Dear Scholars,

At Vanderbilt, we recognize that your postdoctoral years represent a pivotal moment in your scholarly development. It is a transformative period of learning, research, and professional growth. We heard you, and we are excited to launch an initiative designed to keep our extraordinary postdoctoral community connected.

The Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Network – Global Connections is our innovative response to your desire to stay engaged and give back to the community you helped shape. Few institutions are taking such a bold step to maintain meaningful relationships with their former postdocs. Through this network, you will have opportunities to stay connected with Vanderbilt’s academic community, participate in mentorship programs, and continue to be a part of our intellectual ecosystem. Whether you are now leading research at another institution, working in industry, or pursuing a different path, we want to honor the formative years you spent developing your scholarly identity with us. This is more than a network of former Vanderbilt postdocs – it’s a global community of accomplished scholars who will continue to inspire, support, and learn from each other.

I hope you will stay connected with us. More information on how to do so is provided below. If there is anything the Vanderbilt Office of Postdoctoral Affairs can do for you, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Best,

C. André Christie-Mizell
Vice Provost for Graduate Education
Director, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
Dean of the Graduate School
Centennial Professor of Sociology

The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA), established in 2017, is responsible for planning and managing programs and services for Vanderbilt's postdoctoral community. OPA supports Vanderbilt-affiliated postdocs as well as faculty and staff administrators who work with the postdoctoral population. OPA is the central resource for postdoctoral services and serves as a liaison among postdocs and central university and medical center administrative offices. OPA also works closely with the Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Association (VPA) to address the interests and concerns of postdocs.

C. André Christie-Mizell
Vice Provost for Graduate Education
Director, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
Dean of the Graduate School
Centennial Professor of Sociology

Faith Bishop
Associate Director, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
Special Project Director for Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Training

Annie Evans
Program and Communications Manager

Do you want to stay involved? Complete the below link with your new or updated information. This will help connect you to current Vanderbilt postdocs and make sure that the OPA has the best contact and your latest position. 

Our goal is to create a database of Vanderbilt postdocs past and present to support each other. Opt-in to have your information included.

Finally, we will be sending regular emails to stay engaged and keep you updated with the latest postdoc news and initiatives at Vanderbilt. 

You can find out more information on the Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Network - Global Connections on our website.

Forward this email to them! This is a grassroots initiative, and we want to connect with all former postdocs. 

Meet two former Vanderbilt postdocs to learn about their pathways following their time at Vanderbilt. Interested in being a future feature? Reach out to Faith Bishop, Associate Director, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. 

Lab of Irina Kaverina
Cell and Developmental Biology
2015 - 2020

Lab of David Zald
Psychology
2014 - 2019

National Postdoc Appreciation Week took place September 15-19, 2025. This year's roster included 13 events coordinated by OPA and campus partners, including the Annual Postdoc Picnic, complimentary headshots, and a Lightning Talks Competition with Oak Ridge National Laboratories and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. 

The 19th Annual VPA Symposium took place on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, in the Student Life Center. This interdisciplinary one-day conference highlights postdoctoral research as well as provides a venue for networking and professional development. 

Postdocs had the opportunity to present their research through either a lightning talk or poster presentation. The best presenters in both categories were awarded at the closing event. 

Matthew Johnson-Roberson, Dean of the new College of Connected Computing, provided the keynote address. 

The Annual Postdoc Holiday Luncheon took place on Thursday, December 4, 2025. This annual luncheon is a signature event to show appreciation to the postdoc community and allow for a time of community building before the winter break.

This year, Provost Cybele Raver attended the luncheon. She spoke to the attendees and acknowledged the importance of the postdoc community to the research enterprise at Vanderbilt. 

Mahima Sharma is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the School of Engineering, where her work centers on the transformative potential of light in understanding and improving human health. Guided by a spirit of curiosity and purpose, Mahima embraces both the breakthroughs and the inevitable missteps that come with discovery, finding meaning in each step forward.

We look forward to staying in touch! Visit our social accounts below, including our Office of Postdoctoral Affairs LinkedIn page or join our LinkedIn Vanderbilt Postdoc Group.