Matt Christensen (he/him) received his MD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (May 2017). Matt is a clinical fellow in Pulmonary and Critical Care at VUMC. Matt is pursuing his master's degree in biomedical informatics. 

Nick Jackson completed his BS in Computer Science at the University of Florida in Spring 2023. His undergraduate research focused on the applications of signal processing and machine learning techniques to medical imaging. Nick Participated in the 2022 Vanderbilt Biomedical Informatics Summer Program mentored by Dr. Brad Malin where he assessed the fairness of machine learning models for diagnostic tasks. 

Nick is a PhD student funded by the National Library of Medicine T15 Training Grant. His primary research interests are in the safety, transportability, and fairness of machine learning models. 

Twitter: @Nick_J_Jackson

Hyunjoon Lee, MS, completed his BS in Computer Science and MS in Data Science from Brown University (May 2020). During his time at Brown University, Hyunjoon worked on several research projects focusing on mental health and substance use in the School of Public Health.

Following his MS, Hyunjoon worked at the Psychiatric & Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit (PNGU) and Center for Precision Psychiatry (CPP) in Massachusetts General Hospital under Dr. Jordan W. Smoller for three years as senior data analyst. He primary focused on suicide risk prediction, substance use disorders, and other psychiatry research using electronic health records (EHR) data. He joined DBMI at Vanderbilt University to pursue his PhD in Biomedical Informatics, working in Colin Walsh's lab. His research interests are phenotyping/predictive modeling of suicide and substance abuse/overdoes and implementing clinician decision support tools to prevent deaths by suicide/overdose.

Advisor: Colin G. Walsh, MD
LinkedIn | Twitter: @hyunjoonlee_12
VU email: hyunjoon.lee@vanderbilt.edu

Katie Brown, PhD, received her PhD degree in engineering (computer science) from Tennessee Technological University (graduated July 2023). Katie is a non-degree postdoc funded from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) 

Layth Qassem, PharmD, completed the MS in Applied Clinical Informatics (MSACI) program in Spring 2025. He joined as Research Analyst II under Dr. Adi Bejan in March 2025. 

Formerly, he was a PharmD graduate currently expanding my education in the intersection of health and technology, specifically in the field of AI applications in healthcare. He has interests in understanding the nuances of clinical settings and machine learning, and to innovate in a way that ultimately results in better patient outcomes. He has worked on research projects related to Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). This work is promising as it can potentially speed up the process of determining the best treatment strategy for a patient, leading to better patient outcomes and helping in the fight against AMR.

Fall 2023 - Spring 2025

I am currently the pharmacist in charge of infusion services for Pacific Medical Center.  I graduated from Nova Southeastern University in West Palm Beach, Florida and moved to Hawai’i after graduation as a retail pharmacist.  I lived in Hawai’i for 4 years and then moved to Seattle.  While in Seattle I was offered a position at the University of Miami’s Cancer Center and stayed there for 2 years and missed Seattle enough to move back and start a role as a distribution pharmacist for Seattle Children's Hospital.  Finding that I prefer oncology to pediatrics, I then pursued my current position. 

I was first exposed to Epic and hospital-based workflow was at UM and was immediately interested in learning the system and gaining the opportunity to certify in Willow Inpatient and Willow Beacon.  That opportunity came up and am currently working on my Willow Inpatient and will follow with Beacon afterwards.  I enjoy pharmacy workflow improvements to decrease pharmacy to floor wait times and increase in safety.  My expertise is focused on the pharmacy side of operations and optimization of order entry for pharmacists and physicians.  I am looking to expand my knowledge in all aspects of clinical informatics and move on to an analyst position. 

Fall 2023 - Spring 2025

I am joining you from Salina, Kansas. I grew up in a small town in Kansas called Herington. I attended the United States Military Academy for undergraduate studies where I completed a B.S. in Engineering Management. I then commissioned as an infantry officer in the army and served for six years gaining a variety of experiences: Ranger school, deployment to Afghanistan, company command, etc. Upon leaving active duty I joined the reserves and entered medical school at the University of Kansas School of Medicine – Salina. After finishing there, I went on to complete anatomic and clinical pathology residency at the University of Florida; where I also earned my M.B.A. in the weekend professional program. Currently, I am a staff pathologist at a private laboratory and I teach some medical student classes on the side.

It is my hope that the training provided by Vanderbilt’s program will allow me to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs in both my private laboratory and the multitude of local hospitals that I am affiliated with. After proof of concept, I would like to work with the local medical school campus (University of Kansas School of Medicine – Salina) to incorporate public health, preventive medicine, and informatics training and eventually spearhead the creation of a preventive medicine residency program in conjunction with the existing family medicine program in town (which is focused on providing health care to rural communities). 

Fall 2023 - Spring 2025

The space where medicine and technology converge has always been my favorite place. Following my work at Intermountain’s Transformation Lab where I was principally engaged in Tele-health delivery and 3D prototyping, and then completing an internship for IBM business partner Sirius Computer Solutions, I helped launch an ‘Innovations in Clinical Care’ tract at University of Nebraska’s medical school where I interned at that their tech transfer office, continued work in 3D printing, E-learning development, and assisted on various other projects. Having spent the last four years at the University of Michigan, growing as a clinician and budding informatician, I plan to spend my time at DBMI developing as both an analyst and a leader. The disconnect between what is possible with tech and data at both a population and individual level and what actually happens in the clinic, especially in psychiatry, motivates me to assist in advancing personalized precision medicine and community health.