Paul Govern

March 25, 2021

Zic appointed to new Dermatology leadership posts

Longtime Vanderbilt University School of Medicine faculty member John Zic, MD, MMHC, professor of Dermatology, has been appointed vice chair for Clinical Affairs in the Department of Dermatology and executive medical director of the Dermatology Patient Care Center (PCC) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

By Paul Govern
March 22, 2021

Chemo for cancer lowers dementia risk

Cancer chemotherapy lowered risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurocognitive disorders that disproportionately affect older people.

By Paul Govern
Close up on the left eye of a black man
March 18, 2021

Eye stroke is focus of American Heart Association statement

The American Heart Association (AHA) recently issued a scientific statement, “Management of Central Retinal Artery Occlusion.” CRAO is a form of ischemic stroke characterized by acute and painless vision loss in one eye.

By Paul Govern
March 15, 2021

Artificial intelligence calculates suicide attempt risk at VUMC

A machine learning algorithm that predicts suicide attempt recently underwent a prospective trial at the institution where it was developed, Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

By Paul Govern
March 11, 2021

Genotype looms large in risk for post-op arrhythmia

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (PoAF), a form of arrhythmia, complicates 20-40% of cardiac surgical procedures and 10–20% of non-cardiac thoracic operations, cropping up two to four days after surgery to pose risk of stroke, heart attack, mortality, longer hospital stays and greater cost.

By Paul Govern
March 4, 2021

COVID-19 survey data added to All of Us platform

In December 2020, the federal government’s massive precision medicine research initiative, All of Us (AoU), made available to qualified researchers initial results from its ongoing COVID-19 Participant Experience (COPE) Survey, as well as physical activity and heart rate data collected from Fitbit devices worn by AoU participants.

By Paul Govern
March 3, 2021

VUMC launches new medical equipment company Carefluent Connect

After two years of planning and regulatory approvals, Vanderbilt University Medical Center is preparing to launch a durable medical equipment (DME) company, Carefluent Connect, LLC.
By Paul Govern
March 3, 2021

REDCap Day highlights new features, innovative use cases

Each year at VUMC, REDCap Day brings together local users from VUMC, Vanderbilt University and Meharry Medical College for a morning of brief presentations on innovative use cases and new and upcoming features.
By Paul Govern
February 25, 2021

Epic founder Faulkner highlights DBMI online seminar

The CEO and founder of one of the world’s largest electronic health record (EHR) vendors, Judith Faulkner of Epic Systems Corp., spoke about her company and answered questions recently at the Department of Biomedical Informatics weekly online seminar.
By Paul Govern
February 11, 2021

Data mart speeds recruitment for COVID research

The arrival last March of the COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee presented challenges for the clinical research enterprise at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Prompt recruitment of patients newly diagnosed with COVID-19 into clinical trials was, and remains, a public health imperative with top-level backing from the federal government.
By Paul Govern
February 11, 2021

Grant supports speedy sorting of health records by phenotype

Wei-Qi Wei, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Biomedical Informatics and scientific director of the Precision Phenotyping Core at the Center for Precision Medicine, has been awarded a four-year, $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (grant GM139891) to continue
By Paul Govern
February 11, 2021

Study will delve into EHR for signs of suicidality

Retrieval of clearer, more complete information from the EHR could go a long way toward improving predictive models of who will next be at risk of suicide, thereby improving care for patients with suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
By Paul Govern