Our Providers

Brannan U. Cole joined the Vanderbilt faculty after 3 years of working as a nurse practitioner in endocrinology. He is fascinated with the relationship between diabetes and depression. Do individuals with type II diabetes make poor food choices because of an underlying brain chemistry imbalance or does depression contribute to making poor food choices, and what is a health care provider’s best entry point to diagnose and treat these conditions? Brannan wants to explore and understand the interdependency between these two issues and see how interventions to address one variable could affect or alleviate the impact of the other condition. Brannan sees examining a patient’s relationship with food as a central component to long-term behavior change needed to address diabetes. Counseling and patient retention of information post-appointment is another area Brannan works to improve and better understand.

Brannan's greatest joy is spending time with friends and family and he feels lucky to call his family his best friends. He loves to travel, watch sports (especially SEC football!), finance, reading, spending time at the lake, and working out. He is thrilled for this opportunity to join the Vanderbilt team and to contribute to positive patient outcomes.

James Mills, originally from a small town in West Tennessee moved to Nashville in 2007 and began his nursing career following graduation from Murray State University. James spent five years in the emergency department and post anesthesia care unit as a registered nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He completed his Masters of Science in Nursing in 2012 and joined the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism.  His special interests include post-transplant hyperglycemia, insulin pump/continuous glucose monitoring,  and diet/wellness modification. In his free time you will likely find James on a golf course, in the gym, or at the dog park with his human-sized Bernedoodle, Ted.

Jennifer Prager,
MSN, RN, FNP-C

Jennifer completed her undergrad degree in health sciences at Wheaton College in Illinois and went on to obtain her graduate degree in nursing at Vanderbilt. She has worked as a nurse practitioner since 2011. She joined Vanderbilt in 2016 as part of Eskind Diabetes Clinic and the Glucose Management Service. Working with diabetic patients has always been rewarding for Jennifer as she believes it is a disease that people can truly control.  She enjoys being apart of a field that is always evolving (clinically and practically) with new ways to empower patients to manage their disease. As a provider, it is her goal to provide every patient with the best tools - whether medications, education or general support - to achieve good management. 

Prior to working at Vanderbilt, Jennifer spent almost five years in primary care. It was a rewarding and challenging experience managing many different types of diseases and has helped her in caring for patients now as she has a better understanding of the full clinical picture.

Jennifer grew up as a military kid, so home has always been where her family is. The majority of her life has been spent living in Germany, Hawaii and now Nashville. Having moved so much as a kid she still enjoys traveling as much as she can and spending time with her family and friends. She loves living in Nashville and exploring the city. She enjoys finding new brunch spots in town, running, baking, and cooking.

Blake Salmony is a North Carolina Native and has been living in Nashville over 10 years. A graduate of Vanderbilt's School of Nursing, Blake has been with Vanderbilt's Eskind Endocrine clinic since 2012 working both in the clinic and in the hospital. A founding member of the Glucose Management Service, Blake now works exclusively on the inpatient service. He is focused on providing excellent care while patients are hospitalized, and easing transition to outpatient care following discharge. 

In his free time, Blake works with the Southeastern Climber's Coalition, focusing on preservation and maintenance of wild and scenic lands in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. He works on trail days, participates in fundraisers, rock climbs and runs with his dog, Cota, in his free time.