COMMITTEE & DIRECTORS
Behind every great organization is a team of dedicated leaders. Our team brings a wealth of experience from across the industry.
CTN2 Officers & Advisors: Photo Coming Soon
CTN2 Officers & Advisors
Sam Dagogo-Jack, MD, DSc
Interim President & CEO, CTN2
Division Chief of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, UTHSC
Appointed as Interim President and CEO of CTN2 in 2023, he is Professor and Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC). He also serves as Director, General Clinical Research Center, and Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Research at UTHSC.
Serves as the Executive Director of CTN2. He is responsible for the overall leadership and operations of CTN2, including but not limited to management of CTN2 staff, oversight of the budget, services provided, procurement of new clinical trial projects and other activities as assigned by the CTN2 Board of Directors.
Phil Cestaro
Executive Director & Treasurer, CTN2
Serves as chief legal officer for UTRF and its diverse development and demonstration subsidiaries, including CTN2, leveraging the advantages of a close affiliation with Tennessee's flagship academic research institution, while maintaining suitable separation, and flexibility and nimbleness enjoyed by private enterprise.
Secretary & General Counsel, CTN2
Secretary & General Counsel, UTRF; Partner, Kennerly, Montgomery & Finley, P.C.
William Mason, JD
Frank McGrew, MD, FACC, FHRS
Regional Medical Director, CTN2
Director of Clinical Research, Stern Cardiovascular Foundation
Dr. McGrew has over 50 years in practice. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins (BA) and Case Western (MD), and a Diplomate of Cardiovascular Disease, ABIM.
Serves as Chair of the UTHSC Clinical Trials Board, which aims to support and grow clinical research by advertising access to resource and opportunities for scientists and faculty throughout the UT System. Serving as one of three Medical Directors of CTN2, he is the lead medical liaison for Chattanooga and works very closely with the Executive Director, Site Directors, and the various site PIs to promote research, drive accrual, and facilitate new clinical trials.
Giuseppe Pizzorno, PhD, Pharm D
Regional Medical Director, CTN2
Chair, UTHSC Clinical Trials Governance Board
Chief Research Officer, Erlanger Health System
Serves as Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Clinical Medical Education. In July 2019, he was named to the newly created position of Chief Academic Officer for Saint Thomas Health, a family of Tennessee hospitals and physician practices in middle Tennessee, where he is responsible for research, graduate medical education and CME. A board-certified OB/GYN, he was in private practice for 23 years.
Geoffrey Smallwood, MD
Regional Medical Director, CTN2
Chief Academic Officer, Saint Thomas Health
Serves as CTN2's liaison with the Tennessee Clinical and Translational Science Institute and Professor and Chair, Department of Preventive Medicine, UTHSC.
Co-Director, Tennessee Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Karen C. Johnson, MD, MPH
Founding Director of the UTHSC Center for Biomedical Informatics and the University of Tennessee Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor's Chair in Biomedical Informatics. Principal Investigator, UTHSC 100K Genomes Project, and Lead researcher in the creation of the Enterprise Data Warehouse.
Director of Biomedical Informatics within CTN2.
Robert Davis, MD, MPH
Governor's Chair, UTHSC-ORNL Center for Biomedical Informatics
CTN2 Board of Directors
We are governed by a Board of Directors comprised of a representative from each participating institution, the UTHSC Chancellor, and from UTRF.
Martin A. Croce, MD, FACS
Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Regional One Health
Professor of Surgery, UTHSC
Serves as chief medical officer of Regional One Health. Dr. Croce is certified by the American Board of Surgery in General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care. He is a professional member of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, American College of Surgeons, American Surgical Association, Society of Critical Care Medicine, and numerous other professional organizations.
Andrew Griffith, MD, PhD
Senior Associate Dean of Research, College of Medicine, UTHSC
Dr. Griffith is an Otolaryngologist-Head and Neck Surgeon. He served at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for 22 years, primarily in the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). At UTHSC, he develops, articulates and implements a vision for growth of the research enterprise across the College of Medicine.
Peter F. Buckley, MD
Chancellor, UTHSC
Dr. Peter Buckley became the 11th Chancellor of University of Tennessee Health Science Center, serving as CEO in overseeing Tennessee’s only public academic health center encompassing 6 Health Science Colleges, 4 academic campuses, multiple hospital partnerships statewide and hundreds of clinical training sites all across Tennessee
Sam Dagogo-Jack, MD, DSc
Interim President & CEO, CTN2
Division Chief of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, UTHSC
Appointed as Interim President and CEO of CTN2 in 2023, he is Professor and Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC). He also serves as Director, General Clinical Research Center, and Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Research at UTHSC.
Anil Shanker, PhD, MS
Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation, Meharry Medical College
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An accomplished cancer immunology researcher and educator, Dr. Shanker leads the research and innovation enterprise at Meharry Medical College. He is committed to building equity in health care and education.
Kim Currie Mason, Pharm D
Vice President, Pharmacy and Research, UT Medical Center and University Health System, Inc.
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In this role, Dr. Mason is responsible for a variety of areas including inpatient/outpatient pharmacy services, infusion services, biobank, and the Office of Clinical Trials. She also serves as Chair of the UT Graduate School of Medicine’s Institutional Review Board.
Giuseppe Pizzorno, PhD, PharmD
Chief Research Officer, Erlanger Health System, Professor and Associate Dean of Research, UTHSC
In the role of Associate Dean of Research for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) College of Medicine, Chattanooga campus and the first chief research officer for Erlanger Health System, Dr. Pizzorno leads efforts to advance capabilities in medical research and offer the latest treatment protocols to patients – all with the important goals of teaching future professionals and improving healthcare in our region.
R. Brad Canada, MD, MS
Chief Medical Officer, University Clinical Health
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Dr. Canada serves as Chief Medical Officer of University Clinical Health, one of the faculty practice plans of the UTHSC College of Medicine. He is also the Director of the Clinical Nephrology Program and Professor for the Department of Medicine/Nephrology at UTHSC. He is certified in Internal Medicine and Nephrology by the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Brian Evans, BSE, MS, PhD
Manager of Strategic Research Initiatives, University of Memphis
Dr. Evans focuses on increasing institutional research competitiveness through targeted capacity building, partnership and interdisciplinary
team development, and funding acquisition. He has over 10 years of research experience in biologic therapeutic and pharmaceutical development both in academia and industry.
Geoffrey Smallwood, MD
Chief Academic Officer,
Saint Thomas Health
Serves as Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Clinical Medical Education. In July 2019, he was named Chief Academic Officer for Saint Thomas Health, where he is responsible for research, graduate medical education and CME. Dr. Smallwood joined Saint Thomas Health from Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital where he served as Chief Medical Officer. As a board-certified OB/GYN, he was in private practice for 23 years.
James H. Beaty, MD
Chairman and Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, UTHSC
Served as the Chief of Staff of Campbell Clinic from 2001 to 2010. He is Past President of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, member of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, the Mid America Orthopaedic Association, the Tennessee Orthopaedic Society and the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. He has a special interest is in Pediatric Orthopaedics.
Jonathan Moorman, MD, PhD, FACP
Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, East Tennessee State University
Served as Professor of Preventive Medicine at UTHSC and has nearly 20 years of research funding from the NIH and several foundations. She has lead research at Baptist for seven years.
Dr. Moorman currently serves as the Vice Chair for Research and Scholar in the Department of Medicine, the Director of the ETSU Center of Excellence for HIV/AIDS Care, Professor of Medicine, and Co-Director of the COE in Inflammation, Infectious Diseases and Immunity at ETSU, along with his role as Chief of Infectious Diseases.
Eric Schnapp, JD
Chief Executive Officer, Mays and Schnapp Neurospine and Pain
Serves as CEO of Mays and Schnapp, a pain management practice providing comprehensive pain management to help relieve pain and restore patients to living their lives for over 20 years. Schnapp develops business strategies and manages company operations and growth, along with overseeing clinical operations staff, physical therapy and an ambulatory surgery center over multiple locations.
Serves as CEO of Mays and Schnapp, a pain management practice providing comprehensive pain management to help relieve pain and restore patients to living their lives for over 20 years. Schnapp develops business strategies and manages company operations and growth, along with overseeing clinical operations staff, physical therapy and an ambulatory surgery center over multiple locations.
Serves as CEO of Mays and Schnapp, a pain management practice providing comprehensive pain management to help relieve pain and restore patients to living their lives for over 20 years. Schnapp develops business strategies and manages company operations and growth, along with overseeing clinical operations staff, physical therapy and an ambulatory surgery center over multiple locations.
Sue Theus, PhD
Associate Chief of Staff for Research, VA Medical Center Memphis
In 2018, Dr. Theus joined the Memphis VAMC as the Associate Chief of Staff for Research.
Chairman of the Board, Semmes Murphey Foundation
Dr. Watridge is an Associate Professor in Neurosurgery and an active member of several professional boards and leadership committees locally and nationally. He currently also serves as the President of the TN Neurological Society.
Clarence Watridge, MD
Frank McGrew, MD, FACC, FHRS
Director of Clinical Research, Stern Cardiovascular Foundation
Dr. McGrew has over 50 years in practice. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins (BA) and Case Western (MD), and a Diplomate of Cardiovascular Disease, ABIM.
Maha Krishnamurthy, PhD, MBA
Dr. Krishnamurthy is responsible for all aspects of the commercialization of technologies developed at UT Knoxville,
UT Institute of Agriculture, UT Chattanooga, UT Space Institute, UT Health Science Center, UT Martin, UT Southern, and the Graduate
School of Medicine in Knoxville.
Vice President, UT Research Foundation Office and Interim President
SITE DIRECTORS
In order to sustain a successful, state-wide multi-site clinical trials network, each participating hospital appoints a Site Director. While executive level communication is maintained through Board representatives, CTN2 routinely works with each participating institution's Site Director as the lead on conduct of clinical trials. CTN2 develops working practice guidelines with each participating institution, customized to each institution's particular requirements, policies and environments. CTN2's site liaison and the Site Directors take the lead in developing and implementing those standards and operating procedures to facilitate prompt compliant and effective administration of clinical trials. The Site Director is also regularly consulted on potential and pending clinical trials in the pipeline. The Site Director is the main administrative contact for the TN-EDW data transfer facilitation, and inevitably a key person in the hospital on deploying TN-EDW as a tool for researchers.
CTN2 Site Liaison Director
Sandra Dodd, RN, CCRC | Memphis,TN
Erlanger Health System
Chattanooga, TN
Regional One Health
Memphis, TN
Saint Thomas Health
Nashville, TN
University of Tennessee Medical Center
Knoxville,TN
West Cancer Center
Memphis,TN
Memphis Veterans Affairs
Memphis,TN
University Clinical Health
Memphis,TN
Stern Cardiovascular Foundation
Memphis,TN
Semmes Murphey Clinic
Memphis,TN
Campbell Clinic
Memphis,TN
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Memphis,TN
Baptist Clinical Research Institute
Memphis,TN
Mays and Schnapp Neurospine Center
Memphis,TN
Meharry Medical College
Nashville,TN
Hillcrest Healthcare
Knoxville,TN
Olive Branch Family Medical Center
Olive Branch,MS
Endocrine Clinics and Research
Memphis, TN
University of Memphis
Memphis, TN
East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, TN