After a distinguished career spanning clinical medicine, nutrition science, global health and education, Douglas Heimburger, MD, MS, professor emeritus of Medicine in the Division of Epidemiology, has retired.
Heimburger joined the Vanderbilt University faculty in 2009 as a professor of Medicine in the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH), where he served as associate director for Education and Training until 2019. In that role, he oversaw training programs for Vanderbilt students and clinicians, helping create research training opportunities for doctoral and postdoctoral trainees at Vanderbilt as well as those from low- and middle-income countries.
“We are grateful to Doug for his many years of dedicated service to medical education, his invaluable contributions to global health, and his commitment to mentoring others,” said Muktar Aliyu, MBBS, DrPH, director of VIGH, professor of Health Policy and Medicine, and holder of the Directorship in Global Health at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “His work has touched countless lives and left a lasting impact on our institute and the world.”
Heimburger joined VIGH after a long tenure at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Departments of Nutrition Sciences and Medicine, where he directed the National Institutes of Health-funded Cancer Prevention and Control Training Program for 20 years (through 2009).
Heimburger has served as principal investigator of several Fogarty-funded training programs, and students and trainees have benefited from research opportunities and personal mentorship. He served on the NIH Fogarty International Center Advisory Board from 2004 to 2008 and co-led the Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars and Fellows program from 2009 to 2012. He was the principal investigator for two Fogarty-funded initiatives: the Vanderbilt Emory Cornell Duke Fogarty Global Health Fellows Program and the University of Zambia-Vanderbilt Training Partnership for HIV-NCD Research Program (UVP). The UVP is an ongoing grant that has been providing research training opportunities for scientists since 1998.
Heimburger earned his medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) in 1978 and completed his internal medicine residency at St. Louis University. He then completed a fellowship in clinical nutrition and received a master’s degree in nutrition sciences at UAB.
A hallmark of Heimburger’s career was his sustained commitment to improving outcomes for people living with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, infection in resource-limited settings. Trained as an internist and physician-nutrition specialist, he combined bedside care with research throughout his career and went on to develop an academic portfolio that bridged clinical nutrition, infectious disease and population health. Early in his career, he helped establish nutrition training and clinical programs that would influence patient care and education for years to come.
Heimburger’s research interests focused on nutritional influences on HIV treatment outcomes and HIV’s intersection with noncommunicable conditions among African adults, as well as global health research education and training. He conducted clinical nutrition research with undernourished Zambians beginning antiretroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS during a sabbatical in Zambia in 2006, supported by a Fulbright Scholar Award.
Teaching and mentorship were central to Heimburger’s identity as an academic. He was repeatedly recognized for his excellence in teaching and leadership. In 2016, he was honored with the Jacek Hawiger Award for teaching graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at Vanderbilt, in addition to numerous teaching awards and curriculum contributions. He co-founded the Global Health track of the Master of Public Health program at Vanderbilt and co-led the program for 10 years. His commitment and passion for mentoring global health practitioners laid the foundation for global health education at Vanderbilt.
Heimburger is the fourth in his family to graduate from VUSM. His father, Robert Heimburger, MD, Class of ’43 and noted VUSM alumnus, along with his two uncles, also VUSM alumni, were surgeons. Heimburger’s grandfather, LeRoy Heimburger, MD, and his wife served as medical missionaries in China. In 2010, the family hosted an anniversary celebration at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, where LeRoy Heimburger had served as a faculty member and hospital director. At that time, the family established an endowed global health travel scholarship for Vanderbilt students and trainees in honor of LeRoy Heimburger.
Heimburger’s next chapter includes spending time with family, traveling and engaging in volunteer activities. He served six years on the Board of Directors at Siloam Health in Nashville, including two years as chair.
