Wayne J. Riley, M.D., MPH, MBA, clinical professor of Medicine with Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and adjunct professor of Healthcare Management with the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, is president-elect of the American College of Physicians.

The 135,000-member ACP is the nation’s largest medical specialty organization and second largest physician group in the United States.

Riley’s term as president-elect begins in April. He will assume the presidency in 2015, when the organization will begin celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding.

Riley joined the organization during his residency and has held several leadership posts within the ACP, including the first vice chair of the National Council of Associates, president of the Texas Academy of Internal Medicine for the Texas chapter of the ACP and governor of the Texas Southern Region of the ACP.

A national health policy and academic health sciences center leader, Riley also is a senior adviser of the Association of Academic Health Centers, is the former president and chief executive officer of Meharry Medical College, and was founder and senior health policy associate at Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy at Meharry, in conjunction with Vanderbilt University’s School of Arts and Science.

Also at Vanderbilt:

Joey Barnett, Ph.D., has been named assistant dean and director of the Office for Medical Student Research.

Barnett, professor of pharmacology and acting chair of the department, will oversee all of the activities of the office, which include a four-year research curriculum for medical students who are not enrolled in the M.D./Ph.D. program.

During the first and second years of medical school, students learn about the principles of research in preparation for a three- to six-month mentored research experience in their third or fourth years. This format succeeds the Emphasis Program, which ran from 2004-2012 and provided all non-M.D./Ph.D. students with research experiences during the summer.

Barnett’s office will oversee the pairing of students with their projects and mentors, and will also provide important training to faculty members who serve in research mentoring roles.

Tina Hartert, M.D., MPH, professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, has been named assistant vice chancellor for translational science.

In this role, Hartert will develop the infrastructure and provide the leadership to accelerate the translation of discovery into patient care, to enhance the adoption of effective therapies and to reduce the utilization of unproven therapies. In addition, she will work to provide decision-support that will allow the tailoring of therapy to the individual patient and to identify potential new therapies through effectiveness studies.

Hartert, who is also the director of the Center for Asthma and Environmental Sciences Research, will relinquish directorship of the Office of Medical Student Research to take on this new role.

Vaughn named president of TN Christian Chamber

Former Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce President Ralph Vaughn has been named president of the Nashville-based Tennessee Christian Chamber of Commerce.

During his tenure at the Rutherford chamber from 1986-97, membership grew from 400 to a thousand, and the annual budget increased from $80,000 to more than $750,000. He also was instrumental in helping raise $1.2 million for construction of the chamber building on Memorial Blvd., recruiting new companies to the area and starting the first Convention & Visitors Bureau to help promote tourism.

Most recently, Vaughn handled special projects for Barrett Firearms Manufacturing in Murfreesboro, which included seeking branding and licensing partnerships with manufacturers; serving as publicist and overseeing community, charitable and political programs on behalf of the company; and managing the Barrett real estate development.

Constangy’s adds attorney in Nashville office

National labor and employment law firm Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP has hired attorney Mallory L. Schneider to its Nashville office as an associate. She focuses her practice in employment law, with an emphasis on litigation prevention and defense. Her practice includes work in representing clients against alleged claims of race, sex, age, and disability discrimination as well as wrongful termination and state law matters.

Schneider is a graduate of the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. While attending law school, she served as the symposium editor for the Cumberland Law Review and was a fellow for Honorable Abraham Caruthers Legal Research & Writing Fellowship. Additionally, she was the recipient of the Order of the Barristers and received the Hand Arendall Award for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy during her tenure at Samford University.

Schneider completed her undergraduate degree at Florida State University.

Stites & Harbison adds patent attorney Barnett

Stites & Harbison, PLLC has hired patent attorney Rebecca Barnett to the firm as counsel in the Intellectual Property & Technology Service Group. She will serve clients from the firm’s offices located in Memphis and Nashville.

Barnett is a registered patent attorney and her practice is focused primarily on developing and maintaining domestic and international patent portfolios in the biological, chemical and mechanical arts.

Barnett earned her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and her bachelor of engineering in biomedical engineering from Vanderbilt University School of Engineering. Barnett is currently pursuing a master of science in biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University.

Outside of the firm, Barnett is active in various professional groups. She is treasurer of the board of directors for the Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association, an executive committee member of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Section, and a member of the board of directors of the Nashville Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division.

Kaplan, Kumar join Nelson Mullins

Brendi Kaplan and Nina Kumar have joined Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in its Nashville office. Kaplan joins the firm as a partner, while Kumar joins as an associate.

Kaplan concentrates her practice in the areas of corporate transactions, commercial real estate, health care and public finance. She serves as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, trustees’ counsel, counsel to governmental entities, conduit borrowers and other issuers in various general and limited obligation debt issuances, interim financings and pooled financings. Her public finance experience includes an array of governmental purpose issues for cities, counties, utilities, school districts, airports and public building authorities.

Kaplan has previous professional experience as a partner of a Southeastern regional law firm where she represented business clients in commercial transactions, real estate, health care, lending, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate matters.

Kumar concentrates her practice in the areas of commercial transactions, real estate, bond finance and health care. She earned her JD from Vanderbilt University Law School and a master’s in International Relations from the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland.

FirstBank names senior VP, marketing director

Veteran bank executive Jeanie Rittenberry has been named senior vice president and director of marketing at FirstBank. She will be responsible for marketing, training and communications.

Rittenberry, previously senior vice president and director of marketing and client services for Memphis-based National Commerce Bank Services, will head up FirstBank’s advertising, public relations, branding and social media campaigns, events and sponsorships, and internal communications. She will also lead FirstBank’s training, professional growth and leadership development programs.

She is a graduate of the University of Memphis and the Barret Graduate School of Banking.

GS&F announces executive promotions

GS&F has made two internal executive promotions, with Gregg Boling moving to executive vice president, managing director, and Lori Harmon being appointed executive vice president, director of account management.

Boling joined GS&F in 2011 as vice president, creative director. In his new role, he will also continue to serve as the agency’s executive creative director.

Harmon started at GS&F in 2011 as a vice president and client partner leading the Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations team. Prior to joining GS&F, her 14-year agency career included McKinney, The Martin Agency and Crispin Porter + Bogusky.

Moyer honored as HIMSS Chapter Leader of the Year

Brian Moyer, president of the Tennessee chapter of the Health Information Management Systems Society, has received the 2013 HIMSS Chapter Leader of the Year Award. The award recognizes significant leadership, extraordinary contributions to HIMSS Chapters, the society, and a commitment to the HIT industry.

Moyer has led the fast-growing Tennessee chapter for the last year, placing an emphasis on creating structure, greater engagement, accountability and measurements within the leadership team of the chapter. He hosted several leadership retreats, developed a by-laws working group, and led multiple groups focused on chapter goals.

Tennessee Voices for Children picks CFO/COO

Brian Taylor has been named CFO/COO of Tennessee Voices for Children after serving as Interim executive director.

Taylor was previously assistant director of operations, a post he had held since 2006. In that capacity he oversaw Information Technology, personnel and benefits administration. He also managed the finance department, including organizational and program budget development, compliance, and audits.

Taylor joined TVC in 2002 and was promoted to IT coordinator in 2003. In that role, he introduced new initiatives to advance program training and directed website development.

He earned his B.S. in Business Administration from Lemoyne College in 1999.