Dr. Betters' research interests are focused on early mobility, rehabilitation of the ICU patient, sedation, and delirium in critically ill children. She leads the multi-disciplinary ICU Liberation Committee at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and recently served as Co-Chair of the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s ICU Liberation Committee. She was an author on the 2022 SCCM Clinical Practice Guidelines on Prevention and Management of Pain, Agitation, Neuromuscular Blockade, and Delirium in Critically Ill Pediatric Patients With Consideration of the ICU Environment and Early Mobility (PANDEM). She was a founding leader of the American Delirium Society Pediatric Special Interest Group, and is member of the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship (CIBS) Center and pediatric delirium team at Vanderbilt.

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Dr. Benedetti is a solid tumor oncologist focused on care of children with renal tumors, liver tumors, neuroblastoma, and genetic predisposition to cancer. He is on the steering committee of the Children's Oncology Group (COG) Renal Tumor Committee, where he works to develop and conduct clinical trials for children with cancers of the kidney. Dr. Benedetti is also a bioethicist with expertise in ethical issues in pediatrics and pediatric cancer care. His research explores ethical dilemmas that occur in the care of children with cancer, with a current emphasis is on understanding cases where families refuse recommended treatment.

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Dr. Bearl's research interests center around clinical outcomes for children with end-stage heart failure specifically patient selection, management and post-transplant outcomes for children who require a ventricular assist device (VAD). Dr. Bearl is actively involved in the international quality improvement initiative related to VAD outcomes called Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network (ACTION) and the prospective VAD research registry called Pedimacs, which is the pediatric-specific arm of Intermacs (Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support) managed by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS).

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Dr. Banerjee conducts clinical research related to surveillance of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and strategies to optimize appropriate antibiotic use. She is principal investigator on NIH and CDC-funded studies implementing and evaluating rapid diagnostics and other antibiotic stewardship interventions.

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Dr. Baldwin’s research has concentrated on delineating the molecular basis of vascular development in the mammalian embryo as an approach to understanding the etiology of congenital heart disease. The ultimate goal of his laboratory is to exploit in utero developmental mechanisms to inform the therapies for postnatal congenital heart and vascular diseases. He is particularly focused on the role of the endocardium in ventricular trabecular and compaction as well as the role of the lymphatic system in mediating additional morbidities and mortalities of patients with CHD.

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Dr. Austin is a pediatric pulmonary medicine and pulmonary hypertension (PH) specialist, physician scientist and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Under his leadership, the Pediatric PH Program is a Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension Network (PPHNet) Center as well as an accredited pediatric center of excellence in the national Pulmonary Hypertension Care Centers (PHCC) Program.

His research focuses upon inherent and extrinsic features of risk of, and resilience to, pulmonary hypertension in children and adults. With collaborators, he explores risk and resilience with clinical trial and observational research studies, incorporating genetic, genomic, and other biochemical features. Current NIH-funded projects include a clinical trial of sex hormone modification in adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a clinical trial of behavior modification of exercise in adolescents with PAH, an observational cohort study of individuals at risk of heritable PAH, and a collaborative observational cohort study of cardiopulmonary defects among formerly preterm children.

Dr. Austin is President-elect of the Society for Pediatric Research and is also President & Chair of the Scientific Leadership Council of the nonprofit foundation, TBX4Life, which promotes international science, clinical care, and advocacy for individuals impacted by genetic risk of pulmonary hypertension and other features of TBX4 Syndrome.

With a passion for training and education in patient-oriented research, Dr. Austin has directed the Vanderbilt Master of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI) Program since 2017.

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Dr. Attarian focuses her academic work on neonatal nutrition and breastfeeding medicine. As an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant®, she is working to improve breast milk utilization rates, specifically mother's own milk, in the neonatal intensive care unit.

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