News
MPH alum Warren: HCV infection among women giving birth in TN from 2009–2014
May. 11, 2017—Hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects an estimated 3.5 million persons in the United States, making it the most common bloodborne infection in the country. Recent surveillance data showed increased rates of HCV infection among adolescents and adults who are predominantly white, live in nonurban areas, and have a history of injection drug use. Michael Warren,...
Current MPH student McGinnis is named as an alternate finalists by the Fulbright U.S. Student Program
May. 11, 2017—Katie McGinnis, M.P.H. candidate in the Global Health track, was named an alternate for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for 2017-18. Katie is one of fifteen Vanderbilt students and alumni to be selected by the Fulbright program. Of this group, nine were offered grants (“finalists” in Fulbright parlance). Six students have been named alternates, an important designation,...
MPH’s Spalluto receives funding for project in equity, diversity and inclusion
May. 11, 2017—Vanderbilt MPH student Lucy Spalluto's project, A Leadership Intervention to Further the Training of Female Faculty (LIFT-OFF), was recently selected to receive seed grant funding from the Vanderbilt Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
MPH alumni Halasa and Patel receive VUMC Excellence in Teaching Awards
May. 5, 2017—Since 2000, the VUMC Academic Enterprise has honored faculty members for Excellence in Teaching and Outstanding Contributions to Research. Recipients were nominated by their faculty colleagues and chosen by the 2017 VUMC Academic Enterprise Faculty Awards Selection Committees. Recipient of the JOHN S. SERGENT AWARD Teaching Medical or Graduate Students in the Small Group Setting...
MPH alumna Nicolson discovers clue to recurrent C. diff infection
May. 5, 2017—Diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) increasingly afflicts some children and adults. In 20 percent of patients, CDI will recur after therapy. In a study published this month in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, Maribeth Nicholson, M.D., MPH, and colleagues report that children who experience recurrent CDI may have higher fecal inflammatory markers including...
MPH’s Cooper finds male infants at increased risk for NAS
May. 5, 2017—Male infants are more likely at birth than their female counterparts to be diagnosed with drug withdrawal symptoms, also known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), and to require treatment, according to a new Vanderbilt study published in Hospital Pediatrics. The retrospective cohort study used vital statistics and prescription, outpatient and inpatient data for mothers and...
MPH student McWade recognized with national award
Apr. 27, 2017—Conor McWade, a fourth-year M.D./MPH student, received the 2017 Excellence in Public Health Award from the United States Public Health Service Physician Professional Advisory Committee.
MPH’s Graves examines the effect of Medicaid expansion on ER access
Apr. 21, 2017—Under the Affordable Care Act, beginning in 2014 states were to extend Medicaid eligibility to people earning less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level, but 19 states (including Tennessee) have declined. To examine the effect of Medicaid expansion on emergency department access, John Graves, Ph.D., and colleagues used data from 126 for-profit hospitals....
MPH alumnus Warren: Tennessee’s infant mortality rate is among the worst in the country
Apr. 14, 2017—Sleep-related accidents are a leading cause of death of Tennessee children, and infants are the most vulnerable. According to the Tennessee Department of Health, in 2015, 890 children died before their 18th birthday, and 142 of those children were infants who died in unsafe sleep environments. Dr. Michael Warren, the Tennessee Department of Health’s Deputy...
VU School of Medicine moves to 8th in NIH research funding
Apr. 13, 2017—Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) now ranks No. 8 in the nation among U.S. medical schools in total grant support provided through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The new ranking raises VUSM’s standing two spots from the No. 10 position it held last year. Receiving $340,049,796 in total NIH grant support during calendar year...
NYT: MPH’s Penson discusses major change in prostate cancer screening guidelines
Apr. 12, 2017—Older men should talk to their doctors about the pros and cons of prostate cancer screening and make an individual decision that is right for them, an influential national panel of experts has proposed.The panel, the United States Preventive Services Task Force, continues to recommend that men 70 and older forgo screening altogether. But for...
MPH’s Griffin receives Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center’s 2017 Mary Jane Werthan Award
Apr. 4, 2017—Four women from the Vanderbilt community were recognized for their leadership, mentoring and contributions to the advancement of women during the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center’s annual Cuninggim Lecture and awards ceremony March 23 at the Student Life Center. Marie Griffin, director of the Vanderbilt master of public health program and professor of health policy and medicine, is this year’s winner...
MPH faculty to chair urology association’s science, quality council
Mar. 30, 2017—MPH faculty member David Penson, M.D., MPH, Paul V. Hamilton, M.D., and Virginia E. Howd Professor of Urologic Oncology and chair of the Department of Urologic Surgery, has been selected to chair the American Urological Association (AUA) Science & Quality Council, according to an announcement from the AUA Board of Directors.
JAMA: MPH alumnus Barocas shows active surveillance preserves quality of life for prostate cancer patients
Mar. 21, 2017—Faced with the negative quality-of-life effects from surgery and radiation treatments for prostate cancer, low risk patients may instead want to consider active surveillance with their physician, according to a study released Tuesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The Vanderbilt University Medical Center study led by Daniel Barocas, M.D., MPH, associate...
Vanderbilt’s Drug Dependency Clinic, run by MPH alumna Young, treats pregnant opiate dependent women
Mar. 13, 2017—The epidemic of opioid abuse, which each day claims the lives of 91 Americans and adds billions annually to the nation’s health care bill, can be stopped—but it’s not going to be easy, say those steering the ship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). Vanderbilt’s Drug Dependency Clinic, run by Jessica Young, M.D. M.P.H., treats...