Alumni News
1950s
Gerald Stone, M.D., ‘57, HS ‘58, BA ‘54, and his wife, Lois, celebrated their 59th anniversary on June 10, 2015. They have 15 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Dr. Stone continues to do locum tenens in Rochester, New York, where he helped pioneer hemodialysis in 1963.
1960s
Al Mushlin, M.D., ‘66, BA ‘63, received the 2015 Career Achievement Award from the Society for Medical Decision Making. Mushlin is the Nanette Laitman Distinguished Professor of Public Health in the Department of Healthcare Policy and Research and Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Charles Daniels, M.D., ‘66, is retired from full-time pathology practice and moved from North Carolina to Atlanta where he has been appointed clinical professor of pathology for the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Georgia Branch.
Anderson Spickard Jr., M.D., ‘57, HS ‘59, ‘63, BA ‘53, FAC, recently finished writing a new book on addiction, “The Craving Brain – Science, Spirituality and the Road to Recovery.” Spickard is an emeritus professor of medicine and psychiatry at Vanderbilt.
John Neeld, M.D., ‘66, HS ‘67, BA ‘62, was presented with the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ 2013 Distinguished Service Award. He is chair emeritus of the Department of Anesthesia at Northside Anesthesiology Consultants in Atlanta.
Larry Wolf, M.D., ‘60, HS ‘64, FE ‘66, FAC ‘15, BA ‘57, retired in August 2015 after 10 years as a clinician educator in Vanderbilt’s Division of Endocrinology.
1970s
Lyle Wadsworth, M.D., ‘75, HS ‘77, is the founding physician and medical director of the Good Samaritan Medical Clinic, a faith-based clinic providing free medical and dental care to indigent patients in West Volusia, Florida. He was awarded the 2015 Community Service Award at the annual Adventist Health System national missions conference in Orlando.
Bruce Williams, M.D., ‘75, HS ‘77, BA ‘71, was voted president-elect by the members of the College of American Pathologists at their annual meeting in Nashville in October 2015.
James Connolly, M.D., ‘74, received the 2015 College of American Pathologists Excellence in Teaching Award at the group’s annual meeting in October 2015.
Howard Aylward Jr., M.D., ‘70, retired after 13 years as a rheumatologist with Geisinger Health Systems in State College, Pennsylvania.
1980s
Russ Galloway, M.D., ‘84, a board-certified emergency medicine physician, was appointed to the Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital (Murfreesboro, Tennessee) board of directors.
Allen Anderson, M.D., HS ‘83, was installed as the 44th president of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine in July 2015 during the society’s annual meeting.
Rhonda Voskuhl, M.D., ‘86, recently had a publication in The Lancet that has captured a great deal of media attention because it provides evidence through a Phase II randomized, placebo-controlled study that taking the pregnancy hormone estriol along with conventional medications helped patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).
Diane Young, M.D., HS ‘84, was appointed vice president and chief medical officer of GTx, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. Young is a board-certified medical oncologist.
Alan List, M.D., FE ’86, has been appointed chair of the scientific advisory board for Cellular Biomedicine Group. He is the president and CEO of Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa.
Jeffrey Prinsell, DMD, M.D.,’86, HS ‘88, was elected president of the Georgia Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. He and his wife, Kim, have been married for 33 years and have two sons.
Robert Means Jr., M.D., ‘83, FE ‘89, dean of medicine at East Tennessee State University’s Quillen College of Medicine, has been appointed deputy editor of the Journal of Investigative Medicine for a three-year term.
Anne Timmerman, M.D., ‘86, recently joined Beth Israel Deaconess HealthCare-Sharon (Massachusetts) as a primary care physician.
Bess Marshall, M.D., ‘86, BS ‘82, is a professor of pediatrics in endocrinology at Washington University in St. Louis, now in her 25th year. While she primarily sees patients, she is also involved in clinical research on rare types of diabetes, such as neonatal diabetes and Wolfram syndrome. She and her husband, Loren Marshall, M.D., ‘84, HS ‘87, are delighted that their middle son, Robert, is in his second year at Vanderbilt’s School of Engineering.
Christopher Payne, M.D., ‘86, is a Stanford University emeritus professor of urology, vice-president of the Worldwide Fistula Fund Board and co-founder Vista Urology & Pelvic Pain Partners. He recently returned from a two-week trip to Niger with Worldwide Fistula Fund where his team focused on residual urinary incontinence after successful fistula repair and treatment of pelvic organ prolapse.
Alan Wagner, M.D., ‘82, HS ‘83, a board-certified ophthalmologist specializing in vitreoretinal surgery in Virginia Beach, Virginia, was elected secretary-treasurer of the Medical Society of Virginia.
Docia Hickey, M.D., FE ‘80, of Belmont, North Carolina, was sworn in as the North Carolina Medical Society’s 162nd president at the Society’s annual meeting.
1990s
Gerald Frank, M.D., FE ‘99, FAC ‘04, and his wife, Debbie, have launched an apparel line called Original Nashville. The line includes T-shirts, hats, coffee mugs and stickers, is available online and soon will be featured in retail stores.
Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., ‘90, vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, has been named to the board of administrators of Tulane University.
Michael Borne, M.D., HS ‘93, a Jackson, Mississippi, ophthalmologist, has been named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor for 2015.
Nicole Broerman, M.D., FAAP, HS ‘99, has joined Reddy Pediatrics in Athens, Georgia.
Michael Watterson, M.D., HS ‘99, has joined Summit Medical Group at Rheumatology Associates of East Tennessee.
Omer Shedd, M.D., ‘98, HS ‘01, president of Promise for Haiti, recently received the Hendrix College Odyssey Medal, given to Hendrix alumni whose personal and professional achievements exemplify the values of engaged liberal arts and sciences education.
Morgan Wills, M.D., ‘96, HS ‘00, and his family were vacationing in Sanibel Island, Florida, when his 81-year-old father broke his hip, his son Isaac suffered acute appendicitis, and his youngest son, Morgan Jr., drifted out to sea on a riptide and had to be rescued by a speedboat. David and Jule West, M.D., ‘87, and classmate Bob Boyce, M.D., ‘96, helped out while Wills and his wife, Heather, visited their family members at various Fort Myers hospitals. Everyone recovered and the family enjoys a good laugh when recounting the story.
Dr. J. Stephen Jones, M.D., HS ‘91, has been named a new member of the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) board of directors, beginning his tenure in January.
2000s
The House of Representatives of the 108th General Assembly of the State of Tennessee passed house joint resolution No. 787 to honor and commend Julie Hudson, M.D., FAC, for her many contributions to the greater good as VUMC’s assistant vice chancellor for Health Affairs. Hudson helped plan and launch the Aspirnaut initiative to enrich math and science education for at-risk students.
Wayne Riley, M.D., FAC, has been named president of the American College of Physicians, the nation’s largest medical specialty organization.
Sanjay Patel, M.D., ‘08, BE ‘04, HS ‘13, has established his medical practice with the Stephenson Cancer Center and has been named an assistant professor with the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.
Anupam Prahan, M.D., ‘06, and Sonya Jaguani, M.D., welcomed daughter Siran Sophia on Sept. 4, 2015.
Robin Hemphill, M.D., MPH ‘04, and Sally Santen, M.D., Ph.D., ‘09, were married in September 2015 in Washington, D.C. Hemphill works for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Santen is a clinical professor of emergency medicine and an assistant dean at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Willie Melvin III, M.D., FACS, HS ‘01, has joined the Surgical Clinic at TriStar StoneCrest Medical Center in Smyrna, Tennessee.
Brian Veerkamp, M.D., HS ‘11, a board-certified cardiologist, has joined St. Vincent Medical Group in Indianapolis.
C.J. Stimson, M.D., ‘08, JD ‘10, HS ‘15, completed his urologic surgery residency at Vanderbilt in 2015 and moved to Baltimore, Maryland, for a two-year urologic oncology fellowship. He will also be doing health care policy research. He and his wife, Mejken, celebrated the arrival of their second daughter, Norah Josephine, on Aug. 28, 2015.
Rafia Chaudhry, MBBS, FE ‘15, has joined Albany Medical Center’s Division of Nephrology and was appointed assistant professor at Albany Medical College.
Daniel Munoz, M.D., FE ‘13, FAC ‘15, an attending cardiologist at Vanderbilt, has authored the book “Alpha Docs – The Making of a Cardiologist” (Penguin Random House) in which he recounts his transformation from a wide-eyed young medical student to a caring, empathetic professional.
Ellie Gordon Spratt, M.D., ‘10, has started a private dermatology practice in Ann Arbor, Michigan, while her husband, Dan Spratt, M.D., ‘10, finished his residency at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and joined the faculty at the University of Michigan’s Department of Radiation Oncology.
Sue Chern, M.D., ‘10, is an anesthesia attending with a private practice group at Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey.
Lindsey Morris, Ph.D., ‘05, FE ‘15, is a senior data scientist at Axial Healthcare in Nashville.
Ashley Rubin, M.D., ‘10, BA ‘05, is completing her fellowship at UCSD in procedural dermatology and joined a practice in Carlsbad, California, as a Mohs surgeon. Her husband, Josh Rubin, M.D., ‘10, BS ‘06, is doing a fellowship in gastroenterology at UCSD.
Sarah Tiggelaar, M.D., ‘12, BS ‘06, finished her residency and is starting a family OB fellowship at the UT Family Medicine program in Memphis, Tennessee.
Manuel Botzolakis, M.D., Ph.D., ‘10, finished his residency in diagnostic radiology at the University of Pennsylvania and is beginning a fellowship in neuroradiology there.
Allie Martin, M.D., ‘13, recently completed her second year of a general surgery residency at the University of Virginia and is beginning two years of clinical research. She was recently awarded a Fogarty Global Health Fellowship to conduct research in Rwanda in 2016-2017.
Brian Cruz, M.D., ‘11, completed his residency in internal medicine at Tulane and is a primary care physician at Ochsner Health System in New Orleans, entering his second year of practice.
Jill Frieble, M.D., ‘09, moved to Fresno, California, and has accepted a job at Valley Children’s Hospital in pediatric orthopedic surgery.
Ashley Canipe, M.D., FE ‘14, recently joined Indian River Medical Center as an interventional gastroenterologist.
Heather Burks, M.D., ‘08, has established a reproductive endocrinology and fertility practice with OU Physicians at the University of Oklahoma.
Parker Gregg, M.D., ‘12, is doing a nephrology fellowship at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
John Scott, M.D., ‘10 and Chris Scally, M.D., ‘10, both presented talks at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress held in Chicago on Oct. 4-8, 2015, where they received an “Excellence in Research” Award.
Sudave Mendiratta, M.D., ‘05, recently married Adrien Strickland, M.D., in July 2015. Mendiratta is the program director for the emergency medicine residency at the University of Tennessee and serves as the president of the Tennessee College of Emergency Physicians. He resides in Chattanooga, with his wife and two children, Ani and Solomon.
Sam Okpaku, M.D., Ph.D., a former clinical professor of psychiatry and a senior fellow at the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy, has authored “Essentials of Global Mental Health” (Cambridge University Press). The book received high commendation at the British Medical Association 2015 Book Awards.
Anthony J.G. Alastra, M.D., HS ‘01, was published in the Leading Physicians of the World as a new member of the International Association of HealthCare Professionals. Alastra is a board-certified neurological surgeon in Staten Island, New York.
Garrett Key, M.D., ‘06, BA ‘99, HS ‘10, has taken a position in Austin, Texas, at the Seton Cancer Care Collaborative/Seton Mind Institute where his work focuses on the psychiatric care of cancer patients.
Rachel Gordon, M.D., ‘00, is the course director for the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons’ new Ready 4 Residency course for fourth-year medical students. She has created a website “Killer MicroED” to provide easy access to several of her videos on antibiotics and virtual cases. Please visit her new site at edblogs.columbia.edu/rgordon.
Laura Green, M.D., ‘02, has been elected to the Program Director’s Council for the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology, and is the 2016-17 secretary for the Maryland Society for Eye Physicians and Surgeons. She and Hilary Highfield Nickols, M.D., ‘06, Ph.D., ‘04, HS ‘06, along with other ophthalmologists and ophthalmic pathologists, have created an interactive online atlas of ophthalmic pathology. They presented their work at the American Academy of Ophthalmology in Las Vegas in December 2015.
Officials with Saint Thomas Health announced that Ahmad Abu-Halimah, M.D., FE ‘05, won this year’s Clinical Excellence Award which acknowledges efforts in bringing new skills and techniques to the medical community, serving in a teaching role for the medical community and being held in high opinion and regard by fellow physicians. Abu-Halimah works for Saint Thomas Rutherford.
Kelly Moore, M.D., MPH ‘00, A&S ‘94, is the director of the Tennessee Immunization Program and assistant clinical professor in the Department of Health Policy.