Our People

The Vanderbilt Healthcare Improvement Group (VHIG) is an interprofessional community of Vanderbilt education management, medicine, and nursing students committed to advancing education and student participation in quality improvement in health care.

Founded in December 2008 by Piotr Pilarski and Irving Ye, both second-year medical students at the time, VHIG became the 99th Chapter of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) Open School for Health Professions. VHIG is led by an Executive Board of students from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education & Human Development, Owen Graduate School of Management, School of Medicine, and School of Nursing. Support and guidance are provided by a panel of faculty and deans from each of the representative Vanderbilt schools.

Student Leadership

	Scott Hagan President Hometown: Nashville, TN Graduate: MD ’13, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Undergraduate: BS, Science-Business ’08, University of Notre Dame Interests: social media, blogs, running
	Tim Lockney President Hometown: Concord, NC Graduate: MD ’13, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Undergraduate: BS, Biology and Chemistry ’09, UNC-Chapel Hill Interests: aviation, marathons, dogs
	Billy Sullivan Vice President, Peabody College of Education & Human Development Hometown: Massapequa, NY Graduate: MD/MEd ’13, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine/Vanderbilt University Peabody College of Education & Human Development Undergraduate: BS, Psychology & Pre-Professional Studies ’08, University of Notre Dame Interests: internal medicine & pediatrics, medical education, Notre Dame football
	Kate Gurba Vice President, School of Medicine Hometown: Leawood, KS Graduate: PhD ’11, MD ’13, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Undergraduate: BA, Biochemistry and English ’04, Rice University Interests: music, painting, neuroscience, politics
	Michele Luhm Vigor Vice President, School of Medicine Hometown: Minneapolis, MN Graduate: MD ’14, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Undergraduate: BS, Biology ’10, University of Minnesota Interests: how people learn, sustainability, cooking
	Katherine Liljedahl Vice President, Owen Graduate School of Management Hometown: Hendersonville, NC Graduate: MBA ’12, Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management; MD ’13, UNC-Chapel Hill Undergraduate: BA, Biology ’07, Carleton College Interests: process improvement, modern art, theater
	Mike Miles Vice President, Owen Graduate School of Management Hometown: Los Angeles, CA Graduate: MBA ’12, Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management Undergraduate: BS, Mechanical Engineering ’06, Carnegie Mellon University Interests: cars, auto racing, process improvement, lean manufacturing
	Richard Clews Vice President, School of Nursing Hometown: Cape Town, South Africa Graduate: MSN Adult Nurse Practitioner, Cardiovascular Disease Management and Prevention, Vanderbilt Fellowship in Interprofessional Learning ’12, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Undergraduate: BS, Exercise Physiology ’07, California Polytechnic State University Interests: skiing, hiking, biking, running, cooking
	Emily Cote Vice President, School of Nursing Hometown: Mandeville, LA Graduate: MSN ’12, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Undergraduate: BS Biological Sciences ’08, Louisiana State University Interests: holistic and interdisciplinary healthcare
	Natalie Ausborn Director of Communications Hometown: Gadsden, AL Graduate: MD ’13, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Undergraduate: BS, Chemistry ’09, Birmingham-Southern College Interests: reading, boating, ballet
	Yash Choksi Director of Education Hometown: Franklin, TN Graduate: MD ’12, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Undergraduate: BA, Philosophy ’07, Duke University Interests: basketball, tennis, communication
	Jake McClure Director of Research & Projects Hometown: Hixson, TN Graduate: MD ’13, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Undergraduate: BS, Biology, Chemistry, and Finance ’09, UAB Interests: Local Taco
	Thomas Davis Chair, Fundamentals of Quality Improvement in Health Care Elective Committee Hometown: Tucson, AZ Graduate: MD ’14, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Undergraduate: BE, Biomedical Engineering ’10, Vanderbilt University Interests: social enterprise, global health, soccer, eating at hole-in-the-walls
	Barry Kang Chair, Fundamentals of Quality Improvement in Health Care Elective Committee Hometown: Honolulu, HI Graduate: MD ’14, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Undergraduate: BS, Biochemistry ’10, Occidental College Interests: basketball, working out, reading, cooking
	Christine Frauenhoffer Chair, Fundamentals of Quality Improvement in Health Care Elective Committee Hometown: Boston, MA Graduate: MBA ’12, Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management Undergraduate: BA Health and Societies ’04, University of Pennsylvania Interests: powerlifting, yoga, cooking
	Courtney Necessary Chair, Fundamentals of Quality Improvement in Health Care Elective Committee Hometown: Atlanta, GA Graduate: MBA ’12, Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management Undergraduate: BS, Business Management, Certificate in Finance ’08, Georgia Institute of Technology Interests: clinical process improvement, operations, music, wine

Faculty Leadership

Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management
Dean Advisor: Jon Lehman, MBA (Associate Dean for Health Care Management and Associate Dean of Students, Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management)
Faculty Advisor: Rangaraj Ramanujam, PGDM, PhD (Associate Professor of Management, Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management)

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Dean Advisor: Bonnie Miller, MD (Senior Associate Dean for Health Sciences Education, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine)
Faculty Advisor: Jacob Hathaway, MD, MPH (Assistant Professor of General Internal Medicine and Public Health, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine)

Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
Dean Advisor: Linda Norman, DSN (Senior Associate Dean for Academics, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing)
Faculty Advisors:
Tom Christenbery, MSN, PhD (Assistant Professor of Nursing, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing)
Terri Crutcher, MSN (Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing)
Richard Watters, MEd, PhD (Clinical Associate Professor of Nursing, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing)

Past Student Leadership

Co-Founders

Vice President, Owen Graduate School of Management

Vice President, School of Medicine

Nicole Hames, MD ’12, Vice President, School of Medicine (2009-2010)
Jacob VanHouten, PhD ’14, MD ’16, Vice President, School of Medicine (2009-2010)

Vice President, School of Nursing
Amanda Brantley, MSN ’11, Vice President, School of Nursing (2010-2011)
Ben Ferrell, MSN ’11, Vice President, School of Nursing (2010-2011)
Emily Holcombe, MSN ’10, Vice President, School of Nursing (2009-2010)
Melinda McCusker, MSN ’10, Vice President, School of Nursing (2009-2010)

Director of Education
Matt Kynes, MD ’11, Director of Education (2008-2011)

Additional Advisors

Manuel Benegas, Jr., JD (Program Administrator, Quality System Strategy, Vanderbilt University Medical Center)

Robert S. Dittus, MD, MPH (Albert & Bernard Werthan Professor of Medicine; Assistant Vice Chancellor for Public Health; Associate Dean for Population Health Sciences; Director, Institute for Medicine and Public Health; Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine)

G. Waldon Garriss, III, MD, MS (Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine & Pediatrics; Associate Chair, Ambulatory Education, Department of Medicine; Associate Director, Medicine & Pediatrics Residency Program; Associate Director, Internal Medicine Residency Program)

Julie Morath, MS (Chief Quality Officer, Vanderbilt University Medical Center)

Theodore Speroff, PhD, PhD, MS (Director of Clinical Improvement Research, Center for Clinical Improvement; Senior Quality Scholar, Department of Veterans Affairs; Associate Director, Nashville VA/Vanderbilt Quality Scholars Program)