Jill Clendening

“As I worked at Vanderbilt, I became so attached to the division, and when I had the ability to do it, I wanted to give back.”

“There isn’t just one story of how Jessie makes those she serves her highest priority, there are thousands,” wrote one clinic co-worker. “Her big laugh and can-do attitude are contagious.”

Today, the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center includes 140 faculty members from 15 departments and three colleges or schools at Vanderbilt and Meharry Medical College who conduct basic, clinical and translational research on the cause, prevention, treatment and complications of diabetes and obesity.

Members of Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s patient and family advisory councils — largely made up of individuals who are themselves caregivers — decided last year that “caring for the caregiver” would be the focus of a 15-member workgroup tasked with developing a plan to better assist caregivers.

VUMC is an official site of programs that deliver medical training opportunities to military medical personnel serving on Army Trauma Teams and that bring combat medics, licensed practical nurses and operating room technologists to VUMC for rotations to complete much of their annual medical skills competency requirements.

The Medical Center Staff Advisory Council has evolved to better reflect today’s VUMC, which has grown significantly since the council’s formation.