Alexa was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended the University of Southern California where she studied theater and earned her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience. She continued her medical education at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine where she discovered her love for Pediatrics. She left California to complete her Pediatrics residency and a Chief residency at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Alexa's interests include mechanical ventilation, medical education, and simulation.

Outside of the hospital, Alexa enjoys spending time with her husband and son. She enjoys cooking and exploring new recipes, riding her Peloton, and yoga.

James grew up in Bountiful, Utah. He spent two years after high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he gained a love and respect for the culture and learned to speak Spanish. He later graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in chemistry. The white-capped mountains of Utah were traded in for the white-sand beaches of Florida to attend Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. James then moved and has settled with his family in Nashville at Vanderbilt where he completed pediatrics residency, in addition to a year as a chief resident. James is looking forward to staying at Vanderbilt for pulmonology fellowship.

Outside of work, life revolves around his wife and children. Youth soccer games, gymnastics, and the many parks around Nashville fill their time. Running, audiobooks, involvement with youth groups at church, and benefiting from any product of his wife’s cooking are a few of his other pastimes. He is also passionate about serving the Spanish-speaking population.

Ferdinand was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Texas where he lived for 10 years. He and his family then moved to Northern California where he earned his undergraduate degree in Microbial Biology at University of California, Berkeley. He spent a gap year with AmeriCorps serving the community in health education. Ferdinand then moved to the Midwest where he discovered the joy and complexity of pediatric medicine while attending Creighton University School of Medicine. Now settled in the South, he completed his pediatric residency here at Vanderbilt and is excited to be staying as a fellow to pursue his passion in pediatric pulmonology.

Ferdinand enjoys hiking and exploring Nashville with his sweet dog, Lucy. He enjoys all that Music City has to offer, trying new restaurants, visiting various music venues, and listening to live poetry.

Publications During Fellowship:

1. Martenies, S., Zhang, M., Corrigan, A. Kvit. A., Shields, T.; Wheaton, W.; Around Him, D., Aschner, J., Talavera-Barber, M., Barrett, E., Bastain, T., Bendixsen, C., Breton, C., Bush, N., Cacho, F., Camargo, C., Carroll, K., Carter, B., Cassidy-Bushrow, A., Cowell, W., Croen, L., Dabelea, D., Duarte, C., Dunlop, A., Everson, T., Habre, R., Hartert, T., Helderman, J., Hipwell, A., Margaret R. Karagas, M., Barry M. Lester, B., Kaja Z. LeWinn, K., Magzamen, S., Morello-Frosch, R., O'Connor, T., Padula, A., Petriello, M., Sathyanarayana, S., Stanford, J., Woodruff, T., Wright, R., Amii M. Kress, A. Developing a National Scale Exposure Index for Combined Environmental Hazards and Social Stressors and Applications to the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, July 2023; 20(14), 6339; doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20146339.
2. Aris, I., Perng, W., Dabelea, D., Padula, A, Alshawabkeh, A., Vélez-Vega, C., Aschner, J., Camargo, C., Sussman, T., Dunlop, A., Elliott, A., Ferrara, A., Zhu, Y., Joseph, C., Singh, A., Hartert, T., Cacho, F., Karagas, M., North-Reid, T., Lester, B., Kelly, N., Ganiban, J., Chu, S., O’Connor, T., Fry, R., Norman, G., Trasande, L., Restrepo, B., James, P., Oken, E.. Associations of neighborhood opportunity and social vulnerability with trajectories of childhood body mass index and obesity among US children. JAMA Network Open, Dec. 2022; 5(12), e2247957-e2247957. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.47957

Presentations During Fellowship:

1. Jan. 2023 “Two Cases of Pediatric Inhalation Injury,” Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep Case Conference Series, American Thoracic Society
2. Nov. 2022 “Review of Pediatric Burns and Inhalation Injury” (with Drs. Anne Wagner and Elizabeth Dale Slater), Pediatric Pulmonary Fellow Case, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
3. Cacho, F., Gebretsadik, T., Anderson, L., Rosas-Salazar, C., Ortiz, J., Ryan, P., Dupont, W., Hartert, T. Rates and risk factors for RSV infection among term healthy infants in a population-based US cohort. American Thoracic Society, International Conference. Washington, DC. May 2023.
4. Cacho, F., Gebretsadik, T., Anderson, L., Rosas-Salazar, C., Ortiz, J., Ryan, P., Dupont, W., Hartert, T. RSV infection rates and risk factors in a population-based US cohort of term healthy infants. Department of Pediatrics Research Retreat. Nashville, TN. Apr 2023.

Honors and Awards:

1. Environmental Toxicology T32 Training Program, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2023-Present)
2. Fellow Teaching Award, Vanderbilt Department of Pediatrics (2023)
3. Outstanding Clinical Research Abstract, Vanderbilt Department of Pediatrics Research Retreat (2023)

Claci grew up an hour north of Nashville in Bowling Green, Kentucky. She went to the University of Kentucky for her undergraduate education and continued her education at UK for medical school. Go Cats! Upon graduation, Claci made the move to Nashville where Claci completed her pediatric residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. During residency, she participated in several QI projects, including a project aiming to increase complete VP shunt evaluations in the ED, a project to implement a provider feedback system to help reduce over utilization of chest X-rays in bronchiolitis, and a project focusing on improving pediatric resident education in airway management.

In her free time, Claci loves to be at the lake enjoying activities on the water, such as water skiing, wake boarding and wake surfing.

Dr. Ekker completed medical school at LSU New Orleans. He moved to Nashville in 2018 for residency at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and has been here ever since. He continued his training as a chief resident and transitioned into faculty in the Division of Academic General Pediatrics, where he was able to continue pursuing his interest in resident education and mentorship. Clinically, Dr. Ekker is interested in preventative medicine and adolescent sexual health. His scholarly interests include fostering clinical reasoning and enhancing educational delivery in the outpatient setting.

When he’s not at work, Dr. Ekker enjoys spending time with his dog, reaping the—modest—benefits of his backyard garden, and exploring the Nashville restaurant and music scene.