Thomas F. Catron, PhD

Thomas F. Catron, PhD -  Associate Professor of Medical Education and Pediatrics; Vice-President & Chief Operating Officer, Vanderbilt Health CPPA

Dr. Thomas Catron is an Associate Professor of Medical Education and Pediatrics and the Vice-President & Chief Operating Officer for Vanderbilt Health Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy (CPPA).  He has served VUMC in a variety of capacities including Division Chief of Community Psychiatry, co-director of the Center for Psychotherapy Research and Policy, co-director of the Center for Excellence for Children in State Custody, and Executive Director of the Vanderbilt Community Mental Health Center.  His program of clinical research focused on the development, implementation and evaluation of evidence-based treatments for children and youth and was supported by over $8 million in NIH funding.  His current research focuses on medical malpractice risk prevention and professionalism. Dr. Catron was appointed to Tennessee Governor Bredesen's cabinet in 2005 to serve as Deputy Commissioner and Director of the Governor's Office of Children's Care Coordination which involved coordinating the child-serving departments of the state around issues of health, education and welfare policy and implementing/evaluating statewide evidence based medical and mental health practices. These statewide efforts included identifying and disseminating evidence base practices to improve infant mortality rates, the early identification and treatment/education of handicapped children and the use of effective mental health treatments with children in or at-risk for state custody. In 2008, Dr. Catron returned to Vanderbilt and joined the CPPA where he oversees the development, operations and dissemination of the evidence based Vanderbilt Patient Advocacy Response System (PARS) and Coworker Observation Reporting System (CORS) program in over 170 sites nationally.

Dr. Catron completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of Virginia and his doctoral degree in clinical child psychology at Peabody College/ Vanderbilt University. He received his clinical training at the Yale Child Study Center and completed a social policy fellowship at the Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale University.