Michael Petracek, M.D., has been named chair of Vanderbilt’s Department of Cardiac Surgery.

Jeffrey Sosman, M.D., professor of Medicine and leader of the Vanderbilt Melanoma Program, will head one of two teams of researchers at prominent national institutions investigating acral melanoma, a skin cancer that typically forms on the hands, soles of the feet or under the fingernails.

Faculty members Josh Denny, M.D., M.S., associate professor of Biomedical Informatics and Medicine, and Paul Harris, Ph.D., associate professor of Biomedical Informatics and research associate professor of Biomedical Engineering, are among six fellows elected this year to the American College of Medical Informatics.

Christoph Lehmann, M.D., and a handful of fellow experts in clinical informatics have secured official recognition for their subspecialty from the American Board of Medical Specialties.

The Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (TNCPE) is awarding Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center’s Department of Otolaryngology with its Commitment Award in the annual Excellence in Tennessee recognition program.

Just before 3 p.m. on April 15, two bombs exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Of the estimated 27,000 runners and 500,000 spectators present, three people were killed and 281 injured. Preparation, execution and teamwork — along with a large dose of luck — kept casualties to a minimum, according to Mitchel Harris, M.D., chief of the Orthopaedic Trauma Service at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Donald Brady, M.D., senior associate dean for Graduate Medical Education and Continuing Professional Development, will serve a one-year term as chair of the board of directors of the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare (AACH) for 2014. Brady spent this year serving as president and will transition into a one-year role as chair.