Department of Anesthesiology

Some members of the Critical Care Outreach Team at Vanderbilt University Hospital include, front row, left to right, Casey Ernfelt, ACNP, Lindsay Trantum, ACNP, Rebekah Pike, ACNP. Back row, left to right, Liza Weavind, MBBCh, Cody Bowers, AG-ACNP, Kipp Shipley, DNP, Megan Shifrin, DNP, ACNP-BC, and Christopher Hughes, MD. (photo by Donn Jones)
January 13, 2026

Critical Care Outreach Team’s rapid response interventions improve patient safety, prevent ICU transfers

Since January 2020, members of the VUH CCOT have responded to more than 10,000 rapid response calls in every non-ICU unit in the adult hospital.

By Jill Clendening
An initiative at VUMC is helping patients recover more quickly from major surgery, leave the hospital earlier and have fewer side effects from their pain management. (photo by Joe Howell)
December 2, 2025

Ketamine fails surgical recovery trial

In a large, placebo-controlled, randomized trial, the pain reliever ketamine posed side effects while failing to aid patient recovery after major surgery.

By Paul Govern
(AdobeStock)
September 16, 2025

Forgotten opioid has resurfaced as lethal street drug

Originally developed in the 1950s but never approved for clinical use, these substances are over 20 times more potent than fentanyl and hundreds to thousands of times more potent than morphine.

By Craig Boerner
Michael Topf, MD, wears a model of a new head-mounted augmented reality system that can guide surgeons during operations to excise head and neck cancer.
August 26, 2025

Grant supports development of head-mounted augmented reality system to guide tumor resection 

The technology will allow surgeons to rely less on a fallible mental construction of the resection plane, thereby reducing the risk of human error affecting the procedure. 

By Evan Dorian
Amanda Toye, MD
April 7, 2025

Amanda Toye named division chief of Pain Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology

Toye plans to expand community outreach programs to educate patients and health care providers about pain management options.

By Erin Wides
Nicole Werner, PhD
March 27, 2025

Nicole Werner named director of the Center for Research and Innovation in Systems Safety

CRISS uses a wide range of human factors and systems engineering, cognitive psychology, biomedical informatics and implementation science techniques to study performance during patient care.

By Erin Wides
March 27, 2025

Six Vanderbilt faculty elected fellows of international scientific society

One of the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific societies, the AAAS also publishes the Science family of journals.
By Bill Snyder
March 12, 2025

Great Saves event reunites medical teams with grateful former patients and families

Former patients who recovered from serious illness and life-preserving surgeries in the SICU returned for a “Great Saves” event to share health updates and their gratitude with the people they credit with saving their lives.
By Jill Clendening
February 26, 2025

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine fifth in the nation in NIH research funding

The NIH is the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research. VUSM, which received $586 million in direct and indirect NIH grant support in FY24, has been among the top 10 recipients of NIH funding among U.S. medical schools for nine of the past 15 years.
By Bill Snyder
December 17, 2024

Immune-suppressing drug does not improve COVID-19 recovery: study

Previous studies suggested that fostamatinib may suppress inflammatory responses triggered by COVID-19 and mitigate ongoing lung injury, decreasing mortality and oxygen requirements.
By Bill Snyder
December 5, 2024

Academy for Excellence in Clinical Medicine selects 25 new members

The AECM was formed in 2021 to “honor exemplary clinicians who combine humanism, professionalism and a passion for patient care with a scholarly approach to improving patient health and establish a community of leaders to promote clinical excellence.”
By VUMC News and Communications
November 5, 2024

VUMC has long record of supporting military on Veterans Day — and every day

“Vanderbilt is an extremely welcoming environment for military personnel, and you see that all over campus.”
By Jill Clendening
August 21, 2024

High or low oxygen levels are safe during heart surgery: study

Two hundred study participants were assessed for oxidative stress, acute kidney injury, delirium, myocardial injury and atrial fibrillation.
By Matt Batcheldor
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