Sara Van Driest

Sara Van Driest, M.D., Ph.D., serves as the director of pediatrics for the All of Us Research Program. In this role, she leads planning for future enrollment and retention of pediatric and adolescent participants who reflect the diversity of the United States.

Before to joining the program, Sara served as an associate professor of pediatrics and medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). There she held roles as co-director of VUMC’s Center for Pediatric Precision Medicine and founding director of Genomics and Therapeutics Clinic. As a physician-scientist, Sara routinely used clinically generated data and biosamples both for research and as a tool for implementing pediatric personalized medicine in clinical practice. In addition to her research career, she is a pediatrician – caring for infants, children, and adolescents.

Her previous research focused on improving the dosing of commonly used medications—including antibiotics, analgesics, and sedatives—and understanding their effects in children. Her past research was funded through NIH, an early career award from the PhRMA Foundation, an Innovation in Regulatory Science Award from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and a Doris Duke Clinical Scientist Development Award. She led the Vanderbilt Integrated Center of Excellence in Maternal and Pediatric Precision Therapeutics (VICE-MPRINT) with her colleague Prince Kannankeril, M.D., M.S.C.I., as part of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development–funded MPRINT Hub.

Sara completed her M.D. and Ph.D. at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, followed by pediatric residency and a clinical pharmacology fellowship at VUMC. She is an active member of the Society for Pediatric Research, the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and the Pharmacogenomics Global Research Network.