Professional Bio
Yuri van der Heijden, MD, MPH, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases within the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is an infectious diseases physician with joint appointments at VUMC and the Aurum Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Dr. van der Heijden has expertise in drug-resistant tuberculosis research in South Africa. He completed epidemiology and biostatistics training through the Vanderbilt Master of Public Health program and joined the faculty in the Vanderbilt Division of Infectious Diseases in 2013. He received funding through an NIAID K08 career development award to study the acquisition of fluoroquinolone resistance among patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis with collaborators at Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
Additional collaborations with investigators at the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) in Durban via Regional Prospective Observational Research in Tuberculosis (RePORT)-South Africa have provided opportunities for him to help coordinate studies involving large observational tuberculosis cohorts. His involvement with RePORT South Africa has extended to his current role as protocol specialist for the RePORT International Coordinating Center (RICC), which allows further leadership in conducting epidemiologic studies using multiple international datasets that require careful alignment.
Dr. van der Heijden’s work in South Africa led him to a unique position to formally collaborate as a scientist at The Aurum Institute under the leadership of Professor Gavin Churchyard. This position affords him tremendous opportunities as a liaison between Vanderbilt and the Aurum Institute for bi-directional scientific enrichment and capacity development.
In 2021 he received NIAID R01 funding to assess poor treatment outcomes associated with bedaquiline-based treatment regimens in South Africa with a collaborative team from Vanderbilt, Aurum, the University of Cape Town, and Stellenbosch University.
Relevant Links
Publications
Education
MD - Vanderbilt University, 2005
Residency - Internal Medicine - Vanderbilt University, 2008
Fellowship - Infectious Diseases - Vanderbilt University, 2012
Fellowship - Chief, Infectious Diseases - Vanderbilt University, 2013
MPH - Vanderbilt University, 2014
Contact
Email
Kimryn.Rathmell@Vumc.Org
Address
777 Preston Research Building
2220 Pierce Ave
Nashville, TN 37232-6307