Vanessa Madden is the Assistant Director for Project Management, responsible for the day-to-day management of studies within the PAIR Center’s research portfolio. Vanessa joined Penn in 2013 to manage several clinical trials within the Fostering Improvement in End-of-Life Decision Science (FIELDS) program. She is a graduate of Penn’s LeadingSuccess® program and is experienced in the management of multi-site clinical trials, surveys, retrospective datasets, and qualitative studies.

Vanessa has undertaken health services research since 2001, with a particular focus on palliative care during her time at the Institute for Child Health Policy at the University of Florida where she co-edited the book, Pediatric Palliative Care: Global Perspectives, as well as over 30 peer-reviewed publications and technical reports for state government.

After graduating from the University of Tasmania in Australia, Vanessa worked for a state public health service and then the Department of General Practice at the University of Melbourne. Vanessa lives with her husband and two children in Chestnut Hill, some 10,194 miles from her favorite beach in Swansea, Tasmania. She can now do a passable rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner at school assemblies.