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A Message from Jessica Ancker: DBMI Grand Rounds for 2024-2025
We are excited to welcome you to the 2024-2025 DBMI Grand Rounds series! Some of our upcoming speakers for this fall include Dr. Eric Horvitz of Microsoft, who will be giving the VUMC Discovery Lecture on Nov. 6; Dr. Adrienne Boissy, the chief medical officer of Qualtrics (whose visit is co-sponsored by the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society), and Dr. Tiffany Veinot, professor of information and learning health science at the University of Michigan (sponsored by the Center for Research on Inequality in Health).
The Grand Rounds series will be held Wednesdays at noon. NOTE: For selected Chair’s Invitees, talks will be in-person only; for most other speakers, Grand Rounds will be in hybrid format. Location and format of the talk will be included in the weekly announcements and the Outlook calendar invitations. Most Grand Rounds will carry CME credit.
We also welcome opportunities to hear Grand Rounds presentations by our own primary and secondary faculty, and colleagues across the university and medical center. Please contact Lina Sulieman ( lina.sulieman@vumc.org) if you would be interested in presenting your own work or would like to nominate a colleague. We look forward to seeing you there!
— Jessica Ancker, PhD, MPH, FACMI, Professor and Vice Chair for Educational Affairs in DBMI
The DBMI Grand Rounds will begin with the launch of the Vanderbilt Clinical Informatics Center (VCLIC) 3rd Annual InformaticCon on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, from 11:00 am - 2:30 pm in Light Hall! More information is available here: https://www.vumc.org/vclic/events-announcements
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- HR & Admin Updates
- DBMI Education Updates
- DBMI Faculty Updates
- DBMI Spotlight: Brian Douthit
- Open Positions & Upcoming Events
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REMINDER: RSVP for the 2024 DBMI Annual Retreat by AUG 15!
2024 DBMI Annual Retreat will take place on Monday, September 30, 2024, at The Loveless Barn!
As the DBMI Retreat Planning Committee works out final details, we’re distributing some preliminary information that may be helpful to you for planning. The retreat agenda, food menu and other details will be forthcoming. In the meantime, RSVP here by August 15th!
DBMI Annual Retreat Fall 2024 Monday, September 30, 2024 8:00 am – 3:00 pm CT The Loveless Barn at the Loveless Cafe (8400 TN-100, Nashville, TN 37221) Free onsite parking is available Light Breakfast and Lunch Buffet will be provided
NOTE: In-person attendance is strongly encouraged. For those who have dietary restrictions, please reach out to Kelly Hammonds (k.hammonds@vumc.org) by August 15.
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VUMC & DBMI Celebrate Kevin Johnson's New Portrait!
VUMC honored our previous Chair, Kevin Johnson, MD, MS, FAAP, FAMIA, FACMI, via a portrait unveiling ceremony at the end of July! Thank you to those who joined our celebration in Centennial Perk!
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DBMI Education: Congrats to Our Summer Graduates!
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Congratulations to our 2024 VBISP & BEST-DS2 students for completing our summer informatics program! "Watching the journeys of the students while they're here in the summer & seeing all of the exciting places they head afterwards has been a truly joyful experience," said Kim Unertl.
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DBMI'ers Celebrating Summer
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This summer, DBMI members took advantage of their PTO time to travel across the globe or spend quality time with family and friends. Here are some pictures for our summer vacations!
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Megan Salwei, Research Assistant Professor in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Biomedical Informatics, recently traveled to New Zealand for a conference with her husband, Leif! They visited Hobbiton (where Jessica Ancker previously visited) and Milford Sound.
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Alvin Jeffery, who officially joined our primary faculty as Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics, traveled to Manchester, England, for the Nursing Informatics 2024 conference! He and Patty Sengstack, Professor of Nursing and Biomedical Informatics and Senior Associate Dean for Informatics in the VU School of Nursing, had some afternoon tea with PhD student Vera Borkowski, who presented a poster on her school-based social determinants of health (SDOH) research.
Pictured (top left): Alvin with the ANI Emerging Leaders group. "I did this while a post-doc in DBMI. The attached photo shows all the current & former leaders, along with ANI’s 2 co-chairs, who were at the conference."
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Marco Barbero Mota, PhD student in DBMI, spent his holidays with his family up in Cantabria (Spain), which happens to be where Matthew Weinger did his sabbatical! Marco has been surfing since 2017.
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DBMI Faculty & Research Updates
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Congratulations to Paul Harris, Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Biomedical Engineering and Biostatistics, and VP for Research Informatics at VUMC, on celebrating REDCap's 20th anniversary on August 2, 2024! VICTR and the REDCap team hosted a party to celebrate the milestone.
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Catalyzing Informatics Innovation (CI2) Program—Apply by AUG 15
REMINDER: DBMI Catalyzing Informatics Innovation (CI2) program is accepting applications until August 15, 2024. The CI2 program supports faculty in the development of early-stage, innovative and impactful informatics-based projects that have the potential to improve health, healthcare, or discovery. CI2 Program awardees receive not only modest funding to pursue their proposed project, but also join a cohort of CI2 Fellows who work closely with faculty and VUMC leadership.
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DBMI Welcomes New Primary Faculty
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Sharing an official welcome to Alvin Jeffery, Katherine Musacchio Schafer and Brian Douthit as they begin their journeys as new DBMI primary faculty members!
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DBMI Spotlight: Brian Douthit
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Each month, we feature one of our DBMI faculty, staff, students, trainees or alumni. If you or someone you know is new to the department, has an interesting backstory, or is making an impact at work or in their personal lives, email Mia Garchitorena at mia.garchitorena@vumc.org!
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Brian Douthit, PhD, RN, NI-BC, officially joined DBMI's primary faculty as Assistant Professor on August 1, 2024. Congratulations!
Previously, he was a VA post-doctoral fellow in Medical Informatics & Quality Improvement (with guidance from Michael Matheny, Director of the Center for Improving the Public's Health through Informatics in DBMI) and a master's student in Biomedical informatics.
He earned his BSN from the Pennsylvania State University, and both his MSN in informatics and PhD from the Duke University School of Nursing. His clinical background includes medical-surgical nursing and palliative care. He also has operational experience as a board certified informatics nurse having worked for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centers (UPMC) as an educator and electronic health record (EHR) implementation specialist.
His doctoral work focused on developing and testing multiple measures for data readiness of clinical decision support (CDS) via mobile apps, and continues his research to inform standards to support CDS and the development of metrics and tools to assist in the evaluation of CDS system interactions and outcomes.
Please officially welcome Brian to the DBMI faculty and read his story below!
Where were you born and raised? I was born and raised in State College, Pennsylvania.
What was it like growing up? Any memories from childhood stand out to you? No complaints! I remember getting the nickname “shrimp” pretty early on due to my short stature. While that did not markedly improve into adulthood, I am happy to know I am always personally prepared for a lawn gnome shortage!
What did your parents do for work? Have any siblings? My mother ran a dress shop, and my father is a forester. I have one older brother 10 years my senior. We are very close and share a love for American military history! Pictured: Brian and his brother as kids and on Little Round Top, Gettysburg, PA 25 years later!
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Early on, did you have an idea of what you wanted to pursue for a career? I did! I was going to be a musician. I had a last-minute change of heart once college applications came rolling in – many of my friends and teachers said I should sign up for nursing school. I took that as a sign, and pursued nursing! However, I’ve played in a band and an orchestra most of my life—up until the pandemic and a move slowed that down. Though I don’t play in a band right now, I’d like to think I still rock!
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When did you become interested in STEM? I think I’ve always had an affinity for it. I enjoyed classroom experiments especially. One funny story I remember is that we were assigned meal worms and we had to take care of them until the reached maturity as beetles. Once ours had matured, me and my friends put them into a carboard box and conducted races to see which one could make it to the other side the fastest. I’ll never forget you, Turdy.
Please explain how you got into your current career path. When I was a floor nurse, our hospital was acquired by a larger health system. We were on paper records at the time, so we were tasked to implement the new EHR. I started as a super user, and that role grew to conduct training, implement at other hospitals, develop clinical decisions support tools, and modify documentation. All of this eventually led to an informatics career!
How did you decide to come to Vanderbilt? What was the VA fellowship like? I came after finishing a PhD in Nursing so I could get more training in data science and informatics-focused methods. My fellowship was amazing! I would recommend it to any PhD student looking for a post-doc in informatics, and I will be forever grateful to Michael Matheny for his support and guidance!
What challenges and successes did you experience in your career up to this point? Too many to write here. But I think some defining moments have been around learning how to navigate informatics as someone who focused much of their life on being a clinician. Many of you can relate to this, and many of you can relate to being non-clinicians and having to learn the intricacies of healthcare. Informatics is an amazing blend of people and experiences, which is why I love it so much. Truly a team sport!
What advice do you have for trainees and early career faculty members? Do what you love. Do what makes you excited. There is so much room in this field and you don’t need to compromise your interests. With enjoyment comes success.
What are some fun facts about you? I’m the king weird hobbies. Something most people probably don’t know is my interest in locks and lock history. I am an avid Master Lock Company collector and act as an amateur historian of the company. I also write articles for some lock collecting publications, such as the West Coast Lock Collectors Association Quarterly. Pictured: Brian at a lock show a few years ago.
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Feel free to share our DBMI Open Positions with your friends and colleagues! Contact Jennifer Martellotti with questions.
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REMINDER: Update Your DBMI Bio Page
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REMINDER: Please review your DBMI bio page and notify us of any changes. Updates can include:
- New headshot
- Updated degrees, professional titles
- Updated bio information
- Adding Google Scholar, PubMed, LinkedIn URLs
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Upcoming Events
Visit here for more details on upcoming events and previously recorded DBMI seminars.
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