Alumni Notes
1960s
Rebekah Ann Naylor, MD’68, a longtime Baptist medical missionary, received the M.E. Dodd Denominational Service Award from Union University. This is the highest denominational service award given by the university.
1970s
Susan Niermeyer, MD’79, was honored with the 2024 Florence Rena Sabin, MD Award from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
1980s
C. Wright Pinson, MD’80, FAC, received the Martin E. Simmons Award at the 50th Anniversary Middle Tennessee Heart Gala on Feb. 17, 2024. Pinson, Deputy CEO and Chief Health System Officer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, is stepping down from that role on June 30. He will continue as President of the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network and serve as a senior counselor to the CEO of VUMC.
Sandra M. Swain, MD, HO’80, was appointed to the board of directors for Immunome Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing targeted cancer therapies. Swain has over 30 years of oncology clinical research experience and has served on both public company and nonprofit boards.
Ronald E. “Ron” Wilson, MD’81, HO’83, joined Williamson Health Medical Group as an inpatient neurologist, providing care at Williamson Medical Center.
Richard E. Goldstein, MD, HO’82, FE’84, PhD’94, joined Bento Biology Platforms (Bento Bio) as Chief Executive Officer. Bento Bio is a platform company designed to engineer trust in clinical trial participation and accelerate therapeutic development.
Hugh Francis III, BS’80, MD’84, received the Tennessee Medical Association’s Outstanding Physician Award in 2024.
Teresa Twila Charniga, MD’86, was named a Pinnacle Lifetime Member by CWW for her contributions to delivering compassionate primary care and wellness. She provides comprehensive primary care in private practice.
Benjamin R. “Rush” Waller III, HO’87, was named Chief Medical Officer at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and will serve as the medical director of Le Bonheur’s Adult Congenital Heart Disease program.
Kathleen M. Neuzil, HO’87, FE’91, & MPH’98, was selected as director of the Fogarty International Center (FIC) and National Institutes of Health associate director for international research. She is the first woman to hold the permanent FIC directorship since the center’s founding in 1968.
Kevin Bernard Churchwell, MD’87, and wife, Gloria Churchwell, established the Robert Sr. and Mary Churchwell Undergraduate Scholarship, a fund that will provide students with the gift his parents valued most of all: a Vanderbilt education.
Michael Bruce Zimmermann, MD’88, has been awarded the title of full professor in the University of Oxford’s 2024 Recognition of Distinction exercise.
Curtis Elam, MD, HO’89, has joined Beaufort Memorial’s Obstetrics and Gynecology team. He was formerly a staff physician and OB-GYN department head at the Clyburn Center for Primary Care, as well as OB-GYN staff physician at Aiken Regional Medical Center, both in Aiken, South Carolina.
1990s
Todd C. Smith, MD, HO’91, HO’92, joined the board of directors for American Medical Group Association, an association representing medical groups and integrated systems of care, in January 2024.
Jule Johnson West, MSN’91, MD’97, & HO’97, joined Siloam Health, a faith-based nonprofit that focuses on care for Nashville’s uninsured and immigrant population, as its Chief Medical Officer.
Edward Riker “Ted” Arrowsmith, MD’92, HO’92, FE’97, has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Quality and Clinical Operations, Physician Services, and Therapeutics at Tennessee Oncology.
Angela Kay Wilson Curry, MD’93, is a new medical provider in the Medical Services Department at Pat Walker Health Center, joining the Women’s Clinic as a gynecologist. Curry served in the United States Air Force as an obstetrician-gynecologist.
Eric Zacharias, MD’93, was promoted to Chief Medical Officer at COPIC, a professional medical liability insurance company in Denver.
John A. Howington, MD, HO’94, is the new President of the American College of Chest Physicians, the global leader in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of chest diseases. He is a thoracic surgeon at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, St. Michael Medical Center, in Silverdale, Washington.
Matthew R. Foster, MD, HO’96, began his role in December 2024 as the first permanent CEO and President at central Vermont’s Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center and Valley Regional Hospital.
Clifford Suhyun Cho, MD’97, was appointed Chief Medical Officer at University of Michigan Health-West in May 2024 and joined Van Andel Institute as a professor in the Department of Cell Biology in September 2024.
Jason T. Call, MD’98, joined the staff at Pacific Permanente Group, a Maui-based medical group providing health care services in nearly a dozen specialties, in February 2024.
Terry Trent Wilsdorf, MD’98, joined Diagnostic & Medical Clinic as a cardiologist with more than 20 years of experience.
Michael James Mugavero, MD’99, was chosen as the new associate dean for Clinical and Translational Research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine. In this newly created role, Mugavero will lead efforts to advance clinical and translational research.
2000s
Jennifer Joy Casaletto-Debelak, MD’00, was re-elected a member of the American College of Emergency Physicians Board of Directors to serve a three-year term. She is a physician at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a practicing emergency physician with CirrusMD.
Timothy J. Edwards, HO’00, joined Saint Francis Healthcare System’s Gastroenterology Associates. He is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and specializes in gastroenterology.
Tyler W. Barrett, MD’01, MSCI’10, FAC, has been appointed the first Associate Chief Medical Officer for Compliance at VUMC.
Colin MacLeod Barker Sr., HO’01, FAC, has been selected for inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who. He currently serves as an associate professor, director of Interventional Cardiology, the director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, and the director of the fellowship training program at VUMC since 2019.
Eric Lee Wallace, MD’01, HO’01, joined the medical staff at Cookeville Regional Medical Center and has joined Middle Tennessee Surgical Specialists.
Constance M. Mobley, MD’03, PHD’03, associate director of Liver Transplantation at Houston Methodist Hospital and associate professor of Clinical Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, returned to Vanderbilt in 2024 to present the 23rd Annual Levi Watkins Jr., MD Lecture.
Nicole S. McCoin, BS’99, MD’03, accepted a new role as professor and vice dean for Faculty Affairs and Development at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.
George S. Vratsanos, MD, MSCI’03, joined the Board of Directors for Nkarta Inc., a biopharmaceutical company which engages in the discovery, development and commercialization of natural killer cell therapies for the treatment of cancer.
Andrew A. Stec, MD, HO’04, was appointed as Vice President, Chief Medical Officer at Nemours Children’s Health in Jacksonville, Florida.
Allyson Hingle Boudreaux, MD, HO’05, was elected to a one-year term as chief of the medical staff, the highest elected medical leadership position at Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Sean Moore, MD, MS, HO’06, FE’09, a board-certified pediatrician and pediatric gastroenterologist, has been named the Mitchell Cohen chair and division director of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Cincinnati Children’s.
Kyle Clifford Cuneo, MD’07, HO’07, was named associate director for clinical research at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center. He will oversee the clinical research-related components of Rogel’s National Cancer Institute Cancer Center Support Grant.
Aaron N. Hata, MD’07, PhD’05, has joined the Scientific Advisory Board for the Lung Cancer Research Foundation. Hata is an assistant physician in Hematology-Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital and assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Steven Walter Thorpe, MD’07, joined the Department of Orthopedics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine as the new chief of the musculoskeletal oncology program.
Mahnoosh “Mona” Sharifi, MD’07, MPH, has been named section chief of General Pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital. In addition, Sharifi will be leading a newly established program in Pediatric Health Services and Implementation Research.
Eiman Jahangir, MD, FE’09, MPH’13, FAC, fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut, joining a team that went to space on Blue Origin NS-26 mission in August 2024. He is an assistant professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at VUMC.
Margaret Brannigan-Thieman, MD, HO’09, was named Vice President of post-acute services, a newly created West Virginia University Health System role that includes oversight of home health, hospice and durable medical equipment.
Kim Lori Sandler, MD’09, HO’09, FAC, who was promoted to professor in July 2024, was named vice chair of Faculty Development in the Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences at VUMC. She is also the director of the Vanderbilt Lung Screening Program.
2010s
Reyna L. Gordon, MD, FE’10, FAC, associate professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, has been appointed director of the VICTR KL2 Program and director of Postdoctoral Training for Edge for Scholars at VUMC.
Sunita Misra, MD’10, PhD’08, Vice President of Global Clinical Development and acting Chief Medical Officer of SK Life Science Inc., a U.S. pharmaceutical company developing treatments for central nervous system disorders and a subsidiary of SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., has been selected as a fellow of the American Epilepsy Society.
Jacob Paul VanHouten, MS’13, MS’16, MD’18, PhD’16, joined the Bassett Healthcare Network where he provides comprehensive medical care to adult patients. VanHouten is also serving as Bassett Healthcare Network’s Assistant Chief Medical Informatics officer.
David James Voce, MD, HO’14, joined Tampa General Hospital and USF Health as an assistant professor in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair in the Division of Cranial and Neuro-Oncology.
Evan Brittain, MD, MSCI’14, FAC, has been named holder of the Cardiology Division Directorship at VUMC.
Joshua Aaron Cohn, MD, FE’15, was named a consultant at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia in February 2024, where he cares for patients with neurogenic urologic conditions.
Michael Kwame Poku, BA’09, MD’15, was appointed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to the Advisory Council on Cultural Affairs. He is also the Chief Clinical Officer of Equality Health.
Dillon Christopher O’Neill, MD’18, joined Indianapolis-based Indiana University Health Physicians as an orthopaedic trauma surgeon. He specializes in traumatic injuries and associated post-traumatic orthopaedic problems.
William W. French, MD’19, joined Urology Associates of Nashville as a general urologist in September 2024.
2020s
Lauren Barr, MD’20, and Philip Wilson, MD’21 married in Jacksonville, Florida, on May 24, 2024.
Varun Menon, MD’20, and Candace Grisham, BE’18, expected MD’26, expected PhD’25, were married on June 29, 2024, in Nashville.
Michael Raddatz, PhD’20, MD’21, and Demetra Hufnagel, MD’21, were married on Oct. 8, 2023, on the island of Oahu.
Leland Dunwoodie, MD’22, and Caroline Maguire, MD’22, were married in Atlanta on Nov. 16, 2024.