People: Faculty News


New Chief of Staff Strengthens College of Medicine’s Tennessee Mission

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Brittany Sheehy's headshot

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


Investing in Innovation: New Technology Expands Reach of Simulation Training

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Photo of a CHIPS control room

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


Innovation in Action: UT Health Sciences Physician at the Forefront of Tennessee’s Cancer Fight

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A colorful, computer-generated image showing a glowing, potentially cancerous tumor in a lung

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


UT Research Foundation Honors Innovators Advancing Discovery, Commercialization, and Economic Growth

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Photo of Innovation Awards

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


From Patient Care to Advocacy, Dr. Emilee Dobish Is a Champion for Children

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Portrait of Dr. Emilee Dobish

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


Why Inflammation Matters This Holiday Season

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Dr. Jimmy Kerrigan's headshot

As millions of Americans prepare for the holidays, a cardiologist and professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center says the conversation about heart health needs to shift from cholesterol to include a less visible but more dangerous threat: inflammation. Jimmy Kerrigan, MD, FSCAI, FACC, is an assistant professor of medicine at the College… Read More


Tennessee Health Leaders Visit UT Health Sciences for ‘Conversation Among Partners’

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“It is good to be here and partner with you,” Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner John Dunn, DVM, PhD, said during a visit to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s Memphis campus Thursday, Dec. 11. Commissioner Dunn and members of his leadership team came to Memphis to officially present three rural health grants to… Read More


College of Medicine’s Knoxville Campus Embraces New Name in Line with Academic Expansion

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Photo of a physician and two medical students in an exam room.

For the last several years, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s medical campus in Knoxville operated with a name it had outgrown, according to the campus’s dean. On October 1, that changed. Now officially the College of Medicine – Knoxville, the campus has stepped into a new identity that reflects its expanding role in… Read More