
Photos by: Susan Urmy
Physicians of Tomorrow, Meet the Leaders of Today
How can you connect your medical training to your personal calling? What are the newest and next frontiers in medicine? And what does it mean to be a truly exceptional physician?
To answer these pressing questions, the Deans' Lecture Series brings you into conversation with physicians who are pushing the boundaries of their medical calling.
Have you ever wondered about…
- Uncovering a public health crisis? We brought in Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, who helped unearth the Flint water crisis and lead recovery efforts.
- Doing medicine aboard a space shuttle? Dr. Drew Gaffney came to campus to speak about his experience as a former Senior Flight Surgeon-Astronaut.
- Dedicating your career to underserved populations? Dr. Kimberly Manning, aka “The Grady Doctor,” shared the lessons she’s learned from everyday teaching experiences at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
- Applying stand-up comedy to your specialty? Dr. William Flanary, aka “Dr. Glaucomflecken,” blended his characteristic humor and education to deliver a talk on his career as a joke-telling ophthalmologist.
From renowned epidemiologists to MD TikTok sensations, the medical superstars that come to campus through DLS will do more than share life-lessons. They’ll challenge you to think critically about your own medical calling and future.
Many Lectures, Hundreds of Campus-Wide Ripples
With a new speakers during the academic year, DLS inspires powerful waves of conversation across VUSM’s campus.
- Gather with the medical student community each month for a lunch and lecture with the speaker.
- Join a small group for informal dinner conversation with the speaker at a classic Nashville eatery.
- Explore the talk’s pressing questions further with the students and faculty in your learning communities and colleges.
- Submit your own proposal for a student lecture.
Each year, medical students apply to deliver a half-hour talk during the spring semester, and the entire community comes out to support the two chosen speakers.
A Student-Energized Tradition
With roots stretching back to an unscheduled Deans’ Hour in the early 2000s, this open block in the curriculum morphed into a formal lecture opportunity under the direction of Bonnie Miller, MD, who was in her role as Associate Dean for Medical Student Affairs at the time.
Now, a student team cultivates the vision for the series each year, brainstorming speakers, soliciting feedback from the student body, and hosting the lectures in collaboration with the Office of Medical Student Affairs. Interested in joining the team? Applications to serve a three-year term on the committee go out each spring semester.
2026-2027 Lecture Series
Monday, Sept. 21
Felts Lecture: Susan Burton
Light Hall 202
12:00 noon
“The Stories We Tell About Pain”
Susan Burton is the host of the Peabody Award–winning podcast "The Retrievals" from Serial Productions and The New York Times. She is also the author of the memoir "Empty, " which tells the story of the eating disorders she kept secret for decades. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, and others. For years she was a producer at "This American Life," and she began her career as an editor at Harper's.
Monday, Oct. 5
Levi Watkins, Jr. MD Lecture: Dr. John Tarpley
Light Hall 208
12:00 noon
“Nobody Even Knows My Name”
View photos from lecture
View the recording
John Tarpley, known as "Tarp," is a “general general surgeon” and a PGY 56. He has spent 30 years in the USA and around 20 years in Sub-Saharan Africa practicing medicine. Dr. Tarpley completed his undergraduate and medical education at Vanderbilt. He completed his residency at Johns Hopkins plus two years at the NCI, Surgery Branch, and six months in England with Mr. Ronald Belsey in thoracic surgery. He spent 12 of his first 15 years post residency in Nigeria at the Baptist Medical Centre, Ogbomoso, and the University College Hospital of the University of Ibadan, rotating back to Hopkins and the Loch Raven VA every 4th year. He returned to Vanderbilt and the Nashville VAMC in 1993 for 23 years and served as Program Director for General Surgery for around 20 years. Post retirement in 2016, Dr. Tarpley spent 5 years back in Africa, a year in Kenya and a year in Rwanda. In 2018-2021 he was Head of Department (Chair) of Surgery at the University of Botswana, where with Motswana colleagues, they launched the country’s first general surgery residency program in 2020. From 2021-2025 he was Academic Dean for the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons. He continues to travel to Sub-Saharan to abet education and capacity building 6-8 times annually. Dr. Tarpley hails from Jackson, MS. He is a life member of WACS, the West African College of Surgeons. He is an honorary member of SBAS, the Society of Black Academic Surgeons, and AWS, the Association of Women’s Surgeons. He lettered in basketball at Vanderbilt in the 1960s. In 2024, Dr. Tarpley was designated an Icon in Surgery by the ACS (American College of Surgeons) and named a Distinguished Alumnus of Vanderbilt Medical School. He and his wife Maggie are known as “Team Tarpley.”
Dr. Levi Watkins Jr., Professor of Surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, was the first African American student to be admitted to and graduate from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine after graduating from Tennessee State University with honors. He graduated from VUSM in 1970, having distinguished himself as an exceptional student, and went on to significantly impact modern medicine through his research and surgical skill. In 1980, Dr. Watkins became the first surgeon to implant an automatic defibrillator in a patient, assisted in this work by Mr. Vivien Thomas. He remained committed to Vanderbilt throughout his life, and an annual lecture was named in his honor in 2002. He attended every lecture until his death in April of 2015. Dr. Watkins served on the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust and was the recipient of both the Vanderbilt Medal of Honor in 1998 and the university’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2008. Dr. Watkins was a passionate mentor and advocate, serving as a role model for countless students, trainees, and faculty members pursuing careers in medicine and the biomedical sciences.
Tuesday, Nov 10
Joint Lecture, Vanderbilt IMPACT Symposium with Flexner Series: John Green
Langford Auditorium
Ticketed Event, SOLD OUT
7:00 p.m
John Green is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars, Turtles All the Way Down, The Anthropocene Reviewed and Everything is Tuberculosis. His first novel in nine years, Hollywood, Ending, will be published on September 22nd, 2026.
John’s books have won many prizes, including an Audie Award, an Edgar Award, the Michael L. Printz Medal, and a Los Angeles Book Prize. Green’s books have been published in more than 55 languages and over 60 million copies are in print worldwide.
In 2007, John and his brother Hank ceased textual communication and began to talk primarily through videoblogs posted to YouTube. Although they have long since resumed textual communication, John and Hank continue to upload two videos a week to their YouTube channel, vlogbrothers. Their videos have been viewed more than one billion times.
Monday, Nov. 30
Simpson Lecture: Walter Merrill and Dr. Bill Frist
Light Hall 208
12:00 noon
Details TBA
Monday, Dec. 7
Flexner Lecture: Jeff Balser, MD, PhD
President and CEO, Vanderbilt Health, and Dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Langford Auditorium
12:00 noon
"Vanderbilt Health: Past, Present, and Future"
Dr. Balser is the CEO of Vanderbilt Health and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. During his nearly twenty-year tenure as chief executive, he led an unprecedented era of growth and impact spanning clinical care, transformative research, and medical education.


"Firsts"
Corey Nason Reese is a writer and editor with experience in healthcare and education. She graduated from the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. With over 30 years of freelance work, Corey has held writing and editing roles for professional organizations, journals and newspapers. She was also the Communications Director for an education association for 20 years.
“Getting to Know Your Neighbors: A Local Approach to Global Health”
“Robots, Jellies, Kids”
With a career spanning multiple sectors—including health systems, local public health departments, community-based organizations, and international non-governmental organizations – Wylie has consistently worked at the intersection of healthcare, community health and community development. Her efforts have been dedicated to elevating the voice of communities and promoting inclusive approaches that cultivate equitable health outcomes.
Dr. Eiman Jahangir was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to Nashville, TN at age four. His childhood fascination with space led him to pursue a career in medicine and space exploration. He attended Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet High School, known for its focus on math and engineering, before earning a Bachelor of Arts at George Washington University and a Medical Doctorate from the University of Tennessee. He completed his medical training at Boston University Medical Center and Vanderbilt University, specializing in Cardiovascular Medicine.
Dr. Stanford is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics who practices and teaches at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/ Harvard Medical School (HMS) as one of the first fellowship-trained obesity medicine physicians worldwide. She is among the most highly cited obesity medicine physician-scientists, with over 200 peer-reviewed publications. Stanford has conducted 1200 media interviews, including with the New York Times, USA Today, Time, U.S. News & World Report, Glamour, and NPR. In 2023, Stanford appeared on 60 Minutes with Lesley Stahl, stating obesity is a chronic disease and that there is physician bias against those with excess weight. In an interview with Deborah Roberts on addressing weight stigma, Dr. Stanford advocates eliminating bias towards those with higher weights. Oprah Winfrey interviewed Dr. Stanford as an obesity expert for her “The Life You Want Class: The State of the Weight” on Oprah Daily. In this interview, she teaches about the science of obesity as a chronic disease. In an interview with Sanjay Gupta for his CNN Chasing Life podcast, she coined the term “street corner medicine” to refer to the assumption that people judge people based on their size– they assume that heavier people are unhealthy and leaner people are healthy without investigating whether this is factual by evaluating metabolic health parameters such as blood pressure, cholesterol, liver function tests, blood sugar, etc.
“I Do (Not) Belong: Experiences of Black Women and Girls in Mathematics”
March 25, 2024
“Duty, Honor, and the Moral Complexity of Wartime Service”
March 4, 2024
January 22, 2024
November 13, 2023
Oct. 3, 2023
Sept. 11, 2023
Aug. 11, 2023
Jun. 12, 2023
Apr. 24, 2023
Mar. 27, 2023
“Decolonizing Global Health As A Trainee: A Reflection on Historical Contexts, Lessons from Sierra Leone, and Contributing in a Meaningful Way“
Mar. 6, 2023
Feb. 21, 2023
Jan. 27, 2023
Jan. 5, 2023
Nov. 21, 2022
Oct. 25, 2022