Gordon Bernard, MD, was honored at a reception on July 19 in recognition of his contributions to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for more than 40 years.

As of July 1, Bernard, the Melinda Owen Bass Professor of Medicine, stepped down from his roles as Executive Vice President for Research at VUMC, senior associate dean for Clinical Sciences in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and program director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR).

Bernard will remain an investigator on Vanderbilt’s multimillion dollar Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Institutes of Health, which partially supports VICTR. Wesley Self, MD, MPH, has stepped into new roles as VUMC Senior Vice President for Clinical Research, VICTR director and principal investigator for Vanderbilt’s CTSA.

In the next chapter of his career, Bernard said he will focus on increasing the efficiency of the national clinical trial infrastructure, as well as advancing his own research programs in critical care, particularly in the areas of sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Speakers at the event were Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO of VUMC and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD, VUMC chief scientific and strategy officer.