Dr Penson serves as Chair of the Department and oversees all Departmental activities. He is also a well-known health services researcher, a urologic oncologist who focuses primarily on clinical prostate cancer care and, most importantly, the father of three great kids (all of whom are die-hard Boston Red Sox fans, like their dad).

Dr. Penson is the Director of the Center for Surgical Quality and Outcomes Research in the Vanderbilt Institute for Medicine and Public Health and maintains a keen interest in health policy and improving the quality of care in the U.S. He obtained his MD from Boston University, completed his urology residency at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, and then completed the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar fellowship at Yale University, while obtaining his MPH degree. He currently maintains a clinical practice in urologic oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.Dr. Penson is also very active in the field of health policy. In addition to serving as Chairman of the American Urological Association's Public Policy Council, Dr. Penson has served on various committees in the National Quality Forum, the Ambulatory Quality Alliance, the AMA Physician Consortium for Quality Improvement and AHRQ's National Advisory Council.