During graduate school, Dr. Schuler utilized whole exome and whole genome sequencing to identify genetic changes that could be responsible for undiagnosed genetic disorders in multiple families followed by experimental approaches to causally link those genetic changes with disease. He continues to have an interest in improving our ability to increase the efficiency and accuracy of diagnosing genetic disease. His work focuses on the utilization of biomedical informatics approaches, biobanked DNA, and electronic health record data to identify undiagnosed genetic disease. The goal of this work is to expand our knowledge of phenotypic associations, recognize clinical patterns, and identify ways to improve diagnosis and management of genetic disease.

We are leveraging a large DNA biobank coupled with EHR data to identify patterns of undiagnosed genetic disease. Our work has confirmed the previously reported, disproportionately high proportion of critically ill neonates with an underlying genetic contribution to their illness, that there is an underdiagnosis of these disorders, and that there are means that we can improve application of genetic testing approaches. We are working to identify early developmental phenotypic presentations of genetic disease in critically ill neonates to decrease the morbidity and mortality of this patient population by earlier diagnosis and informed management.

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Dr. Klein’s research focuses on developing and implementing targeted nutritional interventions to prevent and treat malnutrition across the lifespan in people with sickle cell disease in low- and high-income settings. While a Vanderbilt Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition fellow, her research program was supported by the Training in Gastroenterology T32. She also completed a Vanderbilt-Emory-Cornell Duke Fogarty Global Health fellowship in Accra, Ghana, west Africa, focused on the risk factors for low birth weight in infants born from mothers with sickle cell disease. During her fellowship, she helped lead a randomized controlled trial for children with sickle cell disease and severe acute malnutrition in Nigeria. Dr. Klein plans to submit a career development award to build upon this work to improve the treatment of children with sickle cell disease and malnutrition.

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Barron Frazier, MD is an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics and emergency medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He completed a pediatric residency and a pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. His work focuses on applying quality improvement science, clinical informatics and human-centered design to advance pediatric emergency care. He has additional training in Advanced Improvement Methods, Lean Six Sigma, and design thinking, and uses Model for Improvement methodology to drive measurable gains in quality, safety, and efficiency.

Dr. Frazier’s improvement work has reduced unnecessary imaging, improved documentation accuracy, increased timely sedation and analgesia,and standardized care processes across the pediatric emergency department. His projects include reducing chest radiographs in bronchiolitis, decreasing CT use for appendicitis, improving critical care and confidential documentation, accelerating post-intubation sedation and pain management and optimizing sedation-to-discharge workflows. He has also led the development of clinical decision support tools, care pathways and EHR-based interventions to improve reliability and reduce variation in care delivery.

He has a growing focus on clinical decision support, artificial intelligence–enabled workflows and real-time performance monitoring to support learning health system infrastructure and scalable innovation in emergency care.

Dr. Jacob Kaslow's research focuses on children who are technology dependent for respiratory support, including those with neuromuscular diseases and chronic respiratory failure. His primary interests are improving the care and quality of life in children who require mechanical ventilation through a tracheostomy. Dr. Kaslow is a founding member of a regional children's hospital collaboration to assess, develop and implement improved outpatient management of patients on mechanical ventilation. He also works to identify and promote alternative ways to improve the delivery of care to these patients and their families/caregivers.

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