For millions living with hemoglobin deficiencies such as sickle cell disease or beta thalassemia, every day is a battle against pain, costly treatments, and uncertainty. Dr. Frank Park is racing to help. A new gene therapy being developed at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center could provide a more accessible cure. Frank Park, PhD,… Read More
When the phone call came, Dr. James Dale’s first thought wasn’t gratitude or pride. It was confusion. “Why in the world are they giving this award to me?” the professor emeritus recalled thinking. “Where are all the young, innovative people?” Yet after four decades of research on a vaccine that could save nearly half a… Read More
Brittany Sheehy, PhD, recently joined the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center as the chief of staff for Executive Dean Michael Hocker, MD. As chief of staff, Dr. Sheehy manages internal operations for the executive dean’s office. “Brittany brings exactly the kind of strategic thinking and operational excellence we need… Read More
When the Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Simulation (CHIPS) opened in 2018, it transformed how the University of Tennessee Health Science Center prepared students for clinical care. With a recent round of major technology upgrades, CHIPS is again redefining what is possible, making high-quality simulation training more accessible, flexible, and forward-looking than ever. Over… Read More
In a darkened operating room at Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville, something extraordinary happens. As John F. Lazar, MD, peers into a surgical console, the lung tissue on his 3D monitor begins to glow. What was once invisible to the human eye — tiny, early-stage cancer cells — is now illuminated in vivid fluorescent… Read More
A spring break trip to the Kennedy Space Center 20 years ago set University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine alumnus Eiman Jahangir, MD, on a trajectory that eventually launched him into space. “I always had two passions,” says Dr. Jahangir, 45, now a professor of medicine and radiology and the director of… Read More
The University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) recently recognized some of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s innovators, whose research is generating new intellectual property, licenses, and startup companies, reflecting the depth of discovery at the university and the growing momentum behind its innovation portfolio. The 2025 Innovation Awards luncheon for UT Health Sciences… Read More
Ever since Emilee Dobish, MD, was old enough to answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” she has known the answer. Born with a diaphragmatic hernia, she spent her first days of life in the neonatal intensive care unit at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. “I was on… Read More
