Leigh MacMillan
Katherine Hartmann, MD, PhD, Vice President for Research Integration for Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has been named director of the University of Kentucky (UK) Center for Clinical and Translational Science. She will also serve as associate vice president for Research, Clinical & Translational Science for UK, and she will be the associate dean of Research Development and Synergy and a professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the UK College of Medicine. She will join UK on Feb. 15.
Hartmann, who is also associate dean for Clinical & Translational Scientist Development for Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2006 and has held progressive leadership roles in academic career development and research administration, including in the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research and as deputy director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Medicine and Public Health.
She led the development of Edge for Scholars, which provides comprehensive research career development resources to early-career faculty, pre- and postdoctoral trainees, and leaders of institutional training grant awards. The program serves more than 400 scientists at Vanderbilt and reaches 45,000 academics nationally with a biweekly newsletter and online content.
“Dr. Hartmann’s tenure as Vice President for Research Integration and associate dean for Clinical & Translational Scientist Development has been transformative for our academic medical center,” said Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD, Chief Scientific and Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President for Research for VUMC.
“As an accomplished investigator, she has contributed substantively to innovative and evidence-based approaches to women’s health issues. Beyond her research, her leadership of Edge for Scholars and mastery of teaching quantitative methods have greatly enhanced the training of our physician scientists,” said Pietenpol, holder of the Brock Family Directorship in Career Development. “We are immensely grateful for Dr. Hartmann’s dedication and profound impact on early-career faculty and trainees across disciplines at our institution and the wider research community.”
The UK Center for Clinical and Translational Science that Hartmann will lead has had continuous funding since 2011 as part of the Clinical and Translational Science Award program supported by the National Institutes of Health. Its mission is to accelerate discoveries to improve health by supporting research from bench to bedside to community, with particular focus on Appalachia.
“For 17 years Vanderbilt has given me exceptional opportunities to grow my skills as a researcher, mentor and administrator. This is a special place because of the people and our culture of collaboration, creativity and ceaseless momentum to get things done. I’ve learned what I needed for this new role from everyone at Vanderbilt,” said Hartmann, the Lucius E. Burch Professor of Reproductive Physiology and Family Planning and professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Medicine.
“VUMC is thrilled to announce that Julie Bastarache, MD, Assistant Vice President for Clinical & Translational Scientist Development will take on leadership of Edge for Scholars,” shared Wesley Self, MD, MPH, Senior Vice President for Clinical Research for VUMC and director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical & Translational Research. Self holds the Directorship in Emergency Care Research.
Hartmann is an epidemiologist and health services researcher known for her leadership of Right from the Start, a study focused on early pregnancy that has enrolled participants since 2000 and now includes more than 7,900 participants. Research findings from Right from the Start have answered questions related to adverse pregnancy outcomes, uterine fibroids, pelvic floor disorders and risks for cardiovascular disease.
Hartmann earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in writing and her MD from Johns Hopkins University. She was a resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology and completed a PhD in Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill. Before coming to Vanderbilt, she was a faculty member at UNC, where she was the founding director of the Center for Women’s Health Research, division director of Health Care Epidemiology in the School of Public Health and vice chair for Research in Obstetrics and Gynecology.