Advocacy and Leadership in Pediatric Infectious Diseases

Our faculty are highly involved in across many areas of pediatric infectious diseases and continue to be recognized as leaders in the field institutionally, nationally, and internationally. Please see below to learn more about our faculty's advocacy and leadership positions.

Ritu Banerjee, MD, PhD

Ritu Banerjee, MD, PhD

Dr. Banerjee is the Medical Director of Pediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship for Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. She's also the Associate Editor of Red Book. She is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Clinical Infectious Diseases and a member of the Scientific Leadership Core, DEI Committee, and Chair of the Pediatrics Working Group for the Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group (ARLG).


 

James E. Cassat, MD, PhD

James E. Cassat, MD, PhD

Dr. Cassat is a member of the Society for Pediatric Research and the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He currently serves as an Editorial Board member for the journal Infection and Immunity and is a standing member of the NIH "Bacterial Virulence" study section. Dr. Cassat also serves as the Program Director of the Childhood Infections Research Program (ChIRP) T32.


 

Cara Charnogursky, MD, MPH

Cara Charnogursky, MD, MPH

Dr. Charnogursky is the Medical Director of Infection Prevention for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. As part of Vanderbilt's mission to create safe patient care through education, research, and quality care, the Department of Infection Prevention provides evidence-based, scientific, and proven resources to Vanderbilt faculty and staff as well as our patients and families.


 

C. Buddy Creech, MD, MPH

C. Buddy Creech, MD, MPH

Dr. Creech is the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) Past-President and current PIDS Foundation Chair. He serves on the Steering Committee for the International Network of Special Immunization Services (INSIS), an international network to address knowledge gaps in our understanding of the causes of adverse events of special interest following vaccination (AEFIs), risk factors for developing AEFIs, and determine the best way to immunize individuals with prior AEFIs or risk factors for developing AEFIs. He also serves as Director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program, Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded Vanderbilt Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit, and Co-Principal Investigator of the CDC-sponsored Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Network.


 

Walter Dehority, MD, MSc

Walter Dehority, MD, MSc

Dr. Dehority serves on the Editorial Board (ID Section) for Pediatrics in Reviewthe AAP’s monthly peer-reviewed continuing medical education journal, designed to keep the general pediatric clinician current in all areas of pediatric medicine and to assist those participating in the Maintenance of Certification program of the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP).


 

Dan Dulek, MD

Daniel E. Dulek, MD

Dr. Dulek is the Medical Director of Immunocompromised Infectious Diseases at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. He is Co-Chair for the Infectious Diseases (IDCARE) Committee of the International Pediatric Transplant Association (IPTA), a professional organization with the purpose of advancing the science and practice of pediatric transplantation worldwide. He is an editorial board member for Pediatric Transplantation. Dr. Dulek currently serves on the Immunomodulatory Guidance Panel of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. This panel is tasked with providing guidance for monitoring and prevention of infection in patients receiving immunomodulatory therapy.


 

Tony Flores, MD

Anthony R. Flores, MD, MPH, PhD, FAAP, FPIDS

Dr. Flores serves as the Division Director for Pediatric Infectious Diseases. He also has a strong interest in mentoring early career physician-scientists aimed at improving workforce diversity in pediatrics and research. In 2019, he spearheaded the formation and is the Chair of the Inclusion, Diversity, Access, & Equity (IDA&E) Committee of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS). Through the IDA&E Committee, he led the collaboration between PIDS and the Academic Pediatric Association (APA) RAPID Program to provide mentorship to early-stage investigators underrepresented in medicine and is part of the National Advisory Committee of the PIDS/APA RAPID collaboration. Dr. Flores also serves on the Selection Committee of the Pediatric Scientist Development Program (PSDP), PIDS Board of Directors, and the Board of Scientific Counselors, Infectious Diseases, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


 

Natasha B. Halasa, MD, MPH

Natasha B. Halasa, MD, MPH

Dr. Halasa is the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) Chair for IDWeek and a member of the PIDS Board.


 

Sophie Katz, MD

Sophie E. Katz, MD

Dr. Katz is the Associate Medical Director of Pediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship for Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. She is also an Associate Editor for the Journal of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, the official journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS).


 

Kristen Ogden, PhD

Kristen M. Ogden, PhD

Dr. Ogden is a member of the Society for Pediatric Research and an Editorial Board member at the Journal of Virology, a journal published by the American Society for Microbiology.


 

Stephanie L. Rolsma, MD, PhD

Stephanie L. Rolsma, MD, PhD

Dr. Rolsma serves as the Pediatric Infectious Diseases representative on the Department of Pediatrics Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee. She also serves as co-investigator of the NIH-funded Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit and co-investigator of the CDC-sponsored Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Network.