On Tuesday, Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute employees gathered to bid farewell to John Byrne, M.D., William S. Stoney Jr. Professor of Cardiac Surgery and chair of the department.

Vanderbilt is launching a new travel system that offers faculty and staff traveling on university business a better, faster way to book and manage travel and handle expenses for trips.

Police Chief August Washington and Corey Slovis, chairman of emergency medicine, headed to Legislative Plaza to voice opposition to a bill in the Tennessee State Legislature that threatens the ability of the Vanderbilt Police Department to protect the campus.

As advocates and politicians debate gun control issues, economists say gun injuries and deaths have cost billions in court proceedings, insurance costs and hospitalizations. Manish Sethi, assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery and rehabilitation, has studied healthcare costs associated with gun violence and is quoted.

The overuse of many medical tests and interventions wastes money and can actually harm patients, say more than two dozen medical societies. Daniel Barocas, assistant professor of urology, is quoted.

The vital partnership between NIH and Vanderbilt – reproduced at universities all around the country – supports thousands of brilliant minds from all around the world. Sequestration will discourage a generation of young people from even considering a career in research.