Carol Etherington, MSN, R.N., associate professor of Nursing, emerita, was recently elected chair of the Metropolitan Board of Health of Nashville and Davidson County, and Alex Jahangir, M.D., MMHC, medical director of the Vanderbilt Center for Trauma, Burn and Emergency Surgery, joined the board as a member.

David Penson, M.D., MPH, Paul V. Hamilton, M.D., and Virginia E. Howd Professor of Urologic Oncology and chair of the Department of Urologic Surgery, has been named an associate editor for The Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI).

The National Vaccine Program Office in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has selected William Schaffner, M.D., to receive its 2017 NVPO UpShot Award in Vaccine Communication.

Sophoclis Alexopoulos, M.D., has been named chief of Vanderbilt’s Division of Hepatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation.

Daniel Barocas, M.D., associate professor of Urologic Surgery, recently received the Society of Urologic Oncology’s (SUO) Young Investigator Award at the group’s 2017 annual meeting in Boston.

Laboratory and administrative personnel at Vanderbilt University Medical Center were honored last week for research excellence during the 13th annual Research Staff Awards luncheon at the University Club.

Richard Abramson, M.D., will engage in creative program development as the Department of Radiology’s first Vice Chair for Innovation.