During Vanderbilt University School of Medicine’s Spring Faculty Meeting and Awards Program, held May 30, Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Dean of the School of Medicine, shared important updates.
Balser recognized this year’s 150th anniversary of the School of Medicine and the recent celebration of the school’s sesquicentennial that drew alumni from around the world.
He shared leadership changes in the past year including:
New clinical department chair appointments
- Melissa Duff, PhD, chair, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences
- Jane Freedman, MD, chair, Department of Medicine
- Allison Hanlon, MD, PhD, MBA, interim chair, Department of Dermatology
- Bryan Harris, MD, MPH, MMHC, interim chair, Department of Medicine as Freedman assumes the role of Deputy CEO and Chief Health System Officer July 1
- Josh Peterson, MD, MPH, interim chair, Department of Biomedical Informatics
- Juan Carlos Salazar, MD, MPH, chair, Department of Pediatrics
New Basic Sciences academic leadership appointments
- Tina Iverson, PhD, associate dean for faculty
- Mark Magnuson, PhD, senior associate dean for research-designate
- Ken Lau, PhD, director, Center for Computational Systems Biology
- Douglas Mitchell, PhD, director, Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology
The School of Medicine’s enrollment has a spring census of 635 students. Of those, 441 are medical students. The remainder are pursuing degrees in the school’s 10 other graduate programs.
“This reminds us that while the MD is the largest degree program, the School of Medicine has many programs. The Hearing and Speech Sciences programs are not only sizeable, they’re the best in the country and consistently ranked No. 1 in the U.S.,” Balser said. “The Master of Genetic Counseling program is now 15 students and is continuously growing as genomics becomes more and more important in everyday health care.”
In 2025, there were 7,685 MD degree applicants for the 96 positions in the entering class, up 12% over the prior year, more than double the national trend.
Following remarks by Balser, the faculty awards for excellence in teaching, extraordinary performance of clinical service and outstanding contributions in research were presented.
Faculty awards recognize excellence in teaching, research and clinical service
The 2025 School of Medicine Faculty Awards for Excellence in Teaching, Extraordinary Performance of Clinical Service, and Outstanding Contributions to Research were presented during the May 30 Spring Faculty Meeting.
EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING
Recipient of the Frank H. Boehm Award
For Contributions to Continuing Medical Education
Christina Anne Jelly, MD, MS
Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology
Medical Director, ECMO Transport Team
“Dr. Jelly is a visionary educator whose work has transformed the way we train physicians in point-of-care ultrasound,” said Arna Banerjee, MD, MMHC, professor and associate vice chair for Faculty Development Programs in the Department of Anesthesiology, who introduced the award.
Jelly is actively engaged in the perioperative care of adult patients with cardiac, thoracic and congenital cardiac lesions, and patients on mechanical circulatory support, including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
She is involved in teaching and mentoring residents, fellows and medical students, and she has been the driver of the development of anesthesiology’s didactic, perioperative POCUS curriculum. She has taught nationally and internationally on point-of-care ultrasound and mechanical circulatory support, and has been invited to speak at numerous workshops, conferences and online webinars.
Recipient of the Gerald S. Gotterer Award
For Innovation in Educational Programming that has Proven to be Effective
Maie El-Sourady, MD, MS
Associate Professor, Medicine and Pediatrics
Director of Education and Training, Palliative Care Medicine
El-Sourady helped develop and is program director of the Palliative Care Education Curriculum, an innovative palliative care educational consult service that creates customized curricula and communication workshops for VUMC residency and fellowship programs.
“Currently it is being utilized by 10 different specialties, ranging from urology to internal medicine,” said Sarah Martin, MD, assistant professor of Medicine and director of Outpatient Palliative Care, who introduced the award.
As director of Education and Training for Palliative Care Medicine, El-Sourady oversees educational rotations at VUMC and the Nashville VA Medical Center. She also is editor-in-chief of the case-based Vanderbilt Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Curriculum, which is published on McGraw-Hill’s Access Medicine website and features more than 150 Vanderbilt authors and chapters.
Recipient of the F. Peter Guengerich Award
For Mentoring Postdoctoral Fellows or Residents in the Research Setting
Sean Parnell Donahue, MD, PhD
Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Holder of the Sam and Darthea Coleman Chair in Pediatric Ophthalmology
Donahue is vice chair of Clinical Affairs and executive medical director in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, division director of Pediatric Ophthalmology and chief of Pediatric Ophthalmology at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
His clinical practice in the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases in children is nationally recognized, but “it is in teaching and mentoring where Sean excels the most,” said Paul Sternberg Jr., MD, professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and associate dean of Clinical Affairs, who introduced Donahue’s award.
Donahue has introduced more than 150 medical students and residents to pediatric ophthalmology and neuro-ophthalmology, trained more than two dozen clinical fellows and inspired another 10 residents to choose pediatric ophthalmology as a career.
Recipient of the Thomas A. Hazinski Award
For Effectiveness in Mentoring and Professional Development of Faculty
Jill Gilbert, MD
Professor, Medicine
Vice Chair for Professional Development, Medicine
Holder of the Department of Medicine Professional Development Directorship
Gilbert has served as program director of the Hematology and Oncology Fellowship and as section chief of Medical Oncology. She implemented the Vanderbilt Hematology Oncology Professional Development Program and co-developed the mentorship council for junior faculty in the Division of Hematology and Oncology.
As vice chair for Professional Development in the Department of Medicine, she created the Miller Society for clinical practice track faculty and the Collaborative Progress in Medicine Initiative, which supports faculty leadership development and research.
Gilbert has served on the Medical Oncology Board for the American Board of Internal Medicine, and in multiple professional development roles for the American Society of Clinical Oncology. An educational blueprint she co-created serves as the basis for ASCO’s Education Scholars Program.
Recipient of the Bonnie M. Miller Award
For Innovation in Undergraduate Medical Education
Charlotte Brown, MD
Associate Professor, Clinical Pediatrics
Co-Director, Vanderbilt Interprofessional Health Education Collaborative
Brown has dedicated much of her academic career to advancing interprofessional education. She has been a key contributor to the Vanderbilt Program in Interprofessional Learning and the Vanderbilt Interprofessional Health Education Collaborative, a yearlong curriculum for students in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, social work, marriage and family therapy, and counseling.
“She was also integral to the development and implementation of Vanderbilt’s novel Foundations of Physician Responsibility course,” which has helped set Vanderbilt apart as an innovator in medical education, said William Cooper, MD, MPH, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Pediatrics and interim chair of the department, who introduced the award.
In recognition of her outstanding contributions to education, she was named to the 2021 inaugural class of Vanderbilt’s Academy for Excellence in Clinical Medicine.
Recipient of the John S. Sergent Award
For Teaching Medical or Graduate Students in the Small Group Setting
Associate Professor, Medicine
Medical Director, Eskind Diabetes Clinic
Beginning in 2018, as course co-director of the Integrated Science Course on obesity for third- and fourth-year medical students, Carranza Leon revolutionized the curriculum by introducing different teaching methods, incorporating a multidisciplinary approach and personalizing the learning experience.
She currently serves as interim clinical and senior division director of the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism. She has received — four times in the past nine years — the division’s William D. Salmon Jr. Faculty Teaching Award.
“Additionally, the graduating class of 2024 (selected) her as the Hippocratic Oath Leader, a testament to the profound impact she has had on Vanderbilt medical students,” said Lindsay Bischoff, MD, professor of Medicine, and medical director of the Vanderbilt Thyroid Center, who introduced the award.
EXTRAORDINARY PERFORMANCE OF CLINICAL SERVICE
Recipient of the Gottlieb C. Friesinger II Award
For an Outstanding Early-Career Clinician
Katie White, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Medicine
Fellowship Program Director, Addiction Medicine
During her research fellowship training and early clinical experiences at Vanderbilt, White developed a passion for caring for patients with co-occurring substance use disorders (SUD) and infection.
Board-certified in infectious diseases and addiction medicine, she co-directs the multispecialty Bridge Clinic, which provides outpatient stabilization of high-acuity patients with SUD, and she is the founding clinician of a substance use recovery program offered by the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Clinic, which cares for people with HIV/AIDS.
In introducing White’s award, Karen Bloch, MD, MPH, associate professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, quoted from one of her nomination letters: “She makes this vulnerable population our highest priority, … treating patients and their loved ones with kindness and utmost respect.”
Recipient of the Thomas P. Graham Jr. Award
For Dedicated Service to Patient-Centered Care
Thomas Brent Graham, MD, MS
Associate Professor, Pediatrics
Division Director, Pediatric Rheumatology
As division director, Graham oversees the Pediatric Rheumatology Clinic at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, which is highly rated by patients and family members. He also has been instrumental in expanding the breadth of Vanderbilt pediatric rheumatology to nine locations across Tennessee.
Graham’s research and clinical contributions range from advancing the treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis and pain, to autoimmune encephalopathy. He has been honored for outstanding contributions to training pediatric rheumatology residents.
But “what really distinguishes Brent is how he is focused on the patient,” said William Cooper, MD, MPH, who introduced Graham’s award. It is for this reason that he was recognized with an award named for his father, renowned Vanderbilt pediatric cardiologist Thomas P. Graham Jr., MD.
Recipient of theNoel B. Tulipan Award
For Clinical Excellence in a Surgical or Procedural Discipline
David Shaffer, MD
Professor, Surgery
Surgical Director, Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation
Former chief of the Division of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation, Shaffer has served as surgical director of the Adult Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program, and the Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program.
Under his leadership, Vanderbilt’s kidney transplant program has become one of the largest in the country and has made significant contributions to clinical care, research, teaching and service. For example, Shaffer initiated clinical programs to expand access to kidney transplants, especially by underserved populations.
In introducing the award, current division Chief Rachel Forbes, MD, MBA, associate professor of Surgery, quoted from his nominators. “In David Shaffer, you have the very best,” one wrote. Another added: “To be Dr. Shaffer’s resident was to be challenged to grow and to emerge as a better surgeon.”
Recipient of the Arthur P. Wheeler Award
For Clinical Excellence in the Delivery of Critical Care
Liza Weavind, MBBCh, MMHC
Professor, Anesthesiology and Surgery
Associate Chief of Staff, Vanderbilt University Hospital
Weavind’s academic interests focus on patient safety initiatives and applying technology to enhance and standardize hospital and intensive care unit care while optimizing resource utilization at the bedside. She developed the Critical Care Outreach Team of critical care nurse practitioners, overseen virtually by an intensivist, which ensures patients receive the right care in the right location, and which optimizes patient safety and outcomes.
As medical director of the Operational Control Center, Weavind developed a bed concept to enhance the transfer of acutely deteriorating patients to the appropriate ICUs and increase VUH’s ICU bed capacity. As TeleICU director, she worked with partner hospitals to set up a system that helps identify patients who need a higher level of care and facilitate their timely transfer to VUH.
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO RESEARCH
Recipient of the Richard M. Caprioli Award
For Development, Implementation, and/or Creation of Technology that Elevates the Research and Science of Multiple Investigators
Ivelin Georgiev, PhD
Professor, Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Associate Director, Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation
Georgiev holds the Louise B. McGavock Chair in Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and is founding director of the Center for Computational Microbiology and Immunology.
He “was nominated for this award for his groundbreaking invention of the LIBRA-seq technology,” said Sebastian Joyce, PhD, the Dorothy Beryl and Theodore R. Austin Professor of Pathology and vice chair for Research Faculty Affairs in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, who announced the award.
LIBRA-seq, which stands for Linking B-cell Receptor to Antigen Specificity through sequencing, “has transformed our understanding of the role of immunity in infectious diseases,” Joyce said. “The true testament to the power of LIBRA-seq came with its application to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, essentially cracking the antibody-antigen code and allowing us to respond swiftly and effectively to threats of pandemic proportions.”
Recipients of the Sidney P. Colowick Award
For Research that Serves as a Platform for Discovery in Diverse Areas
Lisa Monteggia, PhD
Holder of the Lee E. Limbird Chair in Pharmacology
Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute
Ege Kavalali, PhD
Holder of the William Stokes Chair in Experimental Therapeutics
Professor and Chair, Pharmacology
Monteggia, an expert on the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric disorders, and Kavalali, who investigates mechanisms that cause the formation and function of synapses in the central nervous system, together “have made transformative contributions to the understanding of mood disorders, such as depression,” said John Kuriyan, PhD, Dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences, who introduced the award.
A signaling pathway they proposed explains the rapid antidepressant effect of ketamine, an anesthetic used as a treatment for depression and pain management. “Their body of work has established a crucial link between basic synaptic transmission and translational psychiatry,” Kuriyan said. For their groundbreaking research, in 2022 they shared the international Anna-Monika Prize, awarded by the Anna-Monika Foundation of Düsseldorf, Germany.
Recipient of the William J. Darby Award
For Translational Research that has Changed the Practice of Medicine Worldwide
Christine Lovly, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Medicine
Staff Physician, Nashville VA Medical Center
Lovly is Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research and a co-leader of the Translational Research and Interventional Oncology Program at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.
Her research is focused on understanding and developing improved therapeutic strategies for specific, clinically relevant molecular subsets of lung cancer, with a particular focus on mechanisms of sensitivity and resistance to agents that are used in clinical practice.
For example, Lovly worked with a company to make a drug that actively targets a genetic aberration in the ALK gene. “This successful drug is the first generation of what we call ALK inhibitors,” said Jill Gilbert, MD, who introduced the award. “Because of Dr. Lovly’s work, we now see that certain Stage 4, metastatic lung cancer patients may actually be cured.”
Recipient of the Ernest W. Goodpasture Award
For Groundbreaking Research that Addresses the Pathogenesis of Disease at the Cellular and/or Molecular Level
Charles Sanders, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry and Medicine
Holder of the Aileen M. Lange and Annie Mary Lyle Chair in Cardiovascular Research
Vice Dean, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences
“Sanders has made groundbreaking contributions to the studies of membrane protein structure and function,” said David Cortez, PhD, the Richard N. Armstrong, Ph.D. Professor of Innovation in Biochemistry and chair of the Department of Biochemistry, who introduced the award. His research has helped reveal how defects in peripheral membrane protein 22 (PMP22) lead to Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a genetic disorder that causes peripheral neuropathy.
“Not only has Dr. Sanders elucidated the disease mechanism, but he also has begun to identify small molecules that can restore the proper function of PMP22, the first step in developing a treatment for this disease,” Cortez said.
Sanders also has contributed to understanding how the destabilization and mistrafficking of a potassium channel subunit protein, caused by an amino acid variation, leads to long QT syndrome, a potentially fatal arrhythmia.
Recipient of the Lee. E. Limbird Award
For Innovation in Research Infrastructure that Facilitates Multiple Investigators
Kevin Schey, PhD
Holder of the Stevenson Chair, Biochemistry
Director of Core Facilities, Mass Spectrometry Research Center (MSRC)
Schey, who holds secondary appointments in Chemistry and Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, applies state-of-the-art mass spectrometry methods to study molecular changes in diseases of aging including age-related macular degeneration and Alzheimer’s disease. He has identified novel mechanisms of age-related protein and lipid changes in the ocular lens and a novel structure of the amyloid beta protein in the brain.
As director of the MSRC proteomics, metabolomics/lipidomics and imaging mass spectrometry cores, he also has overseen development of state-of-the-art mass spectrometry capabilities “that are the envy of our peers,” said Cortez, who introduced the award. “These technologies and facilities have supported the work of hundreds of investigators across Vanderbilt, leading to countless publications and hundreds of millions of dollars in grant money.”
Recipients of the John A. Oates Award
For Two or More Faculty Working Collaboratively or in a Multidisciplinary Manner to Address Important Biological Processes and/or Diseases
Ken Lau, PhD
Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology and Surgery
Director, Center for Computational Systems Biology
Ingram Professor of Cancer Research
Professor, Medicine and Cell and Developmental Biology
In introducing the award, Richard Peek, MD, the Mina Cobb Wallace Professor of Immunology and director of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, called Lau a pioneering computational systems biologist who does “groundbreaking research at the intersection of data science, artificial intelligence and technology,” and Coffey, a founder and co-director of VUMC’s Epithelial Biology Center, “a renowned leader in cancer research and stem cell biology.”
Together, their high-impact studies, which have included mapping the cellular and molecular geography of colorectal cancer, have significantly advanced understanding of the origin and evolution of this often-deadly disease, and how it can escape detection by the body’s immune system. Their collaboration has yielded insights into tumor initiation, immune dynamics and therapeutic resistance that have profound implications for diagnosis, prevention and treatment.
