Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Clinic

Stephen Raffanti, M.D., M.P.H.

Chief Medical Officer

Stephen Raffanti has devoted his professional career to the study of HIV-related issues and the care of HIV infected persons. Dr. Raffanti's clinical experience in the field of HIV-related medicine dates back to his training in New Jersey where he designed and reported the results of a study evaluating cardiac function in HIV-infected patients (CHEST, 1988).

His fellowship in Miami allowed him to evaluate a clinical cohort of patients with the diagnosis of HIV/HTLV infection. In 1991, he reported, along with Dr. Joseph Berger and associates, the first case of HTLV II-related neurological disease in an HIV infected individual (Neurology 1991).

In 1990, Dr. Raffanti was recruited by Vanderbilt to organize healthcare efforts for HIV-infected individuals in Middle Tennessee. Dr. Raffanti established the Infectious Diseases Clinic at Metropolitan General Hospital and expanded the HIV clinic at the Health Department. When it became obvious that the existing facilities would not be adequate to provide services to the rapidly growing population of HIV infected individuals, Dr. Raffanti organized a community wide effort that resulted in the opening of the Comprehensive Care Center in February 1994.

He has also been closely involved in the establishment of the state-wide Centers of Excellence Program, a collaborative effort between the State of Tennessee, managed care organizations of the TennCare program, HIV care providers and consumers. He has also developed the treatment guidelines for HIV infected individuals covered by TennCare, Tennessee's experimental managed care network for Medicaid eligible patients. In 2005 he was named the HIV Clinician Educator by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the HIV Medicine Association.

In addition, Dr. Raffanti serves as the Project Director for the Tennessee AIDS Education and Training Center - which teaches the specifics of HIV/AIDS patient care to more than 2000 healthcare providers from across the state. He is also a frequent collaborator with top HIV researchers from around the country as well as the Center for AIDS Research at Vanderbilt.

Dr. Raffanti still serves as one of the CCC's Attending Physicians and sees patients daily in the CCC's main clinic as well as the satellite clinic in Cookeville. He mentors Infectious Diseases Fellows in training at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and is the Associate Director of HIV Clinical Services at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Raffanti continues to be a devoted advocate for HIV patients - personally, professionally, and politically at state and national levels.

Roshanda Johnson, M.B.A.

Administrative Director

Roshanda began employment as Administrative Director of the Comprehensive Care Center in July of 2008. Roshanda came to the Center from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, where she served as Administrator of the Department of Surgery. In this role, she was responsible for the department’s administrative and financial management of staff and resources, financial analysis of clinical and grants revenues, accounts payables and accounts receivables, the clinic’s administration and other academic administrative management responsibilities.

Roshanda previously served as Fiscal Officer for the Department of Internal Medicine at Meharry and Budget Analyst of Meharry Medical Group. Her fiscal responsibilities included management of a multi-million dollar department budget; daily management of clinical billings department; preparation of financial reports; fiscal policy development and financial oversight for departmental grant awards. Roshanda earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN and a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Administration and Planning from Tennessee State University in Nashville.