National Innovation Leader –– Benchmark Highlights
 Vanderbilt is among the very few teaching hospitals in the U.S. leading the nation in all three
missions –– health care, education and biomedical research. Vanderbilt’s total economic impact in
Tennessee is $8.6 billion a year.
 Funded by a Health Care Innovation Award from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS),
Vanderbilt is creating a national model to streamline care and lower risks for patients with chronic
illnesses such as high blood pressure and diabetes. MyHealthTeam uses advances in health
information technology, the MyHealth@Vanderbilt patient portal and health coaches to
continuously interact with patients. The program is now being used with nearly 20,000 patients.
Early results suggest blood pressure control is improved to nearly twice the national average.
 Our leadership in translating discoveries to practice persuaded the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) to fund Vanderbilt as the national coordinating center for all 60 NIH-sponsored clinical
translational research centers. This $0.5 billion network, built to accelerate adoption of discovery in
medical practice, is the largest budget item at the NIH.
 The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and U.S. News & World Report have hailed the
pioneering advances in personalized medicine at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. Forty-seven
percent of our patients screened for genetic mutations in melanoma, lung, breast and colorectal
cancer between July 2010 and October 23, 2013, are receiving therapy targeted to the mutations in
their tumors. VICC’s publicly accessible website, MyCancerGenome, attracts 3,600 visits each
week from physicians, scientists and patients across 165 countries who use the tool to help
determine optimal treatments for targeted cancer therapies, thus making this critical information
freely accessible to oncologists and patients worldwide.
 Election of VUMC faculty to pinnacle professional distinctions, such as the Institute of Medicine of
the National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science
achieved a record 13 percent increase in 2013.
 Forbes recognizes Vanderbilt as one of three early leaders in academic drug discovery and
cites Vanderbilt’s Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery with its “impressive commitment
of resources” as the model for university-based discovery of new therapeutics.
Educating Future Leaders
 School of Medicine –– most competitive pool in history for Class of 2017 with 5,830 applications
for 96 positions. GPA and MCAT scores place Vanderbilt among the nation’s top 10 medical
schools. Class of 2013 matched with prestigious residencies with 70 percent training at U.S. News
& World Report top 20 hospitals. U.S. News ranks the School of Medicine 14th nationally among
more than 130 medical schools.
 School of Nursing –– ranked 15th by U.S. News, placing us in the top 5 percent of nation’s nursing
schools; largest professional school student cohort on campus; high employer demand for
graduates; some 40 percent of alumni serve in rural and underserved areas. Innovation leader in
blended distance learning and flexible entry options. All master’s specialties are ranked in top 20.
 The American Medical Association honored Vanderbilt as one of 11 medical schools that are
transforming the education of future physicians for a new era of care. Curriculum 2.0 was launched
this academic year, and embeds medical students in the clinic and hospital learning environment
from the very beginning, while incorporating clinical decision-support technologies, crossdisciplinary teamwork, and deep exposures conducive to leadership into their didactic experience
 Vanderbilt is one of 10 academic medical centers awarded a BEST grant from NIH for “bold and
innovative approaches to broaden graduate and postdoctoral training” for Ph.D.s in the biomedical
sciences to diversify career preparation to include broader areas such as policymaking, industry,
media, business and education as well as laboratory science.
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Graduate medical residency and fellowship subspecialty programs are training 900 house staff and
fellows. Extensive clinical programs support the experience base required to attract and train
leaders with deep expertise across 155 medical disciplines and subspecialties.
Building National Models for 21st Century Health Care
 One of the nation’s largest fully integrated university health systems: 4 hospitals; 1,026 beds;
58,000 inpatient discharges; 1.8 million ambulatory visits; 53,000 surgical procedures. We are
continuing to build new clinical space to meet soaring demand in all areas, and particularly heart
care, organ transplantation and all areas of children’s health.
 The Medical Center provides by far the most uncompensated care in the region for the uninsured ––
$477.4 million in fiscal year 2013.
 Twenty adult and pediatric specialties are ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World
Report. Five are ranked in the top 10: pediatric and adult care in urology; ear, nose and throat;
pulmonology; and nephrology.
 Vanderbilt is the region’s only Level 1 Trauma Center, a resource for patients requiring highly
specialized trauma and burn care. LifeFlight’s five helicopters have a perfect safety record and have
made more than 33,000 flights. Helipads at Vanderbilt University Hospital and the Monroe Carell
Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt support 10,000 arrivals and departures each year.
 The nation’s fastest growing affiliate network with 32 hospitals across the Mid-South. Will allow
VUMC to disseminate innovations in care delivery and broaden specialty training opportunities for
residents and fellows.
 Continued leader in health care information technology (HCIT): nation’s largest program in
biomedical informatics with more than 70 faculty and 500 staff. Expanding services on the
MyHealth at Vanderbilt portal are improving the personalized patient experience, with messaging
capabilities for health care providers, improved billing information, journaling capabilities for
blood pressure and blood sugar management, interactive updating of drug lists, lab results and
personalized information about one’s DNA mutations that could inform drug treatment decisions.
 Advances in the use of electronic medical records and coordinated systems support provide
unparalleled levels of evidence-based care. At Vanderbilt, 76 percent of inpatient orders are
evidence-based and delivered at the point of care through online decision support –– by far the
highest in the nation.
Preeminent Strength in Biomedical Discovery
 With more than 800 Ph.D. students, including 84 M.D./Ph.D. students, our research training in the
biomedical sciences is among the largest, most diverse and most prestigious in the U.S.
 Faculty are extraordinarily competitive, this year continuing to excel in securing even larger
numbers of NIH grants despite overall NIH budget contractions. Departments ranking among the
top five in their disciplines include Biochemistry, Molecular Physiology & Biophysics,
Pharmacology, Internal Medicine, Cell Biology and Cancer Biology.
 Attracted by Vanderbilt’s success as a leading innovator in collaborative, interdisciplinary research,
industry sponsorship of research in all areas from basic science to clinical trials increased 25
percent in fiscal year 2013.
 Vanderbilt drug discovery is bringing new drugs from the earliest concepts to clinical trials for lifethreatening diseases where few effective drugs exist. Key areas of focus include solid organ
cancers, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, obesity and autism. Major drug discovery partnerships
with Vanderbilt faculty were announced this year with Bristol Meyers Squibb, AstraZeneca and
GlaxoSmithKline.
 An international leader in vaccine research and development, Vanderbilt is one of nine institutions
funded by NIH as a Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit and is in the forefront of research in
conducting basic science and clinical research to combat emerging viruses that cause pandemics
like the H1N1 influenza. Over decades, research conducted here on nearly every childhood vaccine
in use today has saved countless lives around the world.
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High-impact research: Faculty publications in the top 45 high-impact journals like Cell, Science,
Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA increased 22 percent in 2013. Five
hundred Vanderbilt research teams produced 2,618 publications in 2012.
With more than 174,000 samples, BioVU, Vanderbilt’s human DNA bank, is now the world’s
largest genetic repository linked to searchable, de-identified electronic records. BioVU is driving
discoveries on the genetic underpinnings of disease worldwide.
Programs Supported by Our Volunteer Boards and Councils
 Boards of the Canby Robinson Society, Julia Hereford Society, Vanderbilt Medical Alumni
Association and VUSN Alumni Association: students prepare to be national leaders through
mentored relationships with renowned, world-class faculty. Scholarship support can be the deciding
factor for attracting many of the most talented students and is the top fundraising priority for these
boards and councils. The vital scholarship endowment initiative of the School of Medicine has
achieved 62 percent of its $10 million goal, already resulting in new aid for 24 students.
 Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt: ranked in 9 of 10 specialties by U.S. News;
top national rankings by Parents magazine and in quality metrics by the Leapfrog Group. An
historic leader in Neonatology –– the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit has more than 100 inpatient
beds and oversees statewide programs supporting care and transport of premature infants
throughout the region. We are a national leader in urology, diabetes, infectious disease, heart
disease, personalized cancer care, prenatal diagnosis and broad areas of advanced surgical and
medical care for children.
 Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center: graduate education programs in Audiology and SpeechLanguage Pathology rank #1 and #3, respectively, in U.S. News & World Report. Specializes in
communication disorders involving hearing, speech, language and vocal disorders, including
diseases of the nose, throat and auditory system. Physicians, speech-language pathologists, teachers
of the deaf, audiologists and rehabilitation therapists work in teams to meet the comprehensive
needs of patients.
 Vanderbilt Eye Institute: provides comprehensive personalized care in all subspecialty areas of
ophthalmology, serving more than 135,000 patients in 14 locations across Tennessee. Practice
volume is one of the largest in the nation. A world leader in discovery, the VEI is on the cutting
edge of regenerative medicine research fundamental to curing blinding diseases of the retina. Pathbreaking research appears in leading publications, such as the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences and the New England Journal of Medicine. VEI Chairman Paul Sternberg Jr., M.D., is
the 2013 president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
 Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute: recognized as a top cardiac program by U.S. News &
World Report and Thomson Reuters; 25 off-campus clinic sites in Tennessee and Kentucky; 2,327
cardiac surgeries in fiscal 2012. The PREDICT program in personalized drug therapy is saving
lives by employing genetic data and medication alerts to prevent adverse drug reactions and
precisely tailor medications for heart and transplant patients. With the largest heart transplant
program in the Southeast, Vanderbilt has a 100 percent one-year survival rate for adult patients.
 Vanderbilt Kennedy Center: extensive research and clinical care programs change the lives of
developmentally disabled individuals and their families. The VKC enjoys transinstitutional support
through broad faculty participation from every Vanderbilt University school. With strong support
from the NIH and a host of national foundations, the Center’s discovery programs are making
significant advances in autism and in support of families of those affected.
 Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center: the only National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive
Cancer Center treating adults and children in the Mid-South; renowned as a leader in translating
basic research into advancements in patient care; leading the nation in personalized cancer medicine
providing precision therapy targeted to single mutations in the DNA of patients’ tumors. One of
only 21 centers in the National Cancer Center Network, studying the broadest range of new
therapies.