Our Sites

Nashville

Faculty at the Nashville VA Quality Scholars site are sought after for their breadth and depth of experience in quality improvement, implementation science, health services research, clinical epidemiology and outcomes research, health behavior, and clinical informatics. Our faculty strive to generate the evidence-basis for the content, processes and structures of clinical care, and designing and implementing transformational change across a wide variety of clinical specialties. There is integration and collaboration across other disciplines to advance population health.

Fellows come to our VAQS site because we individualize their learning plan to fit their needs and future goals and provide close mentorship and guidance for a successful journey.  Physician fellows complete the Vanderbilt MPH program as part of their curriculum, unless they already have such training, in which case we individualize more advanced training. Approximately half of our graduates pursue research based academic careers and half pursue either academic educator or quality leadership/administrative positions. We have an extensive list of faculty with whom fellows can and do work and draw on the outstanding faculty and resources of our VA affiliate, Vanderbilt University. The VA is geographically located within the university and connected to the Vanderbilt Medical Center providing for easy and quick communications and collaborations.

Our program is known for its robust research and quality improvement programs and close collaborations with Vanderbilt University and its vast array of resources.  We leverage resources within our VA, across the VA nationally, and those available through our academic affiliate (Vanderbilt), including the Institute for Medicine and Public Health, the Center for Health Services Research,  the Center for Clinical Quality and Implementation Research, the Center for Health Behavior and Health Education, the Department of Biomedical Informatics, the Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, the Center for Surgical Quality and Outcomes Research, the Center for Quality Aging, the Schools of Management and Education, and the nationally recognized Precision Medicine Initiative and Population Health Initiative, among many others.

In addition to nurse and physician fellows/scholars, our site is open to applicants from other clinical health professions.

Senior Faculty Scholars

Robert Dittus, MD, MPH

Ruth Kleinpell, PhD, RN, FAAN

Sandra Simmons, PhD, MA

Faculty Scholars

Christianne Roumie, MD, MPH

Carol Callaway-Lane, DNP, ACNP-BC

Sunil Kripalani, MD, MSC

Michael Matheny, MD, MS, MPH

Second Year Fellows

Laura Rausch, BS, MA, MD

Mckenzie Roddy, PhD

Sarah Welch, DO, MA

First Year Fellows

Chelsea Rick, DO

Matthew Mart, MD, MSCI

Christine Kimpel, PhD (c), BSN, RN, MA

Natalie Holt, PhD, MA

Amy Guidera, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC

Alumni

2021

  • Caroline Lassen-Greene, PhD
  • Jennifer Wethman, PhD, MBA, RN, NE-BC
  • Milner Staub, MD
  • Morgan Clouse Johnson, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC
  • Wali Johnson, MD

2020

  • Gretchen C. Edwards, MD
  • Sarah B. Homann, MD

2019

  • Jea Young Min, PharmD
  • Jennifer Lewis, MD
  • Jennifer Robles, MD
  • Lucy Spalluto, MD
  • Robin Mickelson, PhD, RN

2018

  • Amelia Maiga, MD
  • Caroline Presley, MD, MPH
  • Justin Liberman, MD, MPH
  • Rachel Apple, MD, MPH
  • Shawna Bellew, MD, MPH

2017

  • Alvin Jeffery, MSN, RN-BC, CCRN, FNP-BC
  • JoEllen Wilson, MD, MPH
  • Leanne Boehm, PhD, RN

2016

  • Kathleene Wooldridge, MD, MPH
  • Thomas Spain, MD, MPH

2015

  • Deonni Stolldrof, RN, MCUR, PhD
  • Katherine Rizzone, MD, MPH
  • Kristy Kummerow, MD, MPH

2014

  • Cecelia Theobald, MD, MPH
  • Lisa Marie Wands, BSN, MS, PhD
  • Matthew Resnick, MD, MPH

2013

  • Alice Bernet, PMHNP-BC
  • Ashley Karpinos, MD, MPH
  • Rebecca Snyder, MD

2012

  • Candace McNaughton, MD, MPH
  • David Willens, MD, MPH
  • Michael Bowen, MD, MPH

2011

  • Carol Callaway-Lane, ACNP-BC
  • Wesley Self, MD, MPH

2010

  • Jacob Hathaway, MD, MPH
  • Jennifer Kiser Green, MD, MPH
  • Philip Ciampa, MD, MPH

2009

  • Neesha Choma, MD, MPH
  • Stephan Russ, MD, MPH

2008

  • Gregg Munson, MD, MPH
  • May Pini, MD, MPH

2007

  • Mary Margaret Huizinga, MD, MPH
  • Robert Huang, MD, MPH

2006

  • Jeffrey Boord, MD, MPH
  • Jennifer Schuberth, MD, MPH

2005

  • William Gregg, MD, MPH

2004

  • Christianne Roumie, MD, MPH
  • Eric Grogan, MD, MPH

2003

  • Richard Wall, MD, MPH

2002

  • Shelley Ellis, MD, MPH

2001

  • Asha Kallianpur, MD, MPH
  • Denise Brown, MD
  • Kathy Poehling, MD, MPH