Thirteen volunteer leaders have been named over the past year to fill vacant positions on three Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) advisory boards and councils.
The appointees are volunteers who are critical to the success of VUMC’s mission as an institution, passionate about the research and clinical care at the Medical Center and committed to serve as philanthropic supporters and advocates in the community.
“Our advisory board members generously provide their time, expertise and resources in support of the Medical Center’s missions. Each member plays an important role through the insights they contribute, and as our advocates in the community,” said Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of VUMC and Dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “I want to welcome these new members and express my gratitude to all of our advisory boards for their service.”
Seven volunteers have been appointed to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt Board. Children’s Hospital Board members are actively involved in outreach to and education of important constituents in the community.
Over the years, the board has played a key role in securing financial resources for the highest priorities of Children’s Hospital, including the recent Growing to New Heights Campaign benefiting the expansion of Children’s Hospital.
The newly appointed board members are:
• Krystal Clark, president-elect of the Junior League of Nashville
• Carolyn Hannon, 2016 Eve of Janus co-chair
• Heather Kemp, president of the Junior League of Nashville
• Cheryl Macey, 2016 Eve of Janus co-chair
• Carrie Playfair, president-elect of the Friends of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt
• Sean Riley, Wal-Mart regional general manager for Tennessee and Southwest Kentucky
• Alex Waddey, immediate past president of the Ronald McDonald House Board of Directors.
The Vanderbilt Eye Institute Advisory Board has one new member, Judy Lefkovitz, chief technology officer for U.S. Renal Care Inc. Board members are actively involved in outreach to and education of important constituents in the community to secure investments and other philanthropic resources required to fund the highest priorities of Vanderbilt Eye Institute.
In addition to philanthropy contributing to the department’s endowment, the VEI Advisory Board also has made gifts that have an immediate impact on faculty trainees.
The advisory board is also awarding an annual VEI Board Discovery Grant to support the development of a translational research project involving a well-defined collaboration between clinicians and scientists. Funds must be used to develop a novel study, tool, approach or potential treatment addressing a well-defined clinical program. The inaugural award will be presented at the April Board meeting.
The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Board of Overseers has recently been focused on an initiative called V-MATCH (Vanderbilt-Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice). V-MATCH supports the analysis of patients’ tumor DNA to determine if abnormalities are present that enable the alignment of a targeted therapy for the right patient, at the right time. Thanks to the generosity of the board members and their friends, more than $5 million has been raised, exceeding the V-MATCH initiative goal.
The newly appointed board members are:
• Rob Beckham, co-head of talent and literary agency WME in Nashville
• Laura Heatherly, CEO of the T.J. Martell Foundation
• Biff Ruttenberg, principal with Atlas Partners LLC, Chicago
• Curt Thorne, retired CEO of MedSolutions Inc.
• Ed Whitley, former CEO and chairman of the board for Rodgers Construction Co. and Centex-Rodgers in Nashville
More than 200 community members serve as volunteers on VUMC’s advisory boards and councils.
To learn more about the Strategic Directions, go here.
