William Schaffner, MD, professor of Health Policy and primary investigator for the Tennessee Emerging Infections Program (EIP) began turning over his responsibilities to H. Keipp Talbot, MD, in late 2022.
Dr. Schaffner has been with VUMC since the 1960s, effectively making him one of the longest tenured physicians ever at VUMC. He has been the primary investigator for the multi-state EIP for more than 10 years. Under his leadership, the program has grown in scope, staffing and focus, adding disease surveillance activities.
"It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Dr. Schaffner,” Talbot said. “He has so much insight and experience.”
Dr. Talbot has been at VUMC since the 1990s. She has worked closely with the department in research and training, and graduated from the Masters in Public Health program in 2005. She has been deeply involved with the EIP, serving as a leading faculty member organizing the Tennessee EIP Scientific Presentation Day. She also has been instrumental in the addition of COVID-19 surveillance since 2020.
“These past few years have been a whirlwind of research. EIP was uniquely structured to study a pandemic and did just that,” Talbot said.
Schaffner will formally retire in the next few years, but his mark on VUMC and the Department of Health Policy will live on.
