Summer 2015
VUSM Class of 2019
Sep. 3, 2015—For the 91 members of the 140th class at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, the first day of medical school began on July 15. The admissions team led by Alice Coogan, M.D., and David Bader, Ph.D., admitted that each year selecting students from the strong applicant pool becomes more challenging. “We have had outstanding classes...
Quicknotes
Aug. 21, 2015—Antibiotics with anticancer potential The type II topoisomerases—enzymes that manage tangles and supercoils in DNA—exist in all organisms and are important drug targets. Widely prescribed anticancer agents including etoposide and doxorubicin target human type II topoisomerases, and quinolone antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin target bacterial topoisomerases. Clinically relevant quinolones have no activity against human type II topoisomerases, but a...
Paralyzed by accident, grad student engineers his future with exoskeleton
Aug. 21, 2015—Andrew Ekelem sits in a wheelchair at the bottom of the fifth-floor stairwell at Olin Hall, laptop balanced on his thighs, quick keystrokes making tiny adjustments for the exoskeleton that promises to change his life. If Ekelem is impatient with this process, it’s impossible to tell. But he readily admits it’s his impatience that brought...
Our Strength in Personalized Medicine is Leading the Way
Aug. 21, 2015—Earlier this summer, Vanderbilt University Medical Center was honored to host the first National Institutes of Health (NIH) workshop for the federal Precision Medicine Initiative announced in January by President Obama. The two-day gathering, led by NIH director Dr. Francis Collins, was held so the nation’s leaders in the field could begin to develop and...
Study shows poor heart function could be major Alzheimer’s disease risk
Aug. 21, 2015—AVanderbilt study, published in Circulation, associates heart function with the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Participants with decreased heart function, measured by cardiac index, were two to three times more likely to develop significant memory loss over the follow-up period. “Heart function could prove to be a major risk factor for dementia and Alzheimer’s...
Laser technology offers new option to treat epilepsy
Aug. 21, 2015—Vanderbilt recently debuted a new minimally invasive surgical treatment for epilepsy, and for 25-year-old Cory Moquist, the procedure, which he underwent in February, is “opening a lot of doors.” The cutting-edge technique employs MRI-guided laser ablation to destroy the brain tissue causing seizures in place of surgical resection. “I’m excited that this could fix my epilepsy...
Q+A: Michelle Izmaylov
Aug. 21, 2015—Michelle Izmaylov is a third-year medical student from Atlanta, and a successful writer of fantasy-fiction books for young adults. Izmaylov, 24, has already published three novels and one novella and received several literary awards including the 2010 Blumenthal Award for Best Undergraduate Essay, among others. She holds the Hollis E. and Frances Settle Johnson Scholarship....
Sir Norman (Tyler) Melancon
Aug. 21, 2015—Sir Norman (Tyler) Melancon Second-year medical student; former linebacker for Dartmouth College Recipient of the Bess & Townsend McVeigh Scholarship Hometown: Parker, Texas
Preserving the brains—and dignity—of ICU Patients: A Decade of Published Work
Aug. 21, 2015—In 2004 the ICU Delirium and Cognitive Impairment Student Group published a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that provided the first documented cohort study to include daily measurements of delirium in the ICU. The study found the development of delirium presents the patients with a 300 percent increased likelihood of...
From Jocks to Docs
Aug. 21, 2015—On July 15, four Vanderbilt student-athletes arrived for orientation for the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine— former football players Patton Robinette, Alex Hysong and Steve Monk and men’s cross country standout John Ewing. Just 91 applicants were accepted for the VUSM Class of 2019, which was ranked as the 15th best by U.S. News and...
Giving in Action: Vickie and Tom Flood
Aug. 21, 2015—Donors such as Vickie and Thomas Flood are supporting the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center’s world-class teaching, research and clinical care. The Center specializes in communication disorders such as hearing, speech, language, and voice problems. For many years, the Floods have supported faculty needs, research, graduate students and other expenses related to childhood hearing loss. Their...
VUSM student earns HIV/AIDS fellowship
Aug. 21, 2015—Fourth-year Vanderbilt University School of Medicine student Ishan Asokan has been selected as an inaugural member of the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) Fellowship for students addressing HIV/AIDS and health disparities. Asokan has been working at the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Clinic (VCCC) since his first year of medical school and will be using the clinic...
The IOM committee’s findings regarding CFS:
Aug. 21, 2015—• There is indeed a disease; • Three features are present in virtually every patient with CFS: 1. Profound fatigue (devastating and ongoing) not alleviated by rest. “We’re not talking ‘it’s 3 a.m. and I’m feeling tired kind of fatigue.’ This is devastating knocked out fatigue,” said Ellen Wright Clayton, M.D., J.D. 2. Post-exertional malaise...
Son’s Disease Prompts Mom’s Scientific Quest
Aug. 21, 2015—At age 50, Terry Jo Bichell, a midwife and mother of five with no basic science training, set out to cure Angelman Syndrome. It wasn’t a mid-life crisis; a fit of reinvention as her four oldest daughters left the house. It was a pure desire to help her son Louie, 16, and the thousands of...
Letter From Ann Price
Aug. 21, 2015—Dear Vanderbilt University Medical Alumni, Congratulations, VUSM Class of 2015 The Vanderbilt Medical Alumni Association (VMAA) proudly welcomed the newest members of our medical alumni family, the VUSM Class of 2015, at a faculty appreciation/”almost alumni” luncheon on May 6. I know each of you joins me in celebrating their achievements as we begin to...
Alumni Profile: Jeff Sperring, M.D., ‘95
Aug. 21, 2015—VUSM prepared alum for leadership roles Jeff Sperring M.D., ‘95, took on the role of chief executive officer of Seattle Children’s Hospital in May, arriving armed with great memories and lessons learned from his days at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “Vanderbilt was the perfect balance of high educational expectations but also the sense...
Alumni Profile: Sandra Hassink, M.D., FAAP, ‘78
Aug. 21, 2015—AAP President Dedicates Career to Childhood Obesity Sandra Hassink, M.D., FAAP, ‘78, was a trailblazer in treating childhood/teenage obesity, starting a weight management clinic in 1988 at Alfred I. duPont Children’s Hospital, well before most pediatricians even realized there was an issue to address. Today, childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels plaguing the youngest...
Research Saving Lives
Aug. 21, 2015—One important source of funding for young investigators is small philanthropic organizations, the grassroots groups that take up a cause and raise money, often in honor of a loved one impacted by cancer. Though their gifts may not equal the government’s spending power, they can give researchers the jumpstart they need to earn future National...
Worthy of Note: Kyla Terhune, M.D.
Aug. 21, 2015—The General Surgery residency program at Vanderbilt School of Medicine has a new program director, but one with a familiar face. Kyla Terhune, M.D., HS ‘11, associate professor of Surgery, took over the residency program, which is one of the largest on campus. She replaced John Tarpley, M.D., ‘70, who served in that role for...
Alumni News
Aug. 21, 2015—1960s Antonio (Tony) Gotto, M.D., ‘65, BA ‘57, received the 2015 American College of Cardiology Lifetime Achievement Award and the National Medical Fellowship’s Excellence in Academic Medicine Award. Richard Johnston Jr., M.D., ‘61, HS ‘63, BA ‘57, was honored by the Institute of Medicine for his outstanding service during the IOM’s 44th annual meeting in...
Faces and Places
Aug. 21, 2015—
Losses
Aug. 21, 2015— Emanuel Abraham, M.D., ‘49, died March 29. He was 93. Dr. Abraham was predeceased by his wife, Helen, and is survived by his children Lynn, Susan, Mark and Lee; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Fred Allison Jr., M.D., ‘46, HS ‘47, FAC ‘02, professor of Medicine, emeritus, and former chief of the Division...
Study Fine-Tunes Hearing
Aug. 21, 2015—When Vanderbilt audiologist Allyson Sisler-Dinwiddie, Au.D., received her own cochlear implant, she experienced what many such patients do – her hearing was restored, but understanding speech could be difficult, especially in noisy situations. “There’s a wide range on how people do,” said David Haynes, M.D., professor of Otolaryngology, Neurosurgery and Hearing and Speech Sciences and...
Hope Amid a Continuing Crisis
Aug. 21, 2015—It’s been 20 years since her doctor silently handed Katrina Robertson a lab report that showed she was infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Yet the memory is still painfully fresh. “I remember just boo-hooing and crying because it was like I’m gonna die,” said the 47-year-old native Nashvillian. “Everybody I’d heard about … it...
Undone in the ICU
Aug. 21, 2015—“I was under the impression that I was being held prisoner. There were people I was aware of who would come into the room, in the outer areas, and they wouldn’t talk to me or look at me. I remember being aware that I couldn’t move my arms. I was being held somehow. I started...
Journey Out of Silence
Aug. 21, 2015—Allyson Sisler-Dinwiddie, Au.D., will never forget the day her hearing went away. She was just waking up, home alone on a Saturday morning, when her dog, Maddie, leapt off the bed and darted to the bedroom door. “I could tell she was barking, but I couldn’t hear her. I picked up the phone to see...
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Aug. 19, 2015—Dee Rogers has a busy and stressful job at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. So it would be normal to be tired at the end of the work day. But in 2014 she began to notice that she didn’t feel rejuvenated even after a good night’s sleep or weekend’s rest. On Saturday, she’d get up, eat...
VUMC as a Separate Nonprofit Entity Allows for Growth
Jun. 26, 2015—The changes we are experiencing in health care are the most transformational in America’s history. No other sector has as large an impact on the U.S. economy as health care, which now consumes almost 20 percent of our Gross Domestic Product. Among many factors driving epic change is the rising cost of care. As much...