Jess was born in Chicago, Illinois but only suffered one midwestern winter before her family moved to Sarasota, Florida where she was raised. She attended Washington University in St. Louis where she graduated summa cum laude with bachelor’s degrees in French and Biochemistry. She ventured north once more for her medical education at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. She then completed her Pediatrics residency in the southern sunshine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where she is excited to pursue fellowship in Pediatric Emergency Medicine.

Her academic interests include quality improvement, patient safety, and operations management. Her fellowship research initiatives include quality improvement projects, "Mini C-Arm Implementation to Improve Length of Stay for Patients with Fractures in a Pediatric ED" and "Boarding Pass to Successful Scripting: A QI Project Improving Medication Administration for Boarded Patients in a Pediatric ED."

In her spare time, Jess enjoys all things French and fawning over her Japanese Chin puppy, named Timothy. Her questionably useless talents include acing the reality TV category on trivia nights and beating personal records for marathons (on Netflix, that is). When asked for a fun fact, Jess rotates between three: her grandfather dated Marilyn Monroe, she was featured on a French radio show, and she was stung by a jellyfish during her first and last time sailing.

Natalie was born and raised in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. She pursued her undergraduate studies at Western Kentucky University (Go Tops!) and later attended the University of Louisville for medical school. Despite her strong ties to Kentucky, Natalie ventured just beyond state lines for her Pediatrics residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The warm and supportive environment of Vanderbilt only strengthened Natalie's love for the institution. As a result, she is absolutely delighted to continue her training at Vanderbilt in Neonatology! Her interests within Neonatology include perinatal and neonatal brain injury and neurodevelopment outcomes.

Outside of the hospital, Natalie finds joy in the loving company of her family, fiancé, and two faithful companions, Kramer and Parker – her dogs. She additionally loves all things country music and joyfully sings along to anything by Reba or Dolly (even if it's a little off-key).

Cara was born and raised in Freehold, New Jersey. She completed a pre-medicine degree at Penn State University and will forever bleed blue and white in support of the Nittany Lions, "We Are." Cara has wanted to be a doctor since she was a young girl and first discovered her passion for the field of Child Neurology in high school. She completed her medical degree at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School prior to moving to Nashville for residency.

In her free time, she loves baking, spending time with her husband, Justin, and keeping in touch with her family back home. She has also quickly become a Tennessee Titans fan and enjoys attending games at Nissan Stadium.

Femke was raised in Midland, Michigan. She attended the University of Central Florida for her undergraduate studies and went on to attend Andrews University to attain her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. She worked as a pediatric physical therapist for two years before attending Loma Linda University for medical school, while also obtaining an MA in Bioethics. Femke was interested in Child Neurology when entering medical school, and her rotations in Pediatrics, Neurology, and Child Neurology confirmed this was the right specialty for her.

In her spare time, Femke enjoys many of the outdoor opportunities here in Nashville with her husband and young son.