Core Faculty

  • Digna R Velez Edwards, MS, PhD

    Professor, Director Women's Health Research, Director Division of Quantitative Sciences (OB/GYN) Obstetrics and Gynecology
    Women's Health Research, Institute for Medicine & Public Health
    Office Address
    2525 West End Ave 6th Floor
    Room / Suite
    600
    Nashville
    Tennessee
    37203-1738

  • Todd Edwards, MS, PhD

    Associate Professor, Associate Director Vanderbilt Genetics Institute Division of Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
    Velez Edwards & Edwards Lab
    2525 West End Avenue 6th Floor
    Room / Suite
    600/615
    Nashville
    Tennessee
    37203-1738

  • Ayush Giri, MS, PhD

    Assistant Professor Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Associate Director of Women's Health Research
    Institute for Medicine & Public Health
    Office Address
    2525 West End Ave 6th Floor
    Room / Suite
    600
    Nashville
    Tennessee
    37203-1738

  • Jacklyn N. Hellwege, PhD

    Research Assistant Professor
    Velez Edwards & Edwards Lab Research Fellow Epidemiology & Vanderbilt Genetics Institute
    Office Address
    2525 West End Ave.
    Sixth Floor
    Room / Suite
    730A
    Nashville
    Tennessee
    37203-1738

  • Elizabeth Jasper, PhD

    Assistant Professor
    Quantitative and Clinical Sciences; Obstetrics and Gynecology
    Office Address
    2525 West End Ave. 6th Floor
    Nashville
    Tennessee
    37203-1738

    Research Information

    My focus areas are reproductive epidemiology, genetic epidemiology, and women's and maternal-child health. My current research program is designed to discover and understand genetic and environmental risk factors for complex phenotypes, with an emphasis on the perinatal period and developmental origins of health and disease. Specifically, my work focuses on understanding the multigenerational effects of maternal health. My lab leverages large electronic health record databases and linked biorepositories, employing bioinformatic, epidemiologic, and genetic methods, to study common characteristics and complications of pregnancy, including perinatal depression, perineal lacerations following childbirth, and glucose variation throughout pregnancy. My major focus is on gestational weight gain, a potentially modifiable risk factor for adverse outcomes throughout the life course of birthing persons and their children. The goal of my research is to uncover biological mechanisms and identify modifiable risk factors associated with maternal-child health and build off this line of work to translate findings into advances in prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment.

    Active Grants: 

    5K12AR084232-25 (NIAMS)                                     Velez Edwards and Majors (PIs)                              08/01/2022 - 07/31/2027
    Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health Career Development Program
    The BIRCWH career development program mentors junior faculty members working in the area of sex and gender biology as they transition to research independence in interdisciplinary research career spanning the spectrum from basic science to translational and patient-oriented research to population science. Role: Faculty Scholar

    1P50HD106446-03 (NICHD)                Kannankeril/Velez Edwards (MPIs)                 07/01/2021 - 06/30/2026
    Vanderbilt Integrated Center of Excellence in Maternal and Pediatric Precision Therapeutics (VICE-MPRINT)
    This Center of Excellence proposal leverages our institutional strengths in Precision Medicine and Bioinformatics to address knowledge gaps in pharmacogenomics and neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome using innovative analyses of electronic health datasets. Another major goal is the establishment and dissemination of educational resources to create and sustain a physician-scientist workforce in maternal and pediatric precision therapeutics at the national level through collaboration with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Role: Co-Investigator.

     

    Honors/Awards: 

    2021-present    NIH/NICHD K12 Vanderbilt Building Interdisciplinary Careers in Women's Health Faculty Scholar, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

    2021-2023 Vanderbilt Integrated Center of Excellence in Maternal and Pediatric Precision Therapeutics (VICE-MPRINT) Precision Therapeutics Academy Trainee

    2020-2021    NIH/NHGRI T32 Vanderbilt Genomic Medicine Fellowship, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
     

     

  • Alexandra Sundermann, MD, PhD

    Assistant Professor
    Division of Quantitative and Clinical Sciences, OBGYN, Center for Women's Health Research

    Dr. Alex Sundermann is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Quantitative and Clinical Sciences in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She has a secondary appointment in the Institute for Medicine and Public Health and is a member of the Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center. She completed her medical and doctoral degrees through Vanderbilt's Medical Scientist Training Program. Her doctoral work targeted the development and application of epidemiologic methods for studying risk relationships involving time-varying exposures in pregnancy. She then completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Duke University Medical Center. She returned to Vanderbilt as faculty in 2024 in a physician-scientist position with the aim to leverage the insight afforded by caring for patients to conduct pertinent and timely research for the advancement of reproductive health. 

    SELECTED HONORS & ACHIEVEMENTS                                         
    2018    Philanthropic Educational Organization Scholar Award 
    2019    Inductee of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
    2020   First author paper selected as Article of the Year by American Journal of Epidemiology 
    2020    Lonnie S. Burnett Award in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
    2023   SASGOG Resident Award 
    2024    Peter Cartwright, MD, Humanism Award, Duke University Medical Center

    Reproductive epidemiology, miscarriage, adverse pregnancy outcomes, fibroids, maternal morbidity