Penson appointed to AHRQ National Advisory Council
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services recently appointed Vanderbilt’s David Penson, M.D., MPH, to the National Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality.
![David Penson, M.D., MPH](https://vumc-reporter.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/Penson_portrait_JR002.jpg)
David Penson, M.D., MPH
Penson, professor of Urologic Surgery and director of the Center for Surgical Quality and Outcomes, joins a 21-member panel comprised of private-sector experts representing health care plans, providers, consumers and researchers. The panel offers insights into health care research and those critical topics AHRQ should address in promoting improvements in quality, clinical outcomes and cost effectiveness of health care in the United States.
“Dr. Penson’s appointment to this important national committee is a well-deserved high honor,” said R. Daniel Beauchamp, chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences and the Foshee Distinguished Professor of Surgery. “This is an important national service commitment and it is wonderful to have outstanding representation from Vanderbilt University at this level.”
“David Penson’s status as an international leader in health services research is enhanced by his clinical and surgical skills, which give him a practical understanding of the issues,” said Joseph A. Smith Jr., M.D., chair of the Department of Urologic Surgery.
“He will be an extremely valuable member of this advisory board. Moreover, he is a dedicated and unselfish mentor to many other investigators in our department and throughout the institution who benefit from his capabilities,” he said.
AHRQ is one of 12 agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, supporting research that improves the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of health care in the United States.