The ASCI recognized two faculty researchers in the Department of Medicine with Young Physician-Scientist Awards. Drs. Juan Pablo Arroyo Ornelas (Nephrology and Hypertension) and David Patrick (Clinical Pharmacology), have received the awards from the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI).

The grant will help establish the Vanderbilt-coordinated Virus Characterization Center and support a Vanderbilt University Medical Center research team venturing to broadly characterize the role of viruses in human health and disease.

Department of Medicine Drs. Alexander Bick (Genetic Medicine) and Jonathan Kropski (Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine) have been elected this year to membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

Dr. Dooley's three-year term on the board of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT) begins in May.

Ashley Spann, MD, MSACI (Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition), has been named the associate director of Transplant Research Informatics and Ciara Shaver, MD, PhD (Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine), has been named associate director for Translational Research.

The program recently celebrated a milestone — its 2,000th heart transplant.

Numerous additions and appointments during the past year are enhancing Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s missions.

With funding from the newly established Sarah Kyle Anorexia Nervosa Research Foundation, the researchers hope to identify biomarkers that will point to novel targets for prevention and treatment.