by Paul Govern
Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Medicine, has announced the appointment of two longtime Vanderbilt faculty members to newly created vice chair roles in the department.
Cardiologist Walter Clair, MD, MPH, professor of Medicine, will assume the role of vice chair for Diversity and Inclusion.
Medical oncologist Jill Gilbert, MD, professor of Medicine, will assume the role of vice chair for Professional Development.
Both appointments are effective Jan. 1, 2021.
“These new leadership positions represent my focus on lifelong learning, mentorship, inclusivity and professional development. We hope to make VUMC the model institution with regard to helping faculty members achieve their greatest potential, thereby setting a stage for continued major advances from Vanderbilt in the understanding of health and the delivery of personalized health care. I’m very pleased to welcome Jill and Walter to these new roles on our leadership team,” said Rathmell, Hugh J. Morgan Professor of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief, Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital and Clinics.
Both appointees joined Vanderbilt in 2006.
Clair studied at Harvard University in Boston both as an undergraduate and as a medical student, and his master’s is from the Harvard School of Public Health. He completed resident training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and later completed fellowships in cardiology and electrophysiology at Duke University.
Since 2011, Clair has served as a mentor for Chapman College at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
As he assumes this new role with the department, Clair will step down as executive medical director of the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute, a position he has held since 2015.
Gilbert received her bachelor’s from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and her medical degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She trained as a resident at UAB, later completing a fellowship in medical oncology and hematology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.
She has served as director of VUMC’s hematology/oncology fellowship since 2009, and as vice chief for professional development in the Division of Hematology and Oncology since 2018. Gilbert has also served on a number of professional development committees of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
