Harry Jacobson Md

Biography

Dr. Jacobson is Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs at Vanderbilt University. In that role he functions as the Chief Executive Officer of the Vanderbilt Medical Center. The Vanderbilt Medical Center includes the Schools of Medicine and Nursing, four hospitals, and a large faculty group practice; its annual budget is approximately $1.1 billion.

Dr. Jacobson received his M.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 1972, completed an internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and specialty training in Nephrology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas. He is Board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Nephrology. In 1978, after two years of active duty in the U. S. Army as Chief of Nephrology at the U.S. Army Surgical Research Center at Brooke Army Medical Center, he joined the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas. He joined the Vanderbilt Medical School faculty in 1981 as Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Nephrology and in 1997, became Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs.

Dr. Jacobson has published over 100 research articles, reviews, and book chapters and co-edited the book, The Principles and Practice of Nephrology, now in its second edition. As a senior medical administrator Dr. Jacobson''s interests are focused on health care improvement through the optimal application of information and information technology. Reducing practice variability to improve quality, reduce errors, and control unnecessary costs are priority goals at the Vanderbilt Medical Center.

Dr. Jacobson is a member of numerous professional organizations including the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and the Society of Medical Administrators. He currently chairs the National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation and is on the Board of Directors of the Association of Academic Health Centers. He was recently elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine. Dr. Jacobson participates on the Board of Directors of the Nashville Health Care Council, the Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts of America, EBM (Evidence-Based Medicine) Solutions, Renal Care Group and serves as Chairman of the Board for IMED.