Vanderbilt Community
Losses
Mar. 27, 2024—Richard Clarke Agnew, MD’75, HO’75,’78, died June 2, 2023. He was 75. Dr. Agnew was preceded in death by his wife, Stephanie, and is survived by his children Jonathan, Jason and Spenser, and three grandchildren. Oren Wyatt Babb, MD’67, HO’71, died Nov. 18, 2023. Dr. Babb is survived by his wife, Pat; sons Robert and...
Class Notes
Mar. 27, 2024—1950s Gerald E. Stone, BA’54, MD’57, HO’58, celebrated his 67th wedding anniversary to author/poet Lois Greene Stone. They have 15 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Their son and their oldest grandchild are physicians, and another grandchild is a fourth-year medical student. Their family also includes a nurse and a CPA. Stone studied under the inventor of...
Alumni Profile: Healing the Mind and Body
Mar. 27, 2024—Cardiologist Sarah Samaan, MD, may have specialized in affairs of the heart, but she has always been interested in the whole patient — mind, body and well-being. Thus, it makes perfect sense that when she retired from her 30-year cardiology practice in 2022, she shifted her focus to providing compassionate and actionable coaching for physicians....
Giving in Action: Continuing innovations in reconstructive surgery
Mar. 27, 2024—It is no surprise that G. Patrick Maxwell, BA’68, MD’72, and Galen Perdikis, MD, have crossed paths at several points throughout their distinguished careers in plastic surgery. Not only do they both have ties to Vanderbilt and a shared dedication to advancing the practice of breast reconstruction surgery for patients who have undergone mastectomies, but...
Giving in Action: The Class of 1968, and the Power of the Collective
Mar. 27, 2024—When members of the Class of 1968 got together in fall 2023 for their 55th reunion, there were many memories to share and reasons to celebrate. For one, their 1968 School of Medicine Class Scholarship fund, to which 26 class members have contributed as of November 2023, has a value of approximately $1.8 million. More...
Alumni Profile: Good Trouble
Mar. 27, 2024—When John Sergent was 5 years old, he developed measles pneumonia. The physician in his West Virginia hometown made house calls and not only influenced Sergent’s recovery, but he made a lasting impression on him that led to his choosing medicine as a profession. “How comforting it was to hear his voice at the door....
Faces and Places
Mar. 27, 2024—
Letter from Sarah Creekmore Woodall
Mar. 26, 2024—Greetings, Vandy Med alumni! The Vanderbilt Medical Alumni Association board of directors gathered on campus last fall for its annual meeting where we discussed and approved our current strategic plan. Our future goals will focus on the following areas: Communications, Experiences, Operations and Volunteer Opportunities. Board committees have been established to help guide and advise...
Letter from Sarah Creekmore Woodall
Jul. 18, 2023—Greetings, Vandy Med alumni! The Vanderbilt Medical Alumni Association continues our “on the road again” tour, with stops at the Radiology Society of North America in Chicago with the Vanderbilt Radiology Society; American College of Cardiology in New Orleans with the Friesinger Society; regional event in Los Angeles; American Association of Neurological Surgeons in Los...
Losses
Jul. 18, 2023—Alan N. Arnson, MD, HS’61, died Jan. 24. He was 87. Dr. Arnson is survived by his wife, Sue, and children David, Diane, Leslie and Josh. Daniel Beauchamp, MD, FE’77, FAC, died Nov. 27, 2022. He was 66. Dr. Beauchamp is survived by his wife, Shannon, and daughter, Bryn. Dr. Beauchamp was the former chair...
Class Notes
Jul. 18, 2023—1950s Oscar C. Beasley, MD’52, resides in a retirement home in Coralville, Iowa. Kenneth Jacobs, MD, HS’54, spoke during the H. William Scott Jr. Society’s 50th Anniversary dinner on March 4, recalling working with Scott during his training. 1960s William H. Goodson Jr., BA’57, MD’60, HS’61, and his wife, Elise, are enjoying retirement in a...
Giving in Action: Dean’s Scholarship Challenge Exceeds its Goal at $26 Million
Jul. 18, 2023—We all know the impact a scholarship can have on a student: It’s life changing. At the beginning of 2022, the School of Medicine launched a $5 million Dean’s Scholarship Challenge to help ensure that tomorrow’s leaders in medicine are educated at Vanderbilt. The yearlong matching gift effort, which ended Dec. 31, 2022, aimed to...
Giving in Action: A Gift That Keeps On Giving
Jul. 18, 2023—From the time she was 8 years old, Annie Marie Garraway, PhD, and her family lived in the South, first in Alabama, then in Tennessee, and finally in Alabama again. Early on, she was aware of the Vanderbilt name and of Vanderbilt University specifically. “My late brother, Levi Watkins Jr., made the university real for...
Alumni Profile: The science of cancer and the importance of giving back
Jul. 18, 2023—Written by Danny Bonvissuto As the Vice President of Oncology Biometrics, Oncology Research and Development at AstraZeneca, Renee Iacona, PhD, MPH, drives strategy and investment decisions and leads more than 550 statisticians and programmers across the fields of early and late oncology. Her team works to design, deliver and report clinical trials that lead to...
Letter from Sarah Creekmore Woodall
Jan. 3, 2023— Dear Vanderbilt Medical Alumni: This year’s Reunion weekend — held in October — became a “double” Reunion when we combined the twice-postponed Reunion 2020 with our regularly scheduled Reunion 2022. This combined 2020/2022 VUSM Reunion weekend welcomed back 40 individual special anniversary Doctor of Medicine graduating classes to Nashville, offering us the opportunity to...
Alumni Profile: A shoulder to lean on
Jan. 3, 2023—The romance of Samer Hasan, MD’94, PhD’94, and Mariana Belvedere, PhD, BA’91 began when she agreed to be a test subject for his dissertation research project. Talk about chemistry! “It was kind of a workplace romance that blossomed,” Hasan said. “I didn’t dare ask her out until after I had collected all the data and...
Alumni Profile: Focused on financial support for students
Jan. 3, 2023—When Traci Granston, MD, was contemplating where to attend medical school in 1991, she knew it made financial sense to attend her state university in Washington, but her heart belonged to Vanderbilt. So, she took out student loans and headed south to Nashville and became a member of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Class...
Giving in Action: A Shared Purpose…Then and Now
Jan. 3, 2023—When Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Class of 1997 alumni Matt and Carol Kikkawa Hook connected with Vanderbilt to discuss charitable support, they had no intention of serving as class chairs for their 25th Reunion. They simply focused on exploring how their giving could make a difference. As discussions continued, they learned that the 1997...
Giving in Action: Katie Cox Johnson Memorial Scholarship
Jan. 3, 2023—Compassionate, humble, hardworking, inspiring. Ask the members of the Class of 2007 how they remember Katie Cox Johnson, MD’07, and these are some of the many warm words you will hear. After Johnson died in 2019 at age 38 following a battle with multiple sclerosis and cervical cancer, her close friend, Jessica Sparks Lilley, MD’07,...
Class Notes
Jan. 3, 2023—1950s Gerald E. Stone, BA’54, MD’57, HS’58, celebrated 66 years of marriage on June 10 with wife, Lois. They have 15 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. One grandchild is a physician who earned his undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt in 2009, and another is a third-year medical student elsewhere. 1960s John Burr Bassel, BA’66, MD’69, HS’72,...
Losses
Jan. 3, 2023—Robert H. Alford, BA’58, MD’61, HS’67, died May 30. He was 86. Dr. Alford is survived by his wife, Marceleen; children Stephen, Andrew and Daniel; three grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Edward E. Anderson, BA’58, MD’61, HS’63, died March 18. He was 85. Dr. Anderson is survived by his wife, Kay; children Laura, Sheryl, Christopher and...
Faces and Places
Jan. 3, 2023—
Losses
May. 16, 2022—Fred H. Allen Jr., MD, HS’61,’62, died Feb. 3. He was 87. Dr. Allen is survived by his wife, Gretchen; children Fred, Will and Lucy; and four grandchildren. Stacey M. Anderson, MD’92 BS’88, died Sept. 26, 2021. She was 55. Dr. Anderson is survived by her husband, Henry; and children Rachel, Henry, Max and Thomas....
Giving in Action: Creating Opportunities for Future Leaders in Medicine
May. 16, 2022—John Cobb, MD’78, remembers vividly what it was like working summer jobs as a student to help pay for his tuition and living expenses. The summer before his senior year at Emory University, he was a scrub tech at Children’s Egleston Hospital in Atlanta, an experience that solidified his desire to pursue medicine as a...
Giving in Action: Creating Hope From Heartbreak
May. 16, 2022—When talking with James Buescher about the newly created Margaret McCullough Buescher Scholarship at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, he emphasizes the qualities of his late wife, Margaret, who was always motivated to help others. He hopes to extend that part of her spirit through the students who benefit from the scholarship and are...
Alumni Profile: Mary Laird Warner, MD’90
May. 16, 2022— Clinician Leader In 1993, Mary Laird Warner, MD’90, president-elect of the Vanderbilt Medical Alumni Association, moved to Denver for a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine following her internship and residency in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins. A lover of the outdoors and the mountains, the move to Colorado was one she was...
Alumni Profile: Bronwyn Uber Harris, MD’10
May. 16, 2022— Digital Doctor When Bronwyn Uber Harris, MD, enrolled at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 2006, she knew she wouldn’t be following a conventional path. Instead, she would use her degree for her true passion — innovating how medical care is provided, which at the time she thought was new medical devices. Harris, who...
Faces and Places
May. 16, 2022—
Class Notes
May. 16, 2022—1950s Robert Sanders, MD’55, HS’56 &’58, BA’52, who died in 2006, was one of five to be inducted into the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame at Belmont University on Oct. 19, 2021. 1960s Richard B. Johnston Jr., MD’61, HS’63, BA’57, was the honoree at the IX International Symposium, Advances in Neonatal Medicine, Wurzburg,...
Letter from Sarah Creekmore Woodall
May. 16, 2022— Dear Vanderbilt Medical Alumni: Ever guided by our VMAA mission, we are thinking about the future, specifically tied to the priorities stated in our mission: To involve as many medical alumni as possible in the life of Vanderbilt and to foster mutually beneficial relationships between Vanderbilt and its medical alumni through: Serving as a...
Losses
Oct. 18, 2021—Alice Louise H. Altstatt, MA’52, MD’56, died Jan. 10. She was 94. Dr. Alstatt is survived by her children Leslie, Alice, Carol, Julia, Hamilton and Robin, and four grandchildren. Schales L. Atkinson, MD, HS’68, died May 4. He was 83. Dr. Atkinson is survived by his daughters Sarah and Mary Beth, and four grandchildren. Eric...
Alumni Profile: Kim Vinson, MD’03
Oct. 18, 2021— From medical student to mentor You can find Kim Vinson, MD, seeing patients at the Vanderbilt Voice Center or developing new diversity initiatives in her office in Light Hall. But Vinson’s path to becoming an otolaryngology specialist and associate dean for Diversity Affairs began more than 20 years ago, when she first joined the...
Alumni Profile: Lt. Col. G. Travis Clifton, MD’06
Oct. 18, 2021— Clifton serves key role during early pandemic in NYC During the first surge of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, Lt. Col. G. Travis Clifton, MD’06, reported for an assignment in New York City unlike any other deployment he’s completed during his 14-year Army career. Clifton joined more than 1,000 military and civilian medical...
Giving in Action: Luu Chen Scholarship
Oct. 18, 2021—Whether they are practicing health care, starting a new venture or making philanthropic decisions, Alexandria Luu, MPH’20, and Cherry Chen, MD, pictured at left, are driven by values. “Giving others opportunity and supporting what is important to us is really at the heart of it all,” said Luu. In February 2021, the couple endowed the...
Class Notes
Oct. 14, 2021—1950s Paul J. Huchton Jr., MD’58, HS’59, started a free clinic in his hometown of El Paso, Texas, five years ago. The clinic sees about 20 patients per day and is funded by two annual gala affairs. Huchton is also teaching a class on China at the University of Texas, El Paso, and is a...
Giving in Action: Patricia and Rodes Hart Chair in Urologic Surgery
Oct. 14, 2021—Rodes Hart, BA’54, and Patricia Ingram Hart, BA’57, whose generous gifts continue to advance the mission of Vanderbilt as one of the world’s great universities for learning and discovery, have endowed a second chair in Urologic Surgery. Melissa Kaufman, MD, PhD, professor of Urology and chief of the Division of Reconstructive Urology and Pelvic Health,...
Losses
Mar. 19, 2021—Dixon L. Bieri, MD’56, died Nov. 29, 2020. He was 90. Alan L. Bisno, MD, HS’65, died Aug. 10, 2020. He was 84. John W. Boldt, BA’51, MD’54, HS’59, died Oct. 24, 2020. He was 91. Dennis Bonner, MD’83, died Jan. 4. He was 63. Raymond Karl Bopp, MD’56, died June 2, 2020. He was...
Class Notes
Mar. 19, 2021—1940s Milton Caster, MD’49, FACS, is a retired general surgeon who currently lives in Florida. Throughout his career, Caster was president of Broward County Medical Association in Fort Lauderdale and chief of Surgery in multiple hospitals. Caster’s three sons and seven grandchildren have degrees (including two MDs and three JDs) from 18 different universities, and...
Giving in Action: Eskind Chair to support autism research
Mar. 19, 2021—Donna and Jeffrey Eskind, whose generous gifts have advanced Vanderbilt research that is improving lives, have made a new commitment of $2 million to endow a new chair in autism spectrum disorder research in the School of Medicine. This investment will enable Vanderbilt to recruit or retain a senior expert in an area of research...
Giving in Action: Honoring family and the value of education
Mar. 19, 2021—Laura Webb Lamps, MD’92, HS, FE, is quick to describe what made her medical school experience special: the people. “The faculty really set the bar for caring, and our class followed suit. If someone wasn’t in class, a peer or a professor would follow up to check on that person.” In her second year of...
Letter from Ann Price, MD
Mar. 19, 2021—Dear Vanderbilt Medical Alumni: While 2020 was a very difficult year for our entire country, I am eager to see what the new year will bring. Hopefully, the vaccine rollout will proceed smoothly, and all of you will have access by the time this edition of Vanderbilt Medicine arrives at your homes. Due to...
Alumni Profile: Richard Hatchett, MD’95, BA’89
Mar. 19, 2021—Viruses, vaccines and VUSM influences Richard Hatchett, MD’95, grew up along the Gulf Coast of Alabama. Although he had no medical role models in his family or an understanding of what being a physician entailed, he says medicine appealed to him intuitively as a vocation that would reconcile his strong commitments to the sciences and...
Faces and Places
Mar. 19, 2021—
Faces and Places
Oct. 5, 2020—
Losses
Oct. 5, 2020—John F. Cooper, FE’88, died March 4. He was 61. Dr. Cooper is survived by his wife, Carol Challas; children Rebecca Tharp, Daniel Gimm, Rachel Heyne, Tom Gimm, Daniel Cooper, Jack Gimm, and Benjamin Cooper. A. Willard Emch, MD, HO ‘63, HS ‘67, died June 26. He was 83 year. Dr. Emch is survived by...
Alumni Profile: Alice Coogan, MD’88
Oct. 5, 2020—Charting her own course As a student at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in the 1980s, Alice Clark Coogan, MD, thought she’d end up in obstetrics and gynecology. Her soon-to-be husband and classmate, Phil Coogan, had chosen orthopaedic surgery. “At the time, surgery residency was every-other-night call and OB was every third, so we’d see...
Giving in Action: Alum credits achievements and success to Vanderbilt
Oct. 5, 2020—John B. Neeld, BA’62, MD’66, has a loyalty to Vanderbilt that runs deep. “Everything I’ve achieved — my successful career in medicine and medical politics —I owe to Vanderbilt. It all came from this place.” Neeld was able to attend Vanderbilt as an undergraduate because of a National Merit Scholarship. His father was a clerk...
Giving in Action: Unexpected connections
Oct. 5, 2020—When Rachana Haliyur, PhD’18, MD’20, graduated from Vanderbilt in May, it represented the culmination of a nearly lifelong path toward becoming a physician-scientist. As a child, Haliyur’s parents — who were engineers — put a strong emphasis on asking questions and thinking critically. They also provided early exposure to science and technology. By the time...
Class Notes
Oct. 5, 2020—1970s Ralph E. Wesley, MD’72, HS’73, was honored by the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery with the annual Ralph E. Wesley, MD Leadership Lecture. In 1979, Wesley was the founding director of the Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Iverson Bell Jr., MD ‘77, was recently appointed chair of...
Letter from Ann Price, MD
Oct. 5, 2020—Dear Vanderbilt Medical Alumni, This spring has been a very interesting and difficult time for many people, and I hope that each of you and your families have stayed safe throughout this pandemic. As some of you may have heard, Vanderbilt has decided to postpone Reunion 2020’s date, due to the pandemic. Reunion will now...