Descriptions of Vanderbilt Research Related Resources
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Table of Contents:
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Vanderbilt General Research Related Resources
VICTR Resources for Investigators
Vanderbilt Schools and Colleges
Vanderbilt Research Related Educational In-services, Workshops and Clinics
Vanderbilt Research Related Required Training
Vanderbilt Research Related Educational Courses and Degree Programs
Vanderbilt General Research Related Resources
Resource Information
Location: On campus
http://www.vampire.vanderbilt.edu/index.php
Location: On campus
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/vumc/centers/var
c/varc_objectives.html
Usable Grant Text
Advanced Computing Center for Research & Education (ACCRE): offers computing
resources flexible enough to enable high performance computing applications in a wide
variety of research projects. To support a rapidly increasing need for data storage, ACCRE
develops and deploys means for on and offline data repositories. Additionally, the center
provides the hardware necessary to enable investigators and students to visualize their
high-dimensional data using parallel graphics and stereo projection technologies. Center
infrastructure includes the necessary expertise and support staff to facilitate use, including
educational/outreach staff, who’s principle task is to assist with "lowering the barriers" to use
and "expanding the paradigm" to include new and non-traditional areas of investigation. The
mission of ACCRE Education and Outreach is to enable the widespread application of high
performance computing methods to research across Vanderbilt. This mission is being
accomplished by communicating to all investigators the ability of the resource to transform
research capabilities and productivity and by providing the expertise and staff necessary to
facilitate its use.
Addiction Research Center: provides the academic focus for research, education, and
clinical care activities related to the pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment of alcohol and
other drug abuse and dependence; represents an interdepartmental network of
investigators and clinicians from the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Engineering, the
College of Arts and Sciences, and the George Peabody College who work both individually
and in collaboration with many other faculty members; serves to identify important research
Location: On campus with satellite locations
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/root/vumc.php?si
te=aboutbw
Location: On campus
http://braininstitute.vanderbilt.edu/
Vanderbilt Shared Core Resources
Location: On campus
Shared Core Resources-Descriptions
opportunities, to assist investigators in identifying collaborators within and outside the
institution, and to facilitate the research process by providing a forum for interdisciplinary
discussions among clinical and basic scientists.
Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center: devoted to comprehensive patient care, education and
research in the field of communication disorders and diseases as well as ailments of the
ear, nose and throat, and head and neck. This nationally regarded, world-class program in
communication disorders combines the services of the Bill Wilkerson Center, the Vanderbilt
Department of Otolaryngology, and the Vanderbilt Department of Hearing and Speech
Sciences, creating one of the most comprehensive clinical, educational and research
programs in the nation. Patient services and research areas include audiology, speechlanguage pathology, comprehensive rehabilitation for acquired brain injury, and complete
medical and surgical management of otolaryngologic and head and neck diseases and
disorders. The Center is one of the nation's few communication disorders and
otolaryngology clinics offering a critical mass of expertise, collaboratively focused on the
integration of clinical, medical, educational, and research components. The Center offers its
services in several satellite locations in the Nashville metropolitan area.
Vanderbilt University’s (VU) animal research and teaching programs are supported by the
Division of Animal Care (DAC). The DAC provides animal procurement, husbandry, and
healthcare of experimental animals in addition to scientific/technical support for researchers.
The VU program has been accredited by the Association for the Assessment and
Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International since 1967. DAC facilities are located
in sites across campus and are designed to accommodate a wide variety of species and
experiments. Facilities include multipurpose animal housing rooms of standard design and
smaller cubicles available for the independent housing of small groups of animals and
projects. Support and service facilities are located nearby and include surgical areas and a
biohazard containment facility.
The Vanderbilt Brain Institute: delving into questions in brain sciences spanning a
spectrum from molecules to the mind, the Institute provides trainers and educators of the
next generation of neuroscientists in interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate training
programs, sharing information about the remarkable discoveries in the brain sciences and
how those discoveries impact individuals, families, and communities. The Institute unites
campus-wide neuroscience to facilitate interdisciplinary research, training and public
outreach to be a communication center for transinstitutional neuroscience; advance
neuroscience educational initiatives; spearhead fund-raising in interdisciplinary research
and training; and coordinates public relations and community outreach programs.
Vanderbilt Shared Core Research Facilities: a wealth of centralized, shared core
facilities that support research. These resources support genetic and genomic research,
protein biochemistry and proteomics, imaging, and a range of other activities. Vanderbilt has
heavily invested in its cores, ensuring that they offer the latest research technology and
expertise to investigators across the institution. Vanderbilt is known for the excellence,
collegiality, and accessibility of these cores, which have been a beacon for attracting
outstanding faculty to Vanderbilt while enhancing the scientific breadth and productivity of
Location: Off campus, 3 miles
http://www.cumberlandpediatricfd.com/
Location: On campus
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/ethics
Location: On Campus
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/infocntr/ic.htm
Location: On campus
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/mhs/
existing faculty.
The Cumberland Pediatric Foundation: a non-profit group of practicing pediatricians from
throughout Middle-Tennessee and pediatric medicine and pediatric surgical-subspecialists
on the faculty at Vanderbilt. Promotes the health care of children of the region by improving
the quality through the development of best practices, increasing the efficiency, and
lowering the cost of the delivery of pediatric health care services in the region. Also provides
education of medical students and residents and provides a focus for development of
practice guidelines, post-graduate education, and clinical investigation. The extensive,
collegial, and daily interactions of community pediatricians and Vanderbilt faculty and staff
are a unique strength.
The Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society: provides leadership in education,
research, and clinical service at Vanderbilt concerning the ethical, legal, and social
dimensions of medicine, health care, and health policy. The Center is committed to multidisciplinary exploration of the individual and social values, cultural dynamics, and legal and
professional standards that characterize and influence clinical practice and biomedical
research. The Center aims to be a catalyst for collaboration in teaching, research, and
practice at Vanderbilt and to contribute to scholarship and policy making from the local to
the international level.
The Vanderbilt Informatics Center: the largest academic department of biomedical
informatics in the country with more than 50 faculty members, a graduate training program,
and a portfolio of research and development projects that spans from computational biology
and bioinformatics applied to understanding of biological molecules, through advanced
clinical information systems that care for hundreds of thousands of patients at Vanderbilt, to
regional health information projects that span many states. The Informatics Center has
generated many very successful and nationally/internationally recognized tools. Examples
include: StarChart, the electronic medical record- an up-to-date, comprehensive, electronic
medical record with web-accessible Intranet retrieval tools and currently has more than 31
million documents; WizOrder, a relational database of all orders entered on all inpatients at
Vanderbilt since January 1998; StarPanel, an integrated application where clinicians can
access electronic information from one screen and Pathworx, a care
management/documentation system that electronically links clinical care pathways to
patient flow sheets.
The Vanderbilt University Center for Medicine, Health, and Society (CMHS): offers an
innovative and forward-looking way of linking the humanities and social sciences to a major
academic medical center. CMHS programs are horizontally integrated across Vanderbilt’s
schools and colleges, and vertically integrated, from freshman seminars to postdoctoral
training and continuing medical education. In this trans-institutional and interdisciplinary
model, research, teaching, and community outreach and service are interconnected. The
primary objectives are to: cultivate dialogue among research and teaching faculty who are
committed to and excited about exploring links between the humanities, social sciences,
and academic medicine; develop innovative curricular programs at the undergraduate and
graduate level that examine health and health care in their social and cultural contexts and
to expand student involvement in research and service. Outreach includes service learning
for undergraduates and collaboration with Meharry Medical College on disparities studies,
through the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance.
Location: On campus
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/root/vumc.php?si
te=global_health&doc=5636
Location: On Campus
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/vcbh/
Vanderbilt Peabody Center
for Community Studies
Location: On Campus
http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/Center_for_Communi
ty_Studies.xml
The Vanderbilt University Institute for Global Health: fosters interdisciplinary research,
teaching, and service activities linked to health and development in resource limited settings
of the developing world. Facilitates international contacts for program development and
training; advocates for better equity in global health investments; assists in securing
resources for international activities, standardizes and facilitates overseas administrative
approaches; improves communication through grand rounds, seminars, and discussion
forums, active partnerships with institutions in the US and abroad that share the Institute’s
goals and wish to partner with Vanderbilt faculty, staff, and students; enriches diversity and
sensitivity to the global challenges in health and development. Aids multidisciplinary
research efforts in diseases of poverty, tropical climes, and health disparities.
Vanderbilt Center for Better Health (VCBH): designed to achieve transformational change
in the healthcare system by focusing on the use of information technology to enable
improvements in the delivery of patient care and research. Leverages Vanderbilt's unique
ability to bring clinical, research and biomedical informatics professionals together to
discover optimal interactions between people, process and technology and combine these
strengths with expertise in organizational change to rapidly and effectively deploy new
approaches. Through research, rapid prototyping in test beds involving real-life
organizations, and sharing knowledge and solutions, VCBH develops and continually
refines the path to transformation and creates tools and resources to help organizations
significantly improve. VCBH's Rapid Advance Program assists and supports the design and
implementation of changes to processes, organizational structures, policies, and technology
that significantly improves the quality and delivery of the care they provide. Education is
being developed and deployed on-line to help healthcare leaders facilitate discussions and
planning within their organizations. Tools and solutions are being developed for healthcare
organizations to use to improve care delivery.
Center for Community Studies: brings together academic researchers with community
partners to critically evaluate community issues affecting people and how they live. Center
experts work with government agencies, non-profit organizations, private sector partners
and grass-roots groups to define and address major societal challenges, providing objective
analyses grounded in research and best practices. In turn, these agencies provide on-theground information that informs the center’s research, as well as access to real-life
laboratories for gathering data. As such, they serve as a ready institutional resource for
community partners from the first stops of identifying problems and strengths through the
final phase of evaluating the effectiveness of new policies, practices and initiatives.
Location: On campus
http://chgr.mc.vanderbilt.edu/
Location: On Campus
http://vuiis.vanderbilt.edu/index.php
Location: On campus
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/VIPPS/C&FPC/
Vanderbilt Center for
Integrative Health
Location: On campus
http://www.cihh.net/
Vanderbilt Center for Human Genetics Research: Initiated in January 2004 to dissect
the genetic underpinnings of human traits by providing a collaborative and stimulating
research environment accessible to all Vanderbilt faculty. The Center’s mission is to
decipher the genetic basis of both rare and common human traits and to integrate this
knowledge into better diagnostics, treatments, and preventions of human disease.
Research integrates expertise at the clinical, molecular, and analytical levels represented by
faculty in multiple departments and schools. The Center both develops and applies state-ofthe-art methods to a large and diverse set of traits including neurological, cardiovascular,
ophthalmological, and endocrine diseases and cancer. By providing critical and
sophisticated core resources, this center aids all faculty at Vanderbilt in achieving the
mission to improve health and health care.
Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science: supports advances in physics,
engineering, computing and other clinical and basic sciences for the development and
application of new and enhanced imaging techniques to address problems in biology and
medicine, in health and disease. Faculty and trainees pursue research in developing new
imaging methods and techniques, as well as in diverse applications. The addition of a 7
tesla magnet, one of only about eight in the United States, has enabled researchers to
generate images down to the molecular level and will ensure Vanderbilt remains at the
forefront of research in magnetic imaging. Some of the core areas of current interest are the
development of methods for the assessment of structure, function, and metabolism
including imaging in broad areas such as cancer, brain physiology, transgenic mice, cellular
and molecular as well as research into the physics of imaging and spectrometry. The
Institute also provides an exemplary training environment for postdoctoral fellow, graduate
and medical students and undergraduates.
Vanderbilt Child and Family Policy Center: to develop, promote and implement public
policy and community strategies that strengthen children and families through research,
advocacy and education. The Vanderbilt University-North Nashville Community Outreach
Partnership Center (COPC) is a partnership involving several North Nashville
neighborhoods, Vanderbilt and the Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods. The Partnership is
designed to strengthen the North Nashville community and improve the quality of life in
Nashville while integrating the university, and its academic assets, as an effective outreach
partner and neighbor in this endeavor. The North Nashville community includes the Hadley
Park Neighborhood Association, Tomorrow's Hope Neighborhood Association, and the
Preston Taylor Resident Association. Work focuses on four areas: crime prevention,
community organizing, health promotion, and economic development. The Vanderbilt
University-North Nashville COPC is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD)'s Office of University Partnerships (OUP).
Vanderbilt Center for Integrative Health: incorporates complimentary alternative medicine
modalities in patient care and accommodates non-traditional consumer interests/needs,
leveraging student and faculty current and existing research interests. Engages faculty,
plays to strengths such as Vanderbilt faculty referrals, creates synergies with palliative care
and pain management. Includes areas such as therapeutic massage, acupuncture, mind-
Center for Perioperative
Research in Quality
Location: On campus
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/cprq/
The Vanderbilt Clinical Trials Center
Location: On Campus
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/root/vumc.php?si
te=clinicaltrialscenter
Center for Matrix Biology
Location: On campus
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/cmb/
V A ND ER B ILT D I AB ET ES RES E AR CH
A ND T R A I N IN G CE NT E R
Location: On campus
Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center
body, chiropractic.
The Center for Perioperative Research in Quality (CPRQ): designed to improve the
quality of patient care provided in the peri-operative period and to improve the quality of the
perioperative work environment and clinician job satisfaction. Using a range of human
factors engineering, cognitive psychology, and biomedical informatics techniques, CPRQ
studies clinical performance during patient care and in realistic simulations, to better
understand how and why care deviates from optimal. CPRQ supports other investigators
performing similar work for example in emergency medicine, critical care, ambulatory
medicine, and out-of-hospital resuscitation. CPRQ conducts studies on understanding the
cause of unexpected clinical events and how such events are prevented. On-going research
evaluates human-technology interactions as well as individual and group performanceshaping factors such as novel methods of information presentation to generate practical
benefits in terms of improved clinical care processes.
Vanderbilt Clinical Trials Center: serves as an advocate for clinical investigators by
relieving them of many of the burdens associated with clinical research by providing
services needed on a fee for service basis, to allow any faculty who would like to participate
in clinical trials, to do so, without having to hire and manage their own staff. Services include
match-making between sponsors & investigators; providing trained clinical research
coordinators; preparation/negotiation of study budgets and contracts; IRB preparation and
submission; screening, recruiting and consenting participants; data management;
developing networks of patients in the community; marketing available clinical research to
industry; providing clinical researchers and patients with information about potential studies;
providing fully equipped outpatient exam rooms and research nurse services; providing
laboratory services including specimen collection, processing, storage and shipping; and
providing investigational drug storage and tracking, and more.
The Vanderbilt Center for Matrix Biology: fosters cohesive interactions among Vanderbilt
scientists who work, directly or indirectly, on extracellular matrix biology in order to facilitate
collaborations, promote excellence in matrix research and help investigators acquire funding
support. Areas of research include: angiogenesis, biomaterials, diabetic complications,
fibrosis, tumor microenvironment, wound repair and more.
Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center: one of seven NIH centers in the
nation. The Center has a long standing track record of participating in diabetes related
nutrition and behavioral research. Facilitates the discovery, application and translation of
scientific knowledge to improve the care of patients with diabetes. The Center is a multidisciplinary program with participating faculty members distributed among many
departments, schools and colleges of the University. The Prevention and Control Division
includes a Clinical Outcomes and Behavioral Sciences (COBS) Core, and a Disparities
Core. Investigators in the Prevention and Control Division are highly published in peerreviewed journals and supported by external funding from a combination of federal and
foundation sources. The Division also supports a wide range of projects including: 1)
Reducing Health Disparities in minority populations, 2) Research on Adherence, Barriers to
Adherence, and Measurement Development, 3) Clinical Intervention and Outcomes
Location: On Campus
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/biolib/
Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology
Location: On Campus
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/oor/cores/vicb.php
Location: on campus
http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/site/about/default.aspx
Research, 4) Research on Teaching and Problem Solving for Health Professionals and 5)
Clinical Research and Clinical Trials.
Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library (EBL): this state-of-the-art library provides
patrons access to information worldwide through the very latest in informatics retrieval and
management technology, traditional library services, book stacks and comfortable reading
areas are also provided along with technology training and assistance. The Research
Informatics Consult Service (RICS), open to all members of the research community,
provides proactive, targeted information services for Vanderbilt researchers delivered at the
point of need. Services include training, grant assistance, electronic resources, database
searching, bibliographic databases, full text resources, and molecular biology databases.
Individual and group consultations are available with experienced information specialists.
The library has a comprehensive, multidimensional Digital Library that offers fast, targeted
access to online books, journals, databases and websites. EBL provides access to over
2,800 full-text electronic journal titles. EBL has developed proactive mechanisms to
integrate evidence into clinical and research workflow through linkages of patient care
guidelines within the electronic medical record. The library has a Patient Informatics
Consult Service (PICS) program to provide patients/families with the latest health
information: comprehensive information packets tailored to patient needs, access to the
EBL’s consumer health materials collection and access to the EBL’s online Consumer
Health Digital Library.
Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology: a trans-institutional initiative between the
College of Arts and Science and the School of Medicine to provide research and training in
the application of chemical approaches to the solution of important biomedical problems.
Members represent a range of research interests and technologies with particular strengths
in analytical methodology and molecular imaging, cellular responses to chemical stress,
small molecule discovery, enzyme and receptor chemistry, proteomics, structural biology,
and chemical synthesis. The Institute administers core facilities in high throughput
screening, chemical synthesis, monoclonal antibody generation and small molecule NMR
spectroscopy.
The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Education and Human Development:
this Center’s mission is to improve the quality of life of persons with disorders of thinking,
learning, perception, communication, mood and emotion caused by disruption of typical
development. The Center was the second nationally designated NIH Research Center on
Mental Retardation and other Developmental Disabilities. It is part of a national network of
12 original centers supported in part since its inception by the National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development. In 2005, the Center was designated a University Center
for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Education, Research, and Service by the U.S.
Administration on Developmental Disabilities, a network of 64 centers in all U.S. states and
territories. The Center has evolved into an interdisciplinary research, training, diagnosis,
and treatment institute, embracing faculty and resources available through Vanderbilt
University Medical Center, the College of Arts and Science, Blair School of Music and
Peabody College. The Center brings together scientists and practitioners in behavior,
THE KIM DAYANI CENTER
Location: On campus
http://www.dayanicenter.org/
Location: 5 miles from campus
http://www.meharry-vanderbilt.org/
Metro Public Health Dept
Location: Off campus, access via internet
http://health.nashville.gov/
Location: Off campus, access via internet
http://hit.state.tn.us/
education, genetics, and neuroscience to work together in unique ways to solve the
mysteries of development and learning. For example, studies led by investigators with the
Vanderbilt Center for Molecular Neuroscience and Kennedy suggest that multiple rare
mutations within a single gene increase risk for autism.
The Kim Dayani Center: specializes in the prevention, rehabilitation, education, and
research of many lifestyle related diseases. As a medically-based fitness center, provides
assistance to patients and employees to help them achieve optimal health and improved
quality of life. The multi-disciplinary staff is among the most qualified and dedicated in the
country with physicians, nurses, exercise specialists, physical therapists, licensed
psychologists and registered dietitians who work as a team. Specialties include prevention
of lifestyle related diseases, rehabilitation, education, health appraisals and workplace
programs, wellness consultation and executive health programs.
The Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance: recognizing the importance of forging strategic
partnerships the leadership of Meharry Medical College (MMC) and Vanderbilt University
Medical Center entered into a formal alliance based on a variety of combined and/or shared
resources. Meharry is the largest private, comprehensive historically black institution for
educating health professionals and scientists in the United States. Goals: to explore
cooperative and collaborative medical training activities; to benefit student curricula and
enhance the academic support infrastructure of both institutions focusing on undergraduate
medical education; student affairs and admissions, and information management and
libraries; to facilitate and expand collaborative research efforts; broaden the experiences of
graduate trainees; and enhance the expertise of faculty; to expand patient care capabilities
and services; increase patient access; improve coordination of health services; and secure
Nashville General Hospital as an outstanding resource for Nashville, while benefiting the
training and research interest of both MMC and VUMC. The Institute for Community Health
represents an interdisciplinary academic unit designed to create innovative paths for the
provision of health services to disadvantage citizens, and the training of health status
disparity; provider competence; clinical decision making; patient education and behavioral
change; epidemiology; and issues germane to primary care.
Metro Public Health Department of Nashville Davidson County: this agency of local
government is responsible for protecting and promoting the health of Davidson County
residents and the thousands of others who work, shop, and play in Nashville everyday. The
department is committed to providing high quality services through its health program and
databases. Vanderbilt researchers utilize the databases of this agency for information about
the health of the community and more.
Vanderbilt investigators utilize the Tennessee Department of Health data base “Health
Information Tennessee” which is a public health informatics project to disseminate data
interactively to identify population health problems and high risk groups, and to assess need
for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services in Tennessee.
My Health at Vanderbilt Web Portal
Location: access via internet
http://myhealthatvanderbilt.com
Center for Psychotherapy Research and
Policy
Location: On campus
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/VIPPS/Psycho/prpho
me.html
Location: On campus
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/VIPPS/VIPPSUSJ/
The Susan Gray School
Location: On campus
http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x441.xml
Location: On campus
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lsi/about_the_lsi.php
MyHealth at Vanderbilt Web Portal: a state-of-the-art web-based, password protected
patient portal that enables secure electronic communication between patients and their
doctors; allows patients to access their test results (laboratory, radiology, etc.) and to view
graphs showing trends over time; allows patients to view their scheduled appointments;
provides a mechanism for patients to learn about their health condition (for example the
potential causes of an abnormal result) and allows patients to review and pay their hospital
and clinic bills. Patients can delegate other users (family care-takers, outside facility
physicians) to access their records.
The Center for Psychotherapy Research and Policy: currently studying adaptation of
clinic-based treatments for use in the public school system; evaluation of child
psychotherapy under naturalistic conditions; determining the effective components of
community-based mental health treatments; development of methods for maximizing the
goodness-of-fit between different forms of treatment and different forms of psycho
pathology; development of innovative publicly-funded mental health treatments for underserved populations and adaptation of mental health treatments for Southeast Asian refugee
children.
Center for U.S.-Japan Studies and Cooperation: provides the opportunity for American
and Japanese researchers and students to work and study together. Engages in activities to
raise the level of public discussion about issues of mutual interest to Japan and the US and
to facilitate particular forms of cooperation between the two countries by bringing a wider
awareness of the common national interests of both nations such as: research on issues
such as national security, trade, technology transfer, cooperative approaches to domestic
policy design such as healthcare, education and environment; hosting research fellows from
Japan and Korea and assisting their research efforts.
The Vanderbilt University Peabody College Susan Gray School: an on-campus
research-oriented school devoted to educational research involving young children with
developmental disabilities and children whose future development is at risk because of
conditions such as poverty. For more than 40 years, the Susan Gray School has served
young children with developmental disabilities and young children who are at-risk for
developmental delay. The school has the distinction of being the first nationally recognized
early intervention program to include typically developing children in educational settings
with children with disabilities. The School's mission includes service, training, research, and
demonstration. The School is a licensed child care center accredited by the National
Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
The Vanderbilt Learning Sciences Institute (LSI): stimulates and supports research and
development including the creation of computer technologies that make it possible to design
effective learning environments, both at a distance and face to face. The goal of the Institute
is to become a world-class center that conducts innovative research on learning, teaching,
and assessment, thereby developing a new generation of researchers and teachers who
will become tomorrow’s leaders. The LSI focuses especially on ways that the growing fields
of learning, teaching, and assessment can help Vanderbilt and the local community
Location: Off campus, multiple locations
http://www.mnps.org/site3.aspx
Vanderbilt Child Life Program
Location: On campus
http://www.vanderbiltchildrens.com/interior.php
?mid=204
Location: On campus
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/WomensCenter/
increase its capacity for preschool education; K-12 education; undergraduate and graduate
education; and after-school, informal, and corporate learning. Investigators are currently
studying topics such as conceptual and cultural change, the achievement gap, education
leadership assessment, embodied mathematical cognition, teacher professional
development, the role of culture in learning, and more.
Nashville Public Schools Research Participant Database: faculty and students
conducting research with infants, children and adolescents often recruit participants at local
schools, preschools, and day-care centers. Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools has a
close working relationship with researchers in the Department of Psychology and Human
Development, and many Peabody faculty members and students conduct their research
through the public school system. In addition, the department maintains a database of
research participants. This database includes children whose families have expressed an
interest in participating in child development research and is a valuable research tool for
both faculty and graduate students.
The Vanderbilt Child-Life Program: Child Life Specialists work with patients and families
to reduce the stress and anxiety that may be associated with the healthcare experience.
They work to meet the developmental, psychosocial, educational, and emotional needs of
patients and families by: promoting normal growth and development through play and
activity rooms; providing opportunities to help children enhance their self-esteem and retain
appropriate independence advocating for non-medical needs of patients and families and
increasing patients' and families’ understanding of hospital experiences. The Child Life
program helps infants, children, and teens in the hospital and outpatient settings cope with
this stress and anxiety. Staff helps to ease fears and concerns by providing opportunities for
developmentally appropriate play and interaction, therapeutic play and psychological
preparation. Child Life Specialists function as a part of the healthcare team and are
professionally trained in understanding and meeting the unique needs of children and teens
in the healthcare environment. The International Child Life Council provides professional
certification for child life specialists (CCLS).
The Margaret Cunningham Women's Center at Vanderbilt: advances equity at
Vanderbilt and in the larger community, through advocacy, education, and empowerment.
Creates a space for the community of women to gather, nurture, and support one another;
increases awareness of the impact of the social construction of gender on the lives of
women and men; invites women and men to engage in meaningful dialogue and to model
equitable relationship patterns; advocates for inclusive policies and procedures throughout
the university; celebrates women's achievements, develops and presents programs that
provide scholarly research about women and women's issues, enhance women's practical
skills, and foster women's creative expression; provides the information and tools needed to
empower women to take action on their own behalf; provides the information and tools
needed to empower men to be allies for women, collaborate with campus and community
groups in advancing the equality of women; include the input, needs and interests of women
of all racial and ethnic groups, ages, sexual orientations, abilities, and spiritual traditions.
Programs and services are open to students, faculty and staff, as well as interested
Location: On campus
http://www.vanth.org/
members of the local community.
The Vanderbilt-Northwestern-Texas-Harvard/MIT Engineering Research Center
(VaNTH): In October 1999, the National Science Foundation funded the VanderbiltNorthwestern-Texas- Harvard/MIT Engineering Research Center. The objective is to
transform bioengineering education to produce adaptive experts by developing,
implementing and assessing educational processes, materials and technologies that are
readily accessible and widely disseminated. VaNTH is a working model for how
multidisciplinary, multi-institutional groups can define an approach to developing & testing
curricula for rapidly evolving knowledge bases. Major deliverables support the development,
implementation and assessment of educational processes, materials and technologies. The
Center also provides materials that guide curricular development, assessment that supports
development of adaptive expertise and processes that promote cultural change: exemplar
granules, modules, mosaics and courses in a variety of bioengineering domains; methods
and guidelines for developing HPL-informed modules; learning technology platforms,
guidelines for developing formative and summative assessment plans; domain taxonomies
and core competencies; and curricular recommendations, examples and tools (including
tools for faculty development).
The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR): In 2007, the
(VICTR)
Location: On campus
VICTR Resources for Investigators
VICTR Public Website
StarBRITE
Location: On campus
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/VIPPS/
NIH recognized Vanderbilt’s commitment to research and success in administering research
centers/projects by funding the Vanderbilt Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA).
NIH began funding academic medical centers in 2006 and when fully implemented in 2012
will fund approximately 60 CTSAs. The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational
Research (VICTR) is Vanderbilt's virtual and actual home for clinical and translational
research. Supported by the Vanderbilt Office of Research and the CTSA, the mission of the
institute is to transform the way ideas and research discoveries make their way
from origin to patient care. This is accomplished using a multi-faceted approach: through
collaboration with a wide variety of research partners (i.e., Meharry Medical College); by
training, nurturing and rewarding participating researchers; by providing research funding
and clinical resources; by developing new and innovative ways to involve the community in
research; by developing new informatics and biostatistical systems; and by making available
the latest technologies and sound research results affecting patient care. There are many
resources available to investigators through VICTR and the CTSA (see descriptions of each
CTSA resource provided following this general resource section).
Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies: Vanderbilt’s portal into public policy
research and practices whose mission is to incubate public policy research; to train leaders
in public policy practice and to form partnerships to confront policy problems. The institute
includes multiple policy centers: Child & Family Policy; Center for Evaluation Research &
Methodology; Center for Health Policy; Center for Psychotherapy Research Policy; Center
for State and Local Policy; Center for US-Japan Studies & Cooperation. Research
conducted by the Institute focuses on examining the legal environment in which the health
Location: On campus
http://www.vicc.org/
Location: On campus
http://vinse.vanderbilt.edu/
Tennessee Valley Health Service
Veterans Administration
Location: On campus
http://www.tennesseevalley.va.gov/index.asp
care industry is changing: whether the legal structure is impeding or facilitating the evolution
of the health care marketplace.
The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Affiliate Network (VICCAN): brings together the
clinical oncology programs and cancer research, education and outreach activities of
Vanderbilt University. Since 1994, VICCAN has offered oncologists and patients who live
outside middle Tennessee easier access to clinical trials. Includes many off-site affiliate
locations within Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Virginia and Florida. Staff provides support
for nurses and doctors and helps communication between community medical providers
and VUMC faculty. Some studies can be conducted through VICCAN to increase the
number of patients available for the trial. Patients can receive state of the art treatment in
their own community. The VICC researcher may use the VICCAN network to distribute
information about unique new agents, such as anti-angiogenesis and monoclonal
antibodies. VICCANs mission is to alleviate cancer death and suffering through pioneering
research, innovative patient centered care and evidence based prevention, education and
community activities.
Vanderbilt Institute for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (VINSE): engaged in
theoretical and experimental research in science and engineering at the nanoscale,
including programs in nano-optics; nano-bio processes; spintronics; nanoscale electronics;
nanocrystal fabrication, characterization, and integration; and radiation effects and defect
studies with extensive laboratory equipment and supplies. VINSE provides the
underpinnings of the interdisciplinary structure for this field, through collaborations, central
experimental facilities and through various communication activities such as monthly
colloquia, a Nanonews letter and a yearly Nanoday. Educational out-reach is primarily
associated with the NSF funded Vanderbilt-Fisk IGERT program in the Nanosciences and
the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Materials Science and through individual
departmental activities associated with VINSE connected faculty.
Veterans Administration: is one of two main campuses in the VA Tennessee Valley
Healthcare System (TVHS), comprised of the Nashville and Alvin C. York Medical Centers
and nine outpatient clinics. TVHS is affiliated with both Vanderbilt and Meharry Medical
College, with active residency programs in all major medical and surgical specialties and
sub-specialties and ongoing research generated by investigators from both institutions. The
Nashville campus, a 238 bed facility located within walking distance of Vanderbilt, offers
primary, secondary and tertiary care as well as access to participation in translational
research to veterans living in middle Tennessee and Kentucky. The Nashville VA serves as
a VA resource for solid organ and bone marrow transplants. The TVHS is also one of
21Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center’s (GRECC, centers of geriatric
excellence designed for the advancement and integration of research, education, and
clinical achievements in geriatrics and gerontology into the total VA healthcare system).
Vanderbilt and Meharry collaborated with the VA, Senators Bill Frist and Fred Thompson,
and the Tennessee delegation to secure grant approval. Research results have influenced
therapies for diseases affecting older veterans and have also been exported beyond the
veteran community, clearly examples of collaborations resulting in translating research
findings to the community.
2.
VICTR Resources for Investigators
The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR): In 2007, the
(VICTR)
Location: On campus
VICTR Resources for Investigators
VICTR Public Website
StarBRITE
VICTR/CTSA Voucher Program
Location: On campus
VICTR Resource Request website on StarBRITE
NIH recognized Vanderbilt’s commitment to research and success in administering research
centers/projects by funding the Vanderbilt Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA).
NIH began funding academic medical centers in 2006 and when fully implemented in 2012
will fund approximately 60 CTSAs. The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational
Research (VICTR) is Vanderbilt's virtual and actual home for clinical and translational
research. Supported by the Vanderbilt Office of Research and the CTSA, the mission of the
institute is to transform the way ideas and research discoveries make their way
from origin to patient care. This is accomplished using a multi-faceted approach: through
collaboration with a wide variety of research partners (i.e., Meharry Medical College); by
training, nurturing and rewarding participating researchers; by providing research funding
and clinical resources; by developing new and innovative ways to involve the community in
research; by developing new informatics and biostatistical systems; and by making available
the latest technologies and sound research results affecting patient care. There are many
resources available to investigators through VICTR and the CTSA (see descriptions of each
CTSA resource provided following this general resource section).
VICTR/CTSA Resource Request Voucher Program: provides awards for $2,000 or less
with a short approval process time (2-3 days) for the generation of preliminary data and pilot
work for clinical and translational studies, allowing for rapid acquisition of proof-of-principle
data that might justify full-scale investigation. Expeditiously stimulating pilot work, the
outcomes of which guide research programs in the most promising directions, is a mission
of VICTR and the VICTR Scientific Review Committee, the body charged with overseeing
and administrating all VICTR funding requests. If criteria are met, the voucher is approved,
triggering a bar-coded itemized label the investigator can redeem at Vanderbilt’s core
facilities for requested services or expert consultation, or specific instructions are generated
VICTR StarBRITE Web Portal
Location: On campus
https://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/starbrite/
VICTR Clinical Research Center (CRC)
Location: On campus
Clinical Research Center Website
for redeeming the voucher for study supplies or services provided outside the Vanderbilt
core invoicing system. The pilot funding program allows investigators to request
biostatistical consultation including study design, sample size estimation, statistical planning
and analysis. Support can be requested for research and improvements in advanced
experimental designs, such as adaptive designs, which can make research simultaneously
more productive and more ethical. In addition, research on research is a goal of this
program. Already VU has developed innovations, including research to measure and
improve long-term retention of statistical skills by investigators and developed validation and
simulation tools to detect and minimize bias in estimating the effect of treatments, risk
factors and biomarkers of disease and outcomes. This program also provides ethical
consultation to assist investigators in approaching and appropriately handling the ethical
challenges that can arise throughout the research process. This aspect of the program may
be particularly important when cross cultural issues arise in proposed studies. As
appropriate, ethicists are invited to participate in consults and research studios.
Investigators can also request assistance with developing posters for national scientific
meetings for sharing their study results. The VICTR Clinical Research Center has reduced
rate poster printing capabilities that can be requested through pilot funding.
VICTR StarBRITE Web Portal: an interactive web-based system that provides one stop
shopping for research needs. Through a single portal, researchers and study personnel can
identify resources, obtain regulatory support, access templates for research preparation and
study conduct, obtain database development software, learn about educational
requirements and opportunities, find research volunteers, and more. StarBRITE also
provides institutional application and research approval process support. This system was
launched in October, 2007 as part of the Vanderbilt CTSA initiative and contains traditional
portal offerings (i.e., template language and links to support research planning and
implementation, integrated calendar of training events), as well as custom applications to
support the research enterprise (i.e., healthy volunteer registry, Customized Action Plan
which is a turbo-tax-like concept project guiding researchers through regulatory process,
funding support requests, web-based data resources for individual studies and more). The
StarBRITE portal also provides CTSA leadership with real-time dashboards for use in
project evaluation and future planning. My Research is a view that allows investigators to
view applications and see status from departments such as IRB, Grants and Contracts
Mgmt, etc. Applicable components of StarBRITE are available to Meharry Medical College
Investigators.
The VICTR Clinical Research Center (CRC): established in 1956 with private funds
donated by Elliot V. Newman, an internist dedicated to improving the process of clinical
research. In 1963 the Vanderbilt CRC joined the NIH CRC’s, helping to set the stage and
culture for research in succeeding decades. In 2007, when Vanderbilt became a CTSA site,
the CRC was transformed yet again, offering increased services and expanding the scope
of its services outside the walls of the CRC site, into the community. VICTR Resource
Requests for CRC space and services are submitted electronically and reviewed for
scientific merit and feasibility by the VICTR Scientific Review Committee using similar
VICTR
Research Support Services
Location: On campus
Research Support Services Website
criteria to that the NIH uses in reviewing grants. The CRC offers a variety of resources to
clinical and translational researchers to facilitate their activities. Occupying ~18,000 square
feet in Medical Center North, the CRC has 13 inpatient rooms, 5 outpatient rooms, 2 HIVfocused rooms, 4 pediatric focused rooms, 2 sleep research rooms and 1 infusion room.
Nursing staff is available to travel off site to assist with community research. Nursing care is
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, as is nutritional support. Core facilities including
space and equipment include: cardiovascular physiology; bio-nutrition assessment; sleep
research core with 2 sleep monitoring systems and 2 ambulatory monitoring systems; assay
development lab; energy balance and exercise physiology including a metabolic chamber
and BodPod; and an imaging satellite with PET imaging and fMRI (3 & 7 tesla). The VICTR
CRC also provides an important training ground for clinical and translational researchers;
many of the nation’s leading clinical investigators trained in the Vanderbilt CRC.
Vanderbilt Research Support Services: personnel, supported by the Vanderbilt Office
and Research and CTSA, provide investigators and research personnel with a broad range
of services and resources designed to assist them in navigating the complex human
research process at Vanderbilt and to ultimately result in improvements in the quality of
research; research compliance and the protection of human subjects. RSS provides a
responsive “one-stop-shopping” venue with easy (free) access to personnel experienced in
responding to inquiries regarding bench and clinical research, study organization, IRB
navigation, regulatory affairs, protocol development, preparation of study related
documents, budgeting, billing, contract negotiations, conflict of interest, technology transfer,
internal and external regulatory communication and documentation, advertising,
recruitment, identification of financial resources, literature searches, and more. RSS
personnel interact daily with other departments (i.e., IRB, GCM, technology transfer, etc.)
and are proficient at answering research and administrative related questions and able to
refer questions that require specific “context” expertise to an appropriate person or
department. Information and tools are continually being developed and updated for access
by the research community via the RSS Website and the StarBRITE web portal. RSS also
provides research staff educational sessions including the Clinical Research Immersion
Boot Camp that introduces new clinical research staff with fundamental information and
introduces them to the resources and support services available to them. Boot Camp
sessions are followed by a cycle of follow-up sessions designed to provide staff at all levels
of experience with expanded information about critical topics only briefly presented in the
introductory course. RSS personnel also offer a voluntary quality improvement program
“IMPACTT”, designed to assist investigators and the research team in identifying strengths
and weaknesses, to provide education related to a specific project or research program, and
to support improvements in the research program. IMPACTT evaluations begin with a brief
interview, followed by an on-site assessment of a single research protocol using a
comprehensive assessment tool developed to examine the necessary elements involved in
effectively managing a research study. During a conclusion exit interview a final report,
including findings and recommendation is provided and reviewed. A return visit may be
conducted based on the needs of the research team.
VICTR Design, Biostatistics and Clinical
Research Ethics
Location: On campus
StarBRITE
VICTR Studio Program
Location: On campus
Studio link in StarBRITE
VICTR Design, Biostatistics and Clinical Research Ethics: providing biostatistical and
ethical supportive resources to investigators to improve research quality and rigor is another
important goal of VICTR and the NIH funded Clinical and Translational Science Award
(CTSA). Currently there are four biostatisticians and four ethicists who provide support,
consultation, project review and training for VICTR research/researchers. These personnel
support both the investigator and the VICTR Scientific Review Committee through individual
consultation and pre-review of VICTR Resource Requests, providing proactive biostatistical
input to minimize bias, improve study designs, assure recording of appropriate data and
confounding factors, avoid common research obstacles, assure appropriate sample size,
produce sound and safe study design and apply advanced methods of reproducible
statistical analysis and reproducible reporting. Investigators may request biostatistical and
ethical consultation services using a VICTR Resource Request. VICTR biostatisticians and
ethicists also support investigators by participation in VICTR Studios.
VICTR Studio Program: one of the many innovative resources available to investigators
through VICTR and the CTSA. A common problem hindering efficient clinical research
nationally is limited communication between physician-scientists and needed experts. This
often results in suboptimal collaboration and insufficient understanding of biostatistics and
design principles. Fundamental to maximizing the value created by every dollar spent on
research is ensuring the rigor and quality of the research itself. To support and strengthen
individual clinical and translational research initiatives, VICTR has established the
infrastructure, services, and training needed to ensure that rigorous study design is
enforced, and that critical methodologic, biostatistical, and ethical principles are regularly
and reliably met. The VICTR Studio Program strives to improve research quality and rigor
by offering and broadly implementing a wide range of supportive research from study design
and set-up to analysis and publication, available to new and experienced researchers.
There are six different types of studios (hypothesis generation, design, implementation,
analysis and interpretation, manuscript review and translation), each providing a different
look at an investigator’s research study. A studio is scheduled to include the investigator,
the investigator’s mentor/teacher (if applicable), an experienced moderator, and up to six
content and process experts, and a biostatistician. Materials are distributed to the experts
prior to the studio and discussed in detail during the studio. Studio’s offer an opportunity for
experienced researchers to provide suggestions and critiques of a research plan or the data
generated by a study. It also provides an opportunity for investigators to meet and begin
collaborations with other experts who share interest in their field of research. Investigators
are provided with minutes of the studio for reference. Studios are proving to be a major
asset to junior investigators. Vanderbilt also has successful experience conducting studios
via the web
The Synthetic Derivative Database (SD)
Location: On campus
Synthetic Derivative Website
REDCap
Location: On campus
Data management link in StarBRITE
VICTR Meharry Focused Partnership &
Stopping Health Disparities Program
Location: On campus
VICTR Translating Clinical Discoveries into
Practice Program
Location: On campus
The Synthetic Derivative (SD): is a database containing clinical information derived from
Vanderbilt's electronic medical record (EMR), labeled with a unique research ID derived
from the clinical medical record, and stripped of personal identifiers. Thus, the SD is a set of
records that is no longer linked to the identified medical record from which it is derived and
has been altered to the point it no longer closely resembles the original record. The SD can
be used as a stand-alone research resource, or can be used in conjunction with the
Vanderbilt DNA Databank to identify patient sets for genome-phenome analysis. Use of the
Synthetic Derivative requires appropriate IRB approval.
Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap): is a secure, web-based application
designed to support traditional case report form data capture for research studies. REDCap
is widely used in the Vanderbilt research enterprise and across a large consortium of
institutional partners. Investigators can access this intuitive interface for data entry, data
validation, audit trails, export procedures, seamless downloads to statistical packages and
more. Research Support Services staff are available to guide investigators in the use of this
product. Another product is REDCap Survey: a powerful tool for building and managing
online surveys with data that is easily exported to Microsoft Excel or other statistical
analysis packages.
VICTR Meharry Focused Partnership & Stopping Health Disparities Program: a longstanding collaboration through the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance that has brought together
the strengths of these two great institutions to learn from each other for the benefit of
student education, patient care, and research progress. Their missions are virtually the
same: education and research leading to the best patient care. As a result of that successful
partnership, Meharry has joined Vanderbilt as a CTSA partner. This initiative provides
access to CTSA resources to Meharry investigators. It allows for the sharing of information
designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of clinical research at both institutions.
VICTR Translating Clinical Discoveries into Practice Program: to stimulate and support
innovative clinical, behavioral, epidemiologic, and public health research to accelerate the
translation of promising new preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic discoveries
from early clinical feasibility, safety and efficacy testing into effective, patient-centered, safe,
timely efficient, and equitable clinical practice. The program provides expert assistance to
investigators who are researching new ideas; helps investigators identify who might benefit
most from their research; assists investigators in testing new drugs and treatments for
safety and adverse reactions; examines ways individualized patient-centered care might
incorporate patient preferences; eliminates disparities assuring equitable care to all
appropriate population subgroups; and to examine and reduce the behavioral barriers that
influence a patient to be compliant and adhere to recommended disease prevention and
management strategies. The program operates through the use of 5 cores: The Clinical
Epidemiology Core stimulates and facilitates clinical effectiveness studies and studies that
identify patient and population subgroups at differential health risk that would benefit from
care.
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The Behavioral Research Core stimulates and facilitates behavioral research to
make the content and process of care more patient-centered, determine behavioral
barriers to and facilitators for recommended health behaviors and healthcare, and
develop and test interventions to eliminate behavioral barriers and increase healthy
behaviors and adherence to effective healthcare.
The Implementation Science Research Core stimulates and facilitates clinical
studies that improve the safety, timeliness, equity, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness
of care and accelerate the incorporation of evidence-based content of care into realworld settings.
The Surveillance Epidemiology Core stimulates and facilitates observational and
surveillance studies that will generate and test new hypotheses on disease
prevention and monitor the performance of the content and processes of care in the
real world.
The Community Health Core stimulates and facilitates community-based research;
engage the community as research partners to inform research hypotheses,
designs, implementations and interpretations, and appropriate dissemination of
relevant findings into community practice.
In addition to the Cores, this program also supports investigators through the conduct of Clinical and
Translational Design and Analysis Clinics and the Translating Clinical Discoveries into Practice
Seminar Series.
VICTR Community Engagement Research Core
Location: On campus
Community Engaged Research Core Website
VICTR Community Review Board
The Community Engagement Research Core: offers assistance to researchers and
community partners on all phases of community engaged research including project
planning, study design, implementation, data collection, data analysis, translation and
dissemination. Consults are available on:
 Strategies for identifying and engaging communities in the development and
implementation of a research project
 Community needs assessment using existing data sets and planned data collection
 Research designs best suited for community settings
 Measurement strategies and tools for testing hypotheses in community settings
 Evaluation research methods
 Strategies for tracking individual or systems level changes when applied in
community settings
 Monitoring the delivery or fidelity of interventions in community settings
 Navigating administrative obstacles to carrying out research in community settings
 Translating and disseminating research findings in community settings.
Community Review Board: a structured guidance session for researchers interested in
working in a community setting. Community members serve as experts who will provide
feedback to enhance the design, implementation, translation and dissemination of
community engaged research. The benefits of the community forum include:
 Access to community experts from various settings, without the complexity of scheduling
Location: On campus
Link to application in StarBRITE
VICTR Qualitative Research Core
Location: On campus
Qualitative Research Core
3.
multiple meetings
Immediate feedback at various stages of the development of the project, protocol,
program or application
 Opportunity to build a relationship with community partners and deepen the
understanding of the community of interest
 Immersion into the cultural nuances and possible historical issues
 Assessment of the feasibility and appropriateness of the project for the community
 Buy-in from key community stakeholders
The VICTR Qualitative Research Core: offers consultative services to support
investigators planning to or conducting qualitative studies including design, implementation
and analysis. Services include: assistance with qualitative analysis (i.e. cluster analysis,
sequential analysis, discourse analysis, and media analysis, content analysis, taxonomic
analysis and archival/historical analysis); consults on developing focus group protocols;
training sessions on coding qualitative data; developing interview protocols for in-depth
interviews and semi-structured interviews; training and information sessions on Photovoice;
consults on qualitative research design; transcription services; training for focus group
moderators and interviewers.

Vanderbilt Schools and Colleges
The Vanderbilt University College of Arts and Sciences: The mission of this
School is to engage in significant and innovative research, scholarship, and creative
expression in the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, to offer
distinguished, well-taught programs of undergraduate and graduate education in the
liberal arts and sciences, and to foster service to society overall. The College of Arts
and Science is addressing critical issues, and at the same time leveraging faculty
strengths that span many departments and schools, through the creation of
interdisciplinary centers. These centers provide resources and a point of focus for
faculty and students with common interests, give rise to new courses, bring new
programming to campus, encourage new research, and strengthen Vanderbilt's
intellectual community. The College offers a Program in Medicine, Health, and
Society which draws on a variety of fields in the social sciences and humanities to
study health and health care in their social and cultural contexts. This Program is of
particular interest to students preparing for careers in health-related fields.
The Vanderbilt University School of Engineering offers masters and doctoral
degree programs. The goal of the biomedical engineering program is to provide
advanced education and research training in quantitative organ and cellular biology,
biomedical information and instrumentation systems, imaging and in the scientific
principles underlying the origination of therapeutic devices and processes, specifically
the interface between the engineering, physical, computing and mathematical
sciences, and biology. Engineering students and faculty researchers are involved in
trans-institutional collaborations, for example, faculty in the Department of
Mechanical Engineering and the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center have worked together to
develop a robotic system that can “read” an individuals mood during certain tasks and
automatically adjust the difficulty level of the task. For example, if boredom is sensed,
the level of difficulty is increased, better engaging the individual in the task. One of
the primary goals of VICTR will be to provide support to bring together novel
interdisciplinary teams with ideas for developing technology that can be developed,
refined and implemented to serve the broader research community.
The Graduate School
Vanderbilt University
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/gradschool/
The Vanderbilt Graduate School opened in 1875. The objectives of the Graduate
School are to train scholars and to promote research. Wherever feasible, the faculty
provides opportunities for all Ph.D. candidates to have supervised teaching
experiences. The Graduate School enrolls about 2,200 students. About 48 percent
are women, and 28 percent come from foreign countries. The school offers the
following degrees: Master of Arts, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Fine Arts,
Master of Liberal Arts and Science, Master of Science, Doctor of Philosophy.
The Vanderbilt University Law School: For more than 125 years, this School has
trained lawyers for careers throughout the world. The practice of medicine is shaped
in almost every aspect by the law and the political process, so healthcare leaders
require some understanding of the law. In response to these needs, the School of
Medicine and this school have formed a collaboration to introduce students to tools
that will help them explore legal issues and to provide them with an overview of the
many ways law affects medicine. The School of Medicine Law Emphasis Program
provides education on topics including licensure, medical malpractice, informed
consent, research ethics, public health law, funding of health care and more.
Students have the opportunity to work on legal issues in a real-world setting.
The Vanderbilt School of Medicine: Since 1875, this school has made education its
highest priority. Physicians are expected in their professional lives to areas apply
information from different fields, such as business, law, spirituality, research, ethics
and public health. Recognizing that nobody can be an expert in every area so
multifaceted training is a must in today’s world. To address these needs, the
Vanderbilt School of Medicine developed a joint degree program—The Emphasis
Program, offering joint degrees in business administration, law, public health,
biomedical informatics, education, biomedical engineering, computer science, divinity
and theological studies. The dual degree program illustrates how diverse the
education is at Vanderbilt. The School of Medicine and Office of Research have a
long history of working closely together to promote and support bench and clinical
research. This school will continue to be very active in VICTR, both through support
and its faculty researchers.
The Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music: offers formal instruction in music.
Faculty from Blair collaborate with Vanderbilt investigators and the community in
healthcare related studies, including how music affects emotions and mood,
autonomic nervous system, and can modify physiological responses, including
response to chemotherapy. Researchers are also studying ways to improve learning
in disabled groups and to determine why some individuals, especially some with
behavioral conditions, are more musically inclined than others.
The Vanderbilt University School of Nursing is a recognized leader in the
development of innovative models of education, practice and research. Faculty and
students work together, focusing education on individual, family, and community
responses to health and illness across the life span, and the measurement of
outcomes of care delivery practices. Nursing faculty and students collaborate with
medical faculty, medical students and utilize the services of departments such as
biostatistics and the GCRC to conduct research. Research underway is
multidisciplinary and involves researchers from nursing, medicine, pediatrics,
business, engineering, anthropology, psychology, education and public policy.
Research is a major component of nursing at Vanderbilt with ongoing research in
quality of care, trends in the nursing workplace, nursing and healthcare related issues
held by public and health care professionals. The School expanded its research
capacity when the PhD in Nursing Science was offered in 1993. The School utilizes
Medical Center research process experts as teaching staff to provide education
through the Clinical Research Professional Development Series, a lecture series
targeted to clinical research staff. This year, the Office of Research and the School of
Nursing will jointly fund 15 scholarships for clinical research staff to attend this
educational series. Research Support Services staff are serving as advisors to The
School of Nursing to develop the curriculum for a nursing masters program in clinical
trial management that will be introduced in Fall 2007.
The Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development:
Peabody is the 5th-ranked graduate school of education in the nation according to
U.S.News & World Report's 2006 survey and has held a top-10 ranking for the last 11
years. The special education program is ranked 1st in the country by U.S. News &
World Report and has been ranked either 1st or 2nd since 1995. The mission of
Peabody is to improve the lives of people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities
through education and research. Students receive an education that emphasizes
experiential learning through practica and internships, opportunities for research, and
community service. The Susan Gray School opened in 1968 as an on-campus
research-oriented school devoted to educational research involving young children
with developmental disabilities and children whose future development was at risk
because of conditions such as poverty. Vanderbilt researchers in the Departments of
Special Education, Psychology and Human Development, Pediatrics, Speech and
Hearing, and Teaching and Learning work with the Susan Gray School in many ways.
Importantly, Dr. Len Bickman from Peabody leads the evaluation core for VICTR.
The Vanderbilt Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion:
established in 1875 seeks to fulfill the following objectives: to engage men and
women in a theological understanding of religious traditions; to help persons, both lay
and ordained, re-envision and prepare for the practice of Christian ministry in our
time; to encourage individuals in their spiritual and intellectual growth; to prepare
leaders who will be agents of social justice; and to educate future scholars and
teachers of religion. Degree programs enable students, with the aid of faculty
advisers, to plan a course of study in light of their talents, interests, and professional
objectives. Resources of the university and affiliated institutions offer rich
opportunities for students to secure additional knowledge and skills in preparation for
their vocations. The school offers tow programs: The Master of Divinity (M.Div.)
program is intended primarily for individuals interested in the possibilities of ministry
and in the subject matter involved in preparation for such a vocation. The Master of
Theological Studies (M.T.S.) program is designed for persons interested in pursuing
professional graduate study across the several theological disciplines, but who are
not, in most cases, intending to pursue ordained ministry. Students preparing for
research
and teaching in the field of religion and who possess appropriate and significant
academic work in religious studies may consider applying for admission to the Master
of Arts or Doctor of Philosophy degree programs offered by the Graduate School.
The Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management: offers a full spectrum of
management education programs including custom corporate programs, two-year
MBA programs, one-year masters programs, and executive and health care
programs. Students are encouraged and enabled to make a difference in the world by
distinguished faculty renowned for research that shapes the practice of business and
teaching that shapes the lives of learners.
4.
Vanderbilt Research Related Educational In-services,
Workshops and Clinics
VICTR CRC Research Skills Workshop
Friday’s from 8:00-9:00 am
CRC Conference Room, A3210 MCN
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/gcrc/workshop.html
Department of Biostatistics, Biostatistics Clinics
Monday-Friday, 12:00-1:15pm
Biostatistics Department Conference Room
Check schedule for location
Biostatistics Clinic Schedule
The VICTR CRC Research Skills Workshop: offers basic instruction and practical
advice on commonly encountered clinical research topics. Sessions are typically
demonstration-oriented and provide an informal setting to learn new skills. Sessions are
available at no charge and are available to anyone without registration. PLEASE CLICK
HERE to sign up for weekly e-mail reminders for the workshop including notification of
the topic of the week.
Department of Biostatistics, Biostatistics Clinics
The clinics are open to all members of the Vanderbilt and Meharry communities who
have methodologic questions about their research projects or about published articles.
Mentors should attend with post-docs and students. Attendees should select the
appropriate clinic day according to the schedule. The Tuesday clinic is co-staffed and
sponsored by the Department of Biomedical Informatics.
Department of Biostatistics, The R Clinic
Thursday’s from 2:00-3:00 pm
Biostatistics Department Conference Room, D -2221 MCN
http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/wiki/Main/RClinic
Department of Biostatistics, The R Clinic: This weekly clinic is designed to expand
understanding and use of R by offering basic instruction and practical advice on
commonly encountered tasks in R. For an introduction to R, which is a language and
environment for statistical computing and graphics and available as free software, visit
http://www.r-project.org/.
Department of Biostatistics, Computing Clinic
Tuesday’s from 9:00-10:00 am
Biostatistics Department Conference Room, D -2221 MCN
http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/wiki/Main/ComputingClinic
Department of Biostatistics, Computing Clinic: This weekly clinic is designed to
provide a forum for anything related to computing and Linux.
5. Vanderbilt Research Related Required Training
VUMC Annual Training Requirements
VandySafe Training Required Annually
http://www.safety.vanderbilt.edu/training/
Shipping Infectious and Biological Substances
VandySafe Training Required Annually
http://www.safety.vanderbilt.edu/training/topics_biotrain_shi
pping.htm
Vanderbilt Environmental Health and Safety provides on-line required and recommended
training on a variety of topics. Research staff can keep track of their training
requirements and renewals through http://www.vandysafe.com/. Non safety related
required training can be accessed through Vanderbilt Webinservice.com.
Shipping Infectious Materials and Biological Substances-USDOT and IATA
Training: Shipping substances that may contain pathothens, whether infectious or not,
require special processing and labeling mandated by the US Department of
Transportation Office of Hazardous Materials Safety. If you package, ship or receive
biologic specimens or infectious materials you are required to complete VandySafe
training on an annual basis.
Institutional Review Board (IRB) Human Subjects
Protection Training
Training Required Annually
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/irb/training/
Clinical Research Immersion Boot Camp
Training Strongly Recommended for New Clinical Research
Staff
Institutional Review Board (IRB) Human Subjects Protection Training: The
Vanderbilt IRB requires all investigators, key study personnel, students and faculty
advisors who are conducting human subjects research to complete human subjects
protection training using the online CITI course. In addition, all Investigators, Key Study
Personnel, Students, and Faculty Advisors conducting human subjects research, must
complete continuing education annually. Continuing education requirements may be met
by attending an educational session approved by the IRB (e.g., IRB Essentials,
Research Matters, News You Can Use, etc.), a national conference that addresses
human subjects protections in research, completion of a CITI Refresher Course, or one
of the available optional CITI courses (e.g., Good Clinical Practice, Responsible Conduct
of Research, etc.). Please click on the instructions link before logging into CITI for the
first time
Clinical Research Immersion Boot Camp: A research orientation program designed to
provide fundamental information to support the development of skills and competencies
essential to good clinical research practice. 1-day courses are offered quarterly and
registration is required. To register for a course, visit the VU IRB Workshop Schedule.
6.
Vanderbilt Research Related Educational Courses and Degree
Programs
Vanderbilt School of Medicine Medical Scientist
Training Program (MSTP)
https://medschool.mc.vanderbilt.edu/mstp/
Vanderbilt School of Medicine Master of Public Health
Program
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/prevmed/mph/Pages/Program
.html
Vanderbilt School of Medicine Master of Science in
Clinical Investigation Program
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/msci/
Vanderbilt School of Medicine Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP):
Prepares students for faculty and research position of leadership in the biomedical
sciences through an integrated curriculum that features a strong core education in
medicine and intensive training in scientific inquiry. Successful completion of the
program leads to both the M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. The Vanderbilt MSTP builds on the
existing strengths of Vanderbilt University to meet national needs for well-trained basic
and clinical biomedical investigators.
Vanderbilt School of Medicine Master of Public Health Program: a two-year
program for physicians and other doctoral-level health care professionals designed to
provide training for clinical and patient-oriented researchers who will conduct nonexperimental studies or clinical trials with large sample sizes. The MPH includes
didactic course work, public health practicum and mentored research, the latter
resulting in a thesis. Normally, applicants will be clinical research fellows or faculty who
seek training for a future career in epidemiologic, clinical, or health services research
or health administration. A five-year joint MD/MPH degree is also offered.
Vanderbilt School of Medicine Master of Science in Clinical Investigation
Program: developed to train investigators in the techniques and processes utilized in
patient-oriented research. This program is intended to provide direct, mentored
experience in clinical investigation and, through didactic work, to provide trainees with
a strong foundation in study design, biostatistics, biomedical ethics, clinical
pharmacology, human genetics and assay methods. It is expected that graduates of
this program will successfully compete for grants such as the K-23, Clinical Associate
Physician Award, R0-1 and major foundation grants. Graduates will be poised to make
major contributions to the understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment of
human disease over the coming decades.