Arunab Mehta, MD, MEd, FHM, has been appointed as the new vice-chair of inpatient clinical affairs in the department of internal medicine at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in Cincinnati.
In this role, he will oversee the clinical operations and inpatient services of the department of internal medicine, working closely with division directors, medical directors, faculty, and staff to ensure the delivery of high-quality patient care, promote collaboration and innovation, and support professional development.
Dr. Mehta has been a medical director at UCMC and the Cleveland Clinic since 2020. He earned his medical degree from Topiwala National Medical College, in Mumbai, completed his residency in internal medicine from John Stroger Jr Hospital of Cook County in Chicago, and earned his Masters in Health Professions Education from Cleveland Clinic/Cleveland State University.
Andrea Lauffer, MD, FAAP, FACP, has joined the WVU-Thomas Hospital in Charleston, W.Va. as an internal medicine-pediatric hospitalist.
Dr. Lauffer serves in several leadership roles. She is the president of SHM’s West Virginia chapter, the co-chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics section of the hospital medicine med-peds subcommittee, and the secretary/treasurer of its West Virginia chapter. In addition, she is a member of the Maternal Mental Health Advisory Council through the West Virginia Perinatal Partnership. She serves as the Marshall University School of Medicine alumni board president.
Before joining WVU-Thomas Hospital, Dr. Lauffer was an assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and program director for the pediatric hospital medicine fellowship at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va.
She earned her medical degree and completed her internal medicine and pediatric residencies at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. Dr. Lauffer is the president of SHM’s West Virginia chapter.
Apoorv Broor, MD, MBA, FACP, SFHM, has been appointed chief medical officer and chief quality officer of Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital in Texas. In this role, he oversees medical staff services, clinical quality outcomes, and the patient safety program. Previously Dr. Broor was the medical director of the hospitalist team.
Dr. Broor earned his medical degree from Maulana Azad Medical College in Delhi, India. He conducted a year of gastroenterology research at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and completed his residency in internal medicine at Good Samaritan Hospital of Maryland. Dr. Broor also earned an MBA in healthcare from the Alliance for Physician Leadership at UT Dallas Naveen Jindal School of Management.
Valerie Vaughn, MD, MSc, FACP, SFHM, has been appointed director of clinical research for the department of internal medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City. In this role, Dr. Vaughn will promote and advance clinical research including patient-oriented research, epidemiologic and behavioral studies, outcomes, clinical trials, and health services research. In addition, she will continue her work mentoring tenure-line and career-line faculty and trainees in clinical research.
Dr. Vaughn is also an associate professor with tenure, director of hospital medicine research in the division of general internal medicine, and director of the Utah Quality Advancement Laboratory. She also serves as chair of SHM’s Research Committee and has served as chair of the Research, Innovations, and Vignette Competition since 2023. Her research focuses on improving the safety of hospitalized patients with common infections, particularly pneumonia and urinary tract infections.
Dr. Vaughn earned her medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, where she also completed her residency and hospital medicine fellowship.