What goes around, comes around.

For David Aronoff, MD, FIDSA, that means being in a position to give back to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which played a key role in his medical training.

After spending more than a decade with the University of Michigan, Aronoff was tapped as the new director of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt a little more than a year ago. He also holds a secondary faculty appointment in the Division of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology.

When he was appointed, Nancy Brown, MD, chair of the Department of Medicine, noted, “David is a star in the field of infectious disease. He has natural leadership instincts, and we are fortunate to have recruited him back to Vanderbilt.”

Aronoff is the third generation of physicians in his family, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He and his twin brother were born when their father was a medical resident in Bloomington, Mich. and grew up in the state. After graduating summa cum laude from Indiana University with a degree in microbiology, Aronoff earned his medical degree from Tufts University Medical School in Boston.

His next stop was Nashville. Aronoff completed his internship and residency training, including a year as chief resident in Internal Medicine, at Vanderbilt. He stayed to complete a clinical fellowship in Infectious Diseases and a research fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology before leaving to join the faculty in Infectious Diseases at the University of Michigan.

“I was so fortunate that I was able to complete the final two years of my fellowship under Dr. John Oates, senior professor of Medicine (Clinical Pharmacology) and chair emeritus of the Department of Medicine,” Aronoff noted of working with the renowned researcher at Vanderbilt.

During his tenure at Michigan, Aronoff also completed a research postdoctoral fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. In 2011, he was named a Fellow in the Infectious Diseases Society of America (FIDSA).

Of returning to Nashville, Aronoff said, “The Vanderbilt culture is a very nurturing and highly collaborative environment, which had a major impact on my decision to accept this post.”

He added, “Vanderbilt put me in position to eventually become a leader. For me, being here is really giving back to the institution that opened a lot of doors for me. I feel a deep sense of gratitude, and it feels great to be back.”

Although returning to Nashville in 2013 certainly held a lot of familiarity, Aronoff said he was stunned by how much Nashville had grown in the years since his departure. “The city had become a ‘destination city’ in the time I was gone … I was amazed at the transformation,” he observed.

He was also impressed by the growth in size and prestige that the Vanderbilt medical complex has undergone in the last decade. “The campus had evolved and the medical center itself was radically enlarged, especially by the addition of the towers,” he noted.

In addition to knowing the culture of the academic medical center, he said he was also drawn to return by Vanderbilt’s national leadership in infectious diseases training and research. In addition to the division’s leadership in HIV care and research, tuberculosis research, global health, infection control and hospital epidemiology and infectious disease pathogenesis, he has been struck by Vanderbilt’s commitment to addressing poverty-related disease burden.

Aronoff said he has also been pleased to work with William Schaffner, MD, chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine, who Aronoff called a “charismatic” national leader in the field of infectious disease … and one of the motivating factors for his return to Nashville to lead the Division of Infectious Diseases.

He also enjoys his role helping shape future physician-scientists, while also expanding on his own research lines. Aronoff, whose research has primarily focused on reproductive immunology and specifically on infections that complicate pregnancy, has received numerous governmental and non-nongovernmental research grants and is widely published.

He hopes to develop additional avenues for Maternal Fetal Medicine, Pediatrics, Neonatology, and Pediatric Infectious Diseases to work with his department to address challenges in maternal and child health, as well as develop new technologies for studying human disease. He is especially excited about spearheading Vanderbilt’s Pre3 Initiative – Preventing adverse Pregnancy outcomes & Prematurity – an interdisciplinary group of faculty and trainees with a shared interest in reducing the burden of adverse outcomes through discovery, innovation, implementation and education.

Aronoff concluded, “I am excited to be able to give back to the program that has given so much to me.”