News
Edwards talks to the NYT about summer viruses
Jul. 23, 2021—Yes, the summer cold and cough season really is worse than usual. Months of pandemic restrictions aimed at Covid-19 had the unintended but welcome effect of stopping flu, cold and other viruses from spreading. But now that masks are off and social gatherings, hugs and handshakes are back, the run-of-the-mill viruses that cause drippy noses,...
Viruses are landing kids in the ICU this summer says Creech
Jul. 21, 2021—An unseasonal surge of winter viruses is landing children in the hospital in the middle of summer. The illnesses include severe colds, croup, which causes a severe cough, and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease expert at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, saw a similar rise in...
Dusetzina discusses drug spending as part of new infrastructure deal
Jul. 21, 2021—Blocked from boosting revenues through enhanced Internal Revenue Service enforcement, congressional Democrats are turning to reducing drug spending as a possible way to salvage their $600 billion bipartisan infrastructure deal. The Biden administration agreed in February to push back the implementation of the rule until 2023, instead of 2022. The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, which represents pharmacy benefit...
NBC News talks to Creech about COVID-19 vaccines for kids under 12
Jul. 19, 2021—A report from NBC News says emergency approval for Covid-19 vaccines in children under 12 could come in early to midwinter, a Food and Drug Administration official said Thursday, a move that could bring relief to many parents who have been unable to vaccinate their children. The agency hopes to then move quickly to full approval of...
Schaffner discusses travel restrictions during COVID-19
Jul. 19, 2021—“I have for a long time regarded the travel restrictions with some skepticism,” said William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert from Vanderbilt University. “I thought it was akin to preventing people from pouring a bucket of water into a swimming pool. We have rampant Covid in our country.” While officials had initially hoped to lift...
COVID has made rehab harder for pregnant women says Patrick
Jul. 19, 2021—With the rise of the opioid epidemic, there has been a growing movement among health care professionals and state social workers to help mothers get sober rather than punish their drug use by taking away their babies, which can have lifelong effects. But such programs are a rarity in the world of rehab, and experts...
Drug importation isn’t a sustainable fix for U.S. drug prices says Dusetzina
Jul. 13, 2021—Drug importation isn’t a sustainable fix for high U.S. drug prices, policy analysts warn, even if the new administration has a better relationship with Canada. “While it is possible that the relationship between Canada and U.S. has improved with the change in leadership, it still isn’t clear that Canada would be willing to or capable...
Schaffner comments on possible COVID booster shot as Delta variant spreads
Jul. 12, 2021—Pfizer and partner BioNTech plan to ask U.S. and European regulators within weeks to authorize a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, based on evidence of greater risk of infection six months after inoculation and the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control...
Williams Assistant Director for Educator Development Program
Jul. 8, 2021—Elizabeth Williams, MD, MPH, assistant professor of Pediatrics in the Division of General Pediatrics has begun a new role as the Assistant Director for the Educator Development Program (EDP). Williams started her path in EDP four years ago when she researched the worldwide resources for educator training and published the article titled, “Identification of Training Opportunities...
Unvaccinated people are potential variant factories says Schaffner
Jul. 8, 2021—Delta poses the most risks to the unvaccinated. A recent Associated Press analysis found almost all of the COVID-19 deaths in the US are among those who are unvaccinated. Experts have warned that unvaccinated people are not only risking their own health but risk allowing for more variants. “Unvaccinated people are potential variant factories,” Dr. William Schaffner, a professor...
Neuzil answers questions about face masks as Delta variant spreads
Jul. 7, 2021—There is mounting confusion in the U.S. over face masks after the W.H.O. recommended coverings regardless of vaccination status, but the CDC said it’s not changing its guidance. David Begnaud shows us how states are responding amid a rise in cases of the Delta variant. Then, Dr. Kathleen Neuzil, a professor in vaccinology and the...
Edwards among Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame Inductees
Jul. 6, 2021—Kathryn Edwards, M.D., is among a new set of inductees into the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame. Edwards, the Sarah H. Sell and Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair in Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, is an honoree in the 2020 class of inductees. A member of the National Academy of Medicine, Edwards’ work focuses on the...
Tsosie trains the next generation of Indigenous data scientists
Jul. 1, 2021—When Krystal Tsosie introduces her genomics students to the concept of biocommercialism — the extraction of biological resources from Indigenous communities without benefit — she always uses the same example: the Human Genome Diversity Project. The researchers who conceived of the project in the 1990s aimed to collect samples from human populations around the world,...
Daniels returns to Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Jun. 30, 2021—Titus Daniels, MD, MPH, MMHC, associate professor of Medicine, has returned to Vanderbilt University Medical Center; he was previously on the faculty from 2007 to 2017. Daniels’s clinical and scholarly interests are in areas of health care epidemiology, antimicrobial stewardship and orthopaedic infections. He continues to enjoy establishing new clinical programs, especially with clinical colleagues...
NBC News talks to Talbot about the need for a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot
Jun. 28, 2021—There’s no evidence yet to suggest that a Covid-19 vaccine booster shot is needed, a working group for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are a number of thorny questions on the topic of boosters, though, including the need to cover unvaccinated people in the U.S. and the rest of world with a...