC to predict the impact of potential new vaccines. She explained that this surveillance work...
Christianne Roumie to direct new Center of Innovation for Department of Veterans Affairs
Jul. 30, 2024—Christianne Roumie, MD, MPH, research health scientist at VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System and professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Public Health at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has been named the director of a new Health Systems Research Center of Innovation (COIN) for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The COIN program supports...