Jennifer M. Sucre, MD

Jennifer
M.
Sucre
MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Neonatology

Jennifer Sucre, MD is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Cell and Developmental Biology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She graduated with degrees in creative writing and genetics from the University of Georgia, graduated from Harvard Medical School, trained in pediatrics at Washington University in St. Louis, and completed fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at UCLA. Since joining the Vanderbilt faculty in 2016, she has established a research program focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of normal lung development and lung disease across the lifespan with a particular focus on bronchopulmonary dysplasia, the leading complication in survivors of preterm birth.

Doctors' Office Tower
2200 Children's Way
Room / Suite
11111
Nashville
Tennessee
37232-9545

Her clinical experience treating premature infants provides a unique perspective for studying lung development, and she has cultivated new ex vivo, in vitro, and in vivo models of lung injury. Dr. Sucre has combined these models with single-cell biology, spatial transcriptomics, and 4-dimensional live imaging to gain paradigm-shifting insights into cellular specialization and dynamics in the developing lung, elucidate age-regulated host susceptibility factors to infection, and define previously unrecognized cell states in chronic respiratory diseases. Her research group integrates cell biology, informatics, and large human datasets with mathematical modeling to study cellular behavior during organogenesis and how early life lung injury disrupts development, with a goal of harnessing the mechanisms of normal lung development to promote lung regeneration after injury across the lifespan.

jennifer.sucre@vumc.org

Specialty
Neonatology
M.D.
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 2009
Internship
Pediatric Internship-St. Louis Children's Hospital, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Residency
Pediatric Residency-St. Louis Children's Hospital, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Fellowship
Neonatology Fellowship-UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA

Jill E. Steigelfest, MD

Jill
E.
Steigelfest
MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
General Pediatrics
(615) 936-3939
Delivery Address
Vanderbilt Children's University Pediatrics
Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks
719 Thompson Ln
Room / Suite
24500
Nashville
Tennessee
37204
jill.steigelfest@vumc.org

Comprehensive pediatric care for infants, children and adolescents

Specialty
General Pediatrics
M.D.
Albert Einstein College, Bronx, NY, 1995
Residencies
Pediatric Residency-University of South Florida, All Children's Hospital, St. Petersburg, FL
Chief Resident-University of South Florida, All Children's Hospital, Tampa General Hospital, Tampa Bay, FL

John Staubitz, BCBA, MEd

John
Staubitz
BCBA, MEd
Assistant in Pediatrics
Developmental Medicine
Behavior Consultation Coordinator
Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD)
Behavioral/Educational Consultant
Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD)
(615) 936-0847
Doctors' Office Tower
2200 Children's Way
Room / Suite
11101
Nashville
Tennessee
37232-9003

John Staubitz's research focuses on applying behavior analytic technology to treat severe problem behavior in school, home, community, and medical settings. He specializes in using functional assessment techniques to inform and individualize treatment protocols in which students or patients learn safe, functional means of engaging with their environment.  He has pioneered technologically enhanced methods of assessment, consultation, and caregiver training. 

john.staubitz@vumc.org

Problem behavior, behavior disorders, behavioral assessment, behavioral treatment, functional communication, applied behavior analysis, school-based consultation, teleconsultation, educator training

Ryan J. Stark, MD

Ryan
J.
Stark
MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Critical Care Medicine
Doctors' Office Tower
2200 Children's Way
Room / Suite
5121
Nashville
Tennessee
37232

Dr. Stark's laboratory research focuses on the mechanisms through which acute inflammatory responses alter vascular function and contribute to critical illness. Further, he is interested in discovering ways to limit the negative impact inflammation has on the endothelium and associated vascular system.

Previous NIH-funded research investigated how endothelial cells are affected during infection, with specific focus on endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) dysfunction. Furthermore, Dr. Stark's lab examined how priming of the immune system with a TLR4 agonist, monophosphoryl lipid a (MPLA), altered the pro-inflammatory responses of activated endothelial cells with secondary infectious challenges. They have also examined a group of metabolic regulators of inflammation, known as sirtuins (SIRTs). They found that loss of SIRT1, which occurs during prolonged sepsis and with age, alters the metabolic phenotype of the endothelial cells to where they have a "metabolic shift" away from oxidative phosphorylation, the primary source of energy production, to glycolysis.

Additionally, a translational aspect of the program studies endothelial dysfunction in humans using a technique called laser doppler perfusion monitoring which is coupled to drug iontophoresis. This system allows us to test the function of the vasculature in critically ill patients using drugs that either stimulate the endothelial cells (acetylcholine) or the vascular smooth muscle cells (sodium nitroprusside). They have found in children undergoing either cardiopulmonary bypass for the correction of congenital heart surgery or those who present with sepsis, that endothelial-dependent vascular reactivity is more strongly impaired compared to endothelial-independent mechanisms, suggesting that the vascular dysfunction observed in critically ill children is primarily driven by endothelial dysfunction.

The Stark Lab's long-term goal is to understand the mechanisms of acute vascular dysfunction and find modalities that allow for identification and future treatment. Dr. Stark has been involved in academic research throughout his career and has a passion to answer questions that arise in critically ill patients. He has also been involved in mentoring younger trainees with the hope of inspiring them to think critically and pose new and interesting questions on how to approach critical illness. His lab’s goal is to continue these pursuits by asking clinically-relevant questions, investigating them with trainees in the laboratory and hospital settings, and ultimately, finding answers that can be brought back to patients to help temper the severity of illness and reduce morbidity and mortality in the vulnerable population of pediatric critical illness.

>> View Publications on PubMed

ryan.stark@vumc.org

Sepsis, Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS), Burn Injury, Vascular and Endothelial Dysfunction

Specialty
Critical Care, Pediatric
M.D.
George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, 2006
Internship
Pediatric Internship-Hasbro Children's Hospital, Providence, RI
Residency
Pediatric Residency-Hasbro Children's Hospital, Providence, RI
Fellowship
Pediatric Critical Care Fellowship-Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX

Shawna Judkins, MSN

Chantelle
Shawna
Judkins
MSN
Nurse Practitioner
Hematology/Oncology
(615) 936-1762
Preston Research Building
2220 Pierce Ave
Room / Suite
397
Nashville
Tennessee
37232-6310
chantelle.r.judkins@vumc.org

Pediatric hematology/Oncolgy; Pediatric Cancer Survivorship

Specialty
Hematology/Oncology, Pediatric
M.S.N.
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

Bradley B. Stancombe, MD

Bradley
B.
Stancombe
MD
Professor of Clinical Pediatrics
Neonatology
Doctors' Office Tower
2200 Children's Way
Room / Suite
11111
Nashville
Tennessee
37232-9545
bradley.stancombe@vumc.org

General clinical neonatology

Specialty
Neonatology
M.D.
Baylor College of Medicine, 1984
Internship
Pediatric Internship-USAF Medical Center, Keelser AFB, MS
Residency
Pediatric Residency-USAF Medical Center, Keesler AFB, MS
Fellowship
Neonatology Fellowship-Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center, Lackland AFB, TX

Alacia Stainbrook, BCBA, PhD

Alacia
Stainbrook
BCBA, PhD
Behavioral Analyst
Developmental Medicine
Senior Associate in Pediatrics
Developmental Medicine
Associate Director
Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD)
(615) 936-0261
Doctors' Office Tower
2200 Children's Way
Room / Suite
11101
Nashville
Tennessee
37232-9003
alacia.stainbrook@vumc.org

Early Intervention, Early Identification, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Provider Training

Specialty
Psychology, Pediatric
M.S.
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 2004
Ph.D.
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 2007
Fellowship
Post Doctoral Fellow-Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Nashville, TN

Jonathan Soslow, MD

Jonathan
Soslow
MD
Professor of Pediatrics
Cardiology
Director
Pediatric Cardiac Imaging Research
(615) 322-7447
Doctors' Office Tower
2200 Children's Way
Room / Suite
5230
Nashville
Tennessee
37232-9500

Dr. Soslow is a pediatric cardiologist with advanced training and expertise in pediatric cardiac imaging. He specializes in echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). He has a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI) and focuses his research program on the assessment of serum and imaging biomarkers in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) cardiomyopathy and after heart transplant. He has been the principal investigator for multiple studies, including an American Heart Association Clinical Research Program grant, a K23 and an R56 funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and a grant from the Enduring Hearts Foundation. He is currently the PI of a multi-site R01 from the Food and Drug Administration evaluating the longitudinal progression of DMD cardiomyopathy and two multi-site R01s from the NIH/NHLBI evaluating non-invasive detection of rejection in heart transplant recipients and identifying clinical outcome measures for DMD cardiomyopathy. He is the Director of Clinical Research for the Division of Pediatric Cardiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Co-Director of the DMD Multispecialty Clinic and the Gene Therapy Clinic. He also serves as the Chair of the Steering Committee for the Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease Section of SCMR.

>> View Publications on PubMed

jonathan.h.soslow@vumc.org

Echocardiography, Cardiac MRI, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, cardiomyopathy

Specialty
Cardiology, Pediatric
M.D.
Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, 2003
M.S.C.I.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 2014
Residency
Pediatric Residency-Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA
Fellowship
Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship-Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN