Current VA Quality Scholars
First Year Fellows
Anna Gallion, FNP, DNP
Dr. Anna Gallion is a first-year VA Quality Scholars Fellow and a hospital medicine nurse practitioner, supporting a new hospital-at-home program. She is adjunct faculty at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she served with the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program, assisting in the COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials roll-out and served as a nursing home quality improvement advisor. She has developed a unique skillset to engage nurses and advanced practice providers using literature synthesis to guide evidence-based practice change and quality improvement initiatives. Dr. Gallion is interested in focused application of evidence-based practices in clinical settings, quality improvement initiatives aligned with strategic health system priorities, and transitions of care from the hospital setting.
Emma Bradley, MD
Dr. Emma Bradley is a General Surgery resident physician and first year VA Quality Scholars Fellow. She received her B.A. in Neuroscience and Medicine, Health and Society from Vanderbilt University. Following this, she completed medical school at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA. She then moved on to General Surgery residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, of which she has completed the first three years prior to entering the VAQS program in 2023. During her time as a VA Quality Scholar Fellow, she will be working towards obtaining her Masters in Public Health as well as pursuing quality improvement and health services research in the area of surgical oncology. Her general research interests are in optimizing time from diagnosis to intervention, enhancing peri-operative care and oncologic outcomes for veterans.
Second Year Fellows
Megan Shroder, MD
Dr. Megan Shroder is a General Surgery resident physician and second year VA Quality Scholars Fellow. She received her B.S. in Biochemistry and Biological Physics from Miami University. She then went on to complete medical school at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Following this, she completed the first three years of her General Surgery residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center prior to entering the VAQS program in 2022. During her time in the VAQS program, she has worked to obtain her Masters in Public Health and has led research and QI projects within the Vanderbilt Colorectal Research Center and the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System General Surgery Department. Her QI and research interests include investigating patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) in diverticulitis, building predictive models in rectal cancer, and improving post-operative outcomes for colon and rectal cancer patients.
Jasmine Berry, DNP, FNP-C
Dr. Jasmine Berry is a certified Family Nurse Practitioner and second-year VA Quality Scholar. She received her BSN from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, and spent five years at the bedside as a staff nurse in critical care and step-down units. She then, obtained her MSN (2016) and her DNP (2021) from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. Before joining the VA Quality Scholars program in 2022, she practiced as an infectious disease nurse practitioner, providing general ID and HIV care to patients in the hospital and clinic settings. Dr. Berry focuses on social determinants of health, health-promoting behaviors, and knowledge in obesity prevention and associated noncommunicable diseases in individuals living with HIV. She leverages her clinical knowledge and skills with her passion for counseling and educating historically minoritized communities to decrease health disparities and inequities.
Erica Koch, MD
Dr. Erica Koch graduated summa cum laude from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in 2019 where she was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha. She completed her Emergency Medicine residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2022. She is currently a second year VA Quality Scholars fellow and Master of Public Health student. Current projects include increasing access to timely emergent mental health care through telemental health, evaluating potentially unsafe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug prescribing, and evaluating hospital-based deprescribing initiatives. She works clinical shifts in the Vanderbilt Wilson County and Tennessee Valley Nashville VA emergency departments. Other interests include quality improvement, health policy, and implementation science.
Katherine Schafer, PhD
Dr. Katherine Musacchio Schafer is a Clinical Psychologist whose work focuses on implementation science and novel technologies to aid physicians in suicide risk assessments and referrals. She has obtained grant funding to create a web-based intervention for suicidal ideation as well as a psychoeducation course for physicians to better understand suicidal ideation.