News
How A Vanderbilt Doctor Became The Nation’s Go-To Flu Expert
Nov. 29, 2017—When flu season comes around each year, a familiar face from Nashville appears in homes around the country: Dr. William Schaffner. The Vanderbilt doctor has become a media darling when it comes to infectious diseases.
MPH alumnus commended for leadership of Vanderbilt’s Level 1 Trauma Center
Nov. 17, 2017—The American College of Surgeons (ACS) Committee on Trauma has recertified the Vanderbilt Trauma Center with its Level 1 ranking. The country’s leading surgical care organization first bestowed its highest stamp of approval on the Trauma Center in 2014, and renewed this designation following a recent site visit. “Maintaining the status of an American College...
Insurance commissioner outlines ACA challenges
Nov. 17, 2017—Since 2014 the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, has assisted lower- and moderate-income people who buy insurance on their own on the individual market, providing premium subsidies and discounts on out-of-pocket expenses. Under the law, people who don’t carry compliant insurance face a penalty, the so-called individual mandate. Large employers who don’t offer...
Kathryn Edwards to receive 2018 National Foundation for Infectious Diseases award
Nov. 13, 2017—The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) presents annual awards to outstanding individuals who have made significant and lasting contributions to public health through scientific achievement, philanthropy, and/or legislation. 2018 NFID Award Recipients: Roger I. Glass, MD, PhD, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Humanitarian Awards Kathryn M. Edwards, MD, Maxwell Finland Award for Scientific Achievement Anne Schuchat,...
JAMA Pediatrics: MPH’s Williams lead author on pediatric pneumonia study
Nov. 10, 2017—A combination of two antibiotics is often prescribed to treat community-acquired pneumonia in children, but a JAMA Pediatrics study is now showing that using just one of the two has the same benefit to patients in most cases. Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) researchers reported this week that amoxicillin alone, rather than combined with azithromycin,...
Vanderbilt MPH’s Schaffner: Disparities in influenza outcomes
Nov. 10, 2017—Influenza infections kill between 3,000 and 49,000 people each year in the United States. Understanding risk factors for severe influenza outcomes, such as hospitalization, can help guide vaccination programs and reduce disease burden.Rameela Chandrasekhar, Ph.D., and colleagues evaluated whether neighborhood determinants – represented by census tract data – contribute to the risk of influenza hospitalization....
MPH Student selected for ENACT Fellowship
Oct. 31, 2017—Jennifer Cunningham Erves, PhD, MA.Ed, MS, CHES, was recently selected for the Expanding National Capacity in PCOR through Training (ENACT) Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh for the 2017-18 Academic Year.
MPH’s Schaffner Recommends Booster Dose of Mumps Vaccine in Outbreaks
Oct. 27, 2017—Mumps is bad this year in the U.S. So far, more than 4,600 cases have been reported. So the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend that people at high risk of catching mumps during an outbreak get a booster dose of the vaccine, even if they’ve already been vaccinated twice. “The information...
MPH alumnus Creech leads Vanderbilt’s international effort to develop universal flu vaccine
Oct. 27, 2017—Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are leading an international effort to develop a universal influenza vaccine that would protect everyone against all strains of the flu anywhere in the world. The Universal Influenza Vaccine Initiative, which was announced today, will be led by James Crowe Jr., M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, and C....
Forum highlights strong clinical, translational research efforts
Oct. 19, 2017—The 2017 Vanderbilt Translational Research Forum was co-hosted by the Office of Clinical & Translational Scientist Development, Master of Public Health, and Master of Science in Clinical Investigation on October 13, 2017. The event began with the presentation of awards for Distinguished Service to Translational Scientists to Paul Harris, Ph.D., and for Excellence in Mentoring Translational...
In Scientific American, Schaffner comments on increased vaccination rates and school immunization laws
Oct. 18, 2017—Vaccination rates for kindergartners are increasing because of state laws requiring them to have the full series of inoculations before they can enter the classroom. The laws vary, “but overall they say, ‘We have to protect our children.’ It's terrific,” says William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University.
MPH’s Buntin elected to National Academy of Medicine
Oct. 17, 2017—Vanderbilt University’s Melinda Buntin, Ph.D., professor of Health Policy and chair of the department, and Joshua Denny, M.D., M.S., professor of Biomedical Informatics and Medicine and Vice President for Personalized Medicine, are among 70 new members elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), the organization announced this week.
In this week’s MMWR, student Mary-Margaret Fill reports multiple cases of Seoul virus infection
Oct. 12, 2017—Mary-Margaret Fill, M.D., is a student in the Epidemiology track of the Vanderbilt MPH Program and a Medical Epidemiologist at the Tennessee Department of Health. Co-authors for this publication include Vanderbilt MPH Program alumna Annabelle de St. Maurice, M.D., M.P.H., Vanderbilt MPH Program founder and faculty member William Schaffner, M.D., and partners from the Tennessee Department...
MPH faculty receive two NIH grants to fight kidney disease and address ‘epilepsy treatment gap’
Oct. 12, 2017—Researchers in the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) have received two new grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) aimed at reducing the risk of kidney disease in HIV-infected adults and improving the treatment of epilepsy in children in Nigeria.
MPH’s alumnus Guillamondegui: Life-saving techniques in an active shooter situation
Oct. 5, 2017—Vanderbilt University Medical Center doctors and nurses treat about two gunshot wounds a day.That includes wounds from small handgun gunshots, all the way up to high-powered rifles like the ones used in the Las Vegas concert shooting. Dr. Oscar Guillamondegui is the trauma medical director at Vanderbilt. As a trauma surgeon, he regularly treats victims...