The College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is beginning a new chapter in its commitment to making Tennessee healthier. The winter 2026 issue of Medicine Magazine explains some of the many ways the college’s alumni, students, faculty, and programs are shaping a brighter future for health care across the state.… Read More
Here’s how Chinelo Animalu, MD, describes her role as an infectious disease physician: “We deal with those cases that make everybody else run in the opposite direction,” she says. An associate professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the College of Medicine at UT Health Science Center, Dr. Animalu is also the medical director for Infectious Disease and Geographic Medicine for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare… Read More
The recent review by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) resulted in an excellent outcome for UT Health Science Center’s College of Medicine. The LCME is the national body that accredits all MD-granting medical schools in the United States and Canada. The organization sets rigorous standards for medical education, including curriculum, student outcomes, clinical… Read More
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
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
