Nancy J. Brown, MD

Dr. Brown graduated from Yale College, where she majored in molecular biophysics and biochemistry. She earned her medical degree from Harvard University. She completed internship and residency programs in medicine at Vanderbilt University, where she also did a fellowship in clinical pharmacology. Dr. Brown joined the faculty of Vanderbilt in 1992 and held a number of leadership positions, serving as chief of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology, associate dean for clinical and translational scientist development, and Robert H. Williams professor before becoming the Hugh J. Morgan Chair of Medicine and physician-in-chief of Vanderbilt University Hospital in 2010.

In 2020, she became Jean and David W. Wallace Dean of Medicine and C.N.H. Long Professor of Internal Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Brown has long been committed to medical education and mentorship. At Vanderbilt, she established the Elliot Newman Society to support the development of physician-scientists and co-founded the Vanderbilt Master of Science in Clinical Investigation program. Her research has defined the molecular mechanisms through which commonly prescribed blood pressure and diabetes drugs affect the risk of cardiovascular and kidney disease. In her clinical practice, she has treated patients with resistant and secondary forms of hypertension. Dr. Brown has served as a member of the NIH National Advisory Research Resources Council and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council. She was president of the Association of Professors of Medicine. In 2019, she was elected a Master of the American College of Physicians.Her numerous awards include election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and the National Academy of Medicine. She is a member of the American Association of Arts and Sciences.