Class Notes
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, FE’73, has been busy working in addiction medicine at Spero Health and chasing after his six grandchildren in Nashville.
Robert Carey, MD’65, FE’72, is co-chair of the Endocrine Society Clinical Guideline Writing Committee on Primary Aldosteronism.
Richard B. Johnston Jr., BA’57, MD’61, HS’63, was the Conference Honoree of the IXth International Symposium Recent Advances in Neonatal Medicine, in Wurzburg, Germany, on Oct. 1-3, 2021.
1970s
Keith J. Rosing, MD’74, retired in 2020 after 45 years in Emergency Medicine.
Salim S. Akrabawi, MD’77, HS’80, has retired after 41 years of medical practice as a corporate research officer and emergency medical provider, and moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to be close to family. He continues to volunteer at the St. Francis Xavier free clinic that serves the Latino community in Tulsa.
Teresa E. Clark, MD’77, HS’78, FACP, has been awarded the Oscar E. Edwards Memorial Award for Volunteerism and Community Service Fellows by the American College of Physicians. She has volunteered with multiple organizations in Georgia, including Georgia Nurses’ Foundation Homeless Clinic, Techwood Baptist Center, and Medical Association of Atlanta Homeless Clinic, as well as traveled to Liberia, Haiti and Honduras.
Lowell B. Anthony, MD’79, HS’82, FE’85 &’87, has been awarded $1 million for the first Distinguished Professorship in Neuroendocrine Tumor (NET) Research by the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center Foundation. This gift will help him and his team focus on clinical and translational research and the development of a radiotherapeutic program.
1980s
B. Hadley Wilson, MD, HS’84, FE’87, who is currently the vice president of the American College of Cardiology, will be appointed president next year and preside over its 56,000 members. Wilson has served on the VMAA board as the Friesinger Specialty Society Representative since 2019.
Alexander Locke, MD’86, retired in June 2021 after 31 years practicing obstetrics and gynecology at Kaiser Permanente.
Sanford C. Sharp, BS’84, MD’88, HS’93, was named chief of staff at CHI-Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in July 2021 for a two-year term.
1990s
Elizabeth H. Johnson, MD’90, MS, has been named president of Beth Israel Lahey Health Primary Care (BILHPC) and will start in the role immediately. Johnson has served as chief medical officer for BILHPC since 2020.
Kenneth S. Babe Jr., MD’91, HS’97, completed 25 years of work with the Vanderbilt Allergy Center.
John O. Schorge, MD’93, has been named chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center starting April 1. In this new role, he will be working with Regional One Health to help with the development of their cancer program.
Eric Zacharias, MD’93, interviewed Will Van Derveer, MD’98, who is a leader in integrative psychiatry, for his podcast “Within Normal Limits: Navigating Medical Risks” in the episode titled “Using Ketamine to Treat Depression.” Zacharias is the director of Medical Education, Patient Safety and Risk Management at COPIC, a medical professional liability insurance provider, and is assistant clinical professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado.
Erin S. Gardner, MD’96, has been elected the 2022 president of the St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society, which is an association that represents physicians in the St. Louis area. Gardner specializes in dermatology.
Henry B. Wilson, MD’96, was awarded a Master in Healthcare Management (MHCM) degree from Harvard University. He hopes to use his degree to help with governance and management of his multispecialty medical group.
Yazdan Mirzanejad, MD, FE’97, is living in Vancouver, Canada, and has been promoted to clinical professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at University of British Columbia.
Anderson Collier, BS’94, MD’98, professor of Pediatrics and division chief of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at University of Mississippi Medical Center, was awarded the Jeanette Pullen Endowed Chair of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology.
Dennis C. Szurkus, Jr., BE’93, MD’98, has been named the new vice president and chief medical officer of Baptist Health Care. He comes to Baptist Health Care from HCA Healthcare, Inc., in Richmond, Virginia.
2000s
Jeffrey S. Cluver, MD’00, recently opened his new psychiatric office, Cluver Psychiatric Group, on Daniel Island, South Carolina.
Eric Eskioglu, MD, HS’00 &’05, MBA’22, was recently honored by two prestigious publications: Modern Healthcare – 2022 Top 50 Influential Clinical Executives as well as Modern Healthcare – 2022 Top 25 Innovators recognition. He is proud to be a Vanderbilt board-certified neurosurgeon and says he knows that his neurosurgical training and years of clinical practice at Vanderbilt helped him get to this national level.
Laura Green, MD’02, as of July 1, is the chair of the ACGME review committee for ophthalmology. She has also been awarded the Straatsma Award, ophthalmology’s highest award for ophthalmic education for 2022.
Wes Abadie, MD’03, HS’04, completed his first year in command of the 316th Surgical Operations Squadron at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
2010s
Eli Zimmerman, MD’10, associate professor of Neurology, is starting his eighth year on the faculty at Vanderbilt. He follows in the legacies of Jeannette Norden, MD, and Derek Riebau, MD, as a clinical educator, directing the first-year block, Brain, Behavior, and Movement, as well as the second-year clerkship. He has been honored by medical students with multiple awards, including the Shovel Award in 2019. He lives in Green Hills with his husband, Daniel, and their two cavapoos.
Maria Maguire, MD’10, HS’13, MPH, was named a “Marylander of the Year” by The Baltimore Sun for her efforts in combating the COVID pandemic. As health officer of Talbot County, Maryland, she has been leading all aspects of the pandemic response for the county. She is also a pediatric hospitalist with Children’s National and associate faculty in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Jennifer K. Green, MD, HS’10, MPH’10, was appointed co-executive medical director for patient safety for Vanderbilt University Hospital and Clinics.
Kimbell Kornu, BS’02, MD, PhD, HS’12, FE’15, Med Fac, was appointed Provost’s Professor of Bioethics, Theology, and Christian Formation at Belmont University, focusing on medical ethics and character formation at the future Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine in Nashville.
Joshua Bilsborrow, MD’13, MHS, was promoted to assistant professor of Medicine, in rheumatology, at Yale University School of Medicine.
Thuy Tran, PhD’11, MD’13, was promoted to assistant professor of Medicine, in medical oncology, at Yale University School of Medicine.
Kathy L. Niu, MD’13, returned to Vanderbilt on Aug. 1, after working at Duke University. She has a dual appointment with the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology as a dual-boarded psychiatrist-neurologist and covers inpatient and consult-liaison services for psychiatry. Niu will also take on the roles of psychiatry clerkship director and co-director of the Brain, Behavior, and Movement course for medical students, and will additionally be working on developing a neuropsychiatry education track for medical students and residents over the coming years.
Ryan Lang, MD’13, was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine (FACPM) in the class of 2022. He was recognized during the annual ACPM conference in Denver on June 19. Dr. Lang is dually board-certified in general preventive medicine/public health and internal medicine.
Michael Pelster, BA’09, MD’13, and his wife Meredith Sellers Pelster, BA’09, MD’13, moved back to Nashville in summer 2022. Michael practices Mohs surgery as well as general and cosmetic dermatology in the 21st Avenue and Clarksville offices of Nashville Skin. Meredith is the assistant director of GI Oncology Research at Sarah Cannon Research Institute/Tennessee Oncology.
Irène Mathieu, MD’14, received a NIH CTSA grant to do a mixed methods study on the youth and adolescent mental health crisis as an iTHRIV Scholar at the University of Virginia.
Michael A. Spinner, MD’14, recently left Stanford to start a new assistant professor position at the University of California San Francisco in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine.
Sharica Brookins, MD’15, is CEO, nephrologist and nutritionist, with Remote Renal Care. She promotes food as medicine to address diabetes, hypertension and obesity with Georgians in her kidney telehealth practice. She is a volunteer board member of Augusta Locally Grown, a nonprofit organization that provides fresh produce marketplaces for local farmers and community consumers in food deserts. She also volunteers with the food prescription program, Georgia Food for Health.
Ashlee and Daniel Arteaga, both MD’16, welcomed their second son, John Carter, on March 8. He joins big brother, William.
Mary Ellen Koran, PhD’14, MD’16, and her husband, Cody Goodwin, PhD’13, have returned to Nashville. Mary Ellen is an assistant professor at Vanderbilt in diagnostic radiology, spending her clinical time with the nuclear medicine section and her research time in the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center.
Maria Ladino Sturchler, MD’17, and her husband Emmanuel Sturchler, MD, welcomed their second child, a son, Ferdinand Theodore “Teddy,” on Feb. 28. Josephine is a proud big sister, and Cosmo is a proud fur brother.
Kelsie Riemenschneider, MD’17 returned to Nashville this summer after a year in private practice following her dermatology residency at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She will be working as a medical, surgical and cosmetic dermatologist at Heritage Medical Associates (Saint Thomas West office).
Richard (Rick) Rosales, MD, HS’18, MBA, after finishing his surgical intern year at VUMC in 2018, completed residency training in PM&R at University of Miami, and is returning this year to Vanderbilt to complete fellowship training in interventional spine and musculoskeletal medicine. He completed his MBA in December 2021, and he and his wife, Kathryn, welcomed their first child, Noah Reed, last October.
Sir Norman Melancon, MD’18, has completed his psychiatry residency and is currently living in Silicon Valley with a private practice in Palo Alto and a position attending on the consult service at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.
Chirayu G. Patel, MD, MPH, HS’18, was awarded the ARRO Educator of the Year Award by the residents at Massachusetts General Hospital on June 23.
Edward Hodges, MD, HS’19, and Lauren Hartman Hodges, MD, HS’18, married in April 2021 and live in Raleigh, North Carolina.
2020s
Emily Long, BA’16, MD’20, married Michael Murray, BA’15, MA’16, on June 18, in Boston. The couple was delighted to finally and safely celebrate their marriage surrounded by family and friends (including many VU and VUSM alumni).
Distinguished Alumni
The “Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Award” recognizes a medical alumnus/alumna whose distinguished career achievement in the medical profession reflects honor on VUSM. Recipients are selected based on contributions to the field of medicine as a distinguished clinician, exceptional educator, progressive leader, and/or research scientist. Any active medical alumnus/alumna may be considered for this honor, which is bestowed biennially in conjunction with Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Reunion festivities.
2022 Awardees
Kathleen Cho, MD’84, is the Peter A. Ward Professor of Pathology and Vice-Chair for Academic Affairs in the Department of Pathology at the University of Michigan Medical School. Cho is widely recognized as a leading authority on ovarian cancer.
Kevin Churchwell, MD’87, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Boston Children’s Hospital and Robert and Dana Smith Associate Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School. He is an associate professor of Pediatric Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School.
2020 Awardees
Aubrey J. Hough, Jr. MD’70, served as professor and chair of the Department of Pathology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences until 2003 and subsequently became the associate dean for Translational Research and special assistant to the chancellor of UAMS as a Distinguished Professor of Pathology.
Jean Anderson, MD’79, is a professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics and Medicine, emerita, at Johns Hopkins and served from 2002 to 2019 as the Division of Gynecologic Specialties’ director. Her career has focused on caring for women living with HIV, on the clinical and translational aspects of OB-GYN manifestations and needs of these women, and in developing innovative care models.