by Holly Fletcher
Three leaders of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center community are among the winners of the Nashville Business Journal’s 2021 Health Care Innovation awards.
The Health Care Innovation awards “honor those who pushed the region’s signature industry forward and who helped protect their communities in uncertain times.” Honorees will be featured in a special edition on Sept. 10.
Chief Diversity Officer of the Year — André L. Churchwell, MD, Levi Watkins Jr. MD Professor of Medicine, and professor of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology and Radiologic Sciences, led the Medical Center’s diversity and inclusion efforts serving as senior associate dean for Diversity Affairs and VUMC’s Chief Diversity Officer for the past 12 years.
Physician of the Year — C. Buddy Creech, MD, MPH, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program and Edie Carell Johnson Chair and Professor, Department of Pediatrics.
Diversity Champion of the Year — Consuelo Wilkins, MD, MSCI, Senior Vice President and Senior Associate Dean for Health Equity and Inclusive Excellence Professor of Medicine.