I am a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Vanderbilt University and the Director of the Vanderbilt Pediatric Neurosurgery Clinical Research Initiative (VPNCRI) at the Monroe Carell Jr Children’s Hospital. As an Assistant Professor, I have 13 years of clinical research experience including the development and management of multi-center multidisciplinary clinical trials and clinical research. The outcomes research I conduct is patient-based centering on quality of life and cost-effectiveness. Evaluating standardized clinical pathways and multidisciplinary protocols for care allows us to investigate the implications of surgical intervention in the pediatric brain tumor population. Our overall goal is to gain a better understanding of:

• The comorbidities and complications surrounding surgical intervention
• The implications of surgical intervention on long term neurocognitive development
• The health-related quality of life, both in the short and long term post-surgical intervention
• The psychosocial implications on the family unit, including health disparities that impact care
• The economic impact of and cost-effectiveness related to surgical intervention

I am a collaborator and investigator in the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network (HCRN) participating in multi-institutional clinical and outcomes research for over 7 years. My research interests include 1) long term neurodevelopmental and health related quality of life outcomes of infants born with neurological disorders such as post hemorrhagic hydrocephalus, spina bifida and epilepsy, 2) economic impact of surgical verses medical management of pediatric neurological disorders, and 3) quality improvement initiatives addressing surgical site infections and unplanned re-admissions to the OR. I also serve as the site investigator for the Park Reeves Syringomyelia Consortium (PRSC) and the co-chair of the quality of life committee where we are currently validating a Chiari specific health-related quality of life instrument and evaluating health outcomes in both surgical and non-surgical pediatric Chiari patients.

As the Director of the VPNCRI I, along with our research managers, facilitate multidisciplinary research opportunities for students as well as residents, fellows and faculty members. Our mission is to enable and enhance collaborative research within the pediatric surgery disciplines at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.