Among the patients transplanted this year were 16 children and more than 185 adults, 29 U.S. veterans, and 20 patients who received multiorgan transplants including 16 heart-kidney transplants, two heart-liver transplants and two heart-lung transplants.
This year, several Department of Medicine faculty were appointed to new positions that will help advance the department and medical center missions.
It was recently announced that Department of Medicine Cardiology Drs. Jamie Pfaff and Kathryn Sunthankar will receive the 2026 David C. Leach Award from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) at the February 2026 Annual ACGME Educational Conference.
“Dr. DeFilippis is a visionary leader with a proven track record of excellence across research, clinical care and education," said Bryan Harris, MD, MPH, MMHC, interim chair of the Department of Medicine.
A VUMC team led by Kashish Goel, MD, associate professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine), is pioneering the use of minimally invasive transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement to resolve severe tricuspid regurgitation, a rare and serious posttransplant complication.
VUMC recently held a Directorship Celebration to honor 23 leaders, including seven in the Department of Medicine, from across the enterprise in clinical care, research, education and administration.
Among those advocating on Capitol Hill were three Department of Medicine faculty, Drs. Alvin Powers (Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism), Patrick Hu (Hematology and Oncology) and Hyun Song (Cardiovascular Medicine).
Evan Brittain, MD, MSCI, professor of Medicine, has been named assistant dean for Physician-Researcher Training, director of the Physician-Scientist Training Program/Harrison Society and director of the Office of Medical Student Research.
Ravi Shah, MD, the Gottlieb C. Friesinger II Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and professor of Medicine, has been named co-director of the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center (VDC).
In a study that brings together genetics, gene expression and blood biomarkers, investigators have built a framework for exploring multiorgan cross talk in human health and disease.
