Dr. Vaughan is a native of Richmond, VA. From 2013 until 2022, he served as the hospital epidemiologist and infectious diseases physician for the Central Virginia Veterans Affairs Health Network.
He completed his Bachelor of Science degree from Washington & Lee University in 2001 and later his medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in 2007. After medical school, he moved to Baltimore, MD where he completed a three-year residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center followed by a fourth year as Chief Resident where he was elected to the AOA Honor Medical Society. Dr. Vaughan returned to VCU Health System to complete a two-year Infectious Diseases fellowship in 2013, where he was awarded the Orhan Muren, MD Award for Outstanding Fellow, as well as a Master of Science and Health Administration in 2021.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Vaughan led schools, hospitals, and businesses through infection mitigation and de-escalation strategies. His clinical trial work began at Richmond, Virginia’s VA Medical Center as local site investigator in the VA-CURES-1 COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Trial as well as the ACTIVE 4A-Acute trial, trials designed to offer novel therapies to combat the consequences of severe COVID-19.
In May 2022, he accepted a position as Medical Director for Clinical Research Partners, LLC where he collaborates as an investigator in over 30 national and international randomized clinical trials. Additionally, he and his staff run RVA-ID, a continuity care practice offering preventative health and ID consultative services. He currently lives in Richmond, VA with his wife, Dr. Amanda B. Vaughan, and two of their children.
Kaitlyn Rafuse, MSN, FNP-BC is a Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner specializing in infectious disease and clinical research. She received her Bachelor's in Nursing from Virginia Commonwealth University. While working for several years at VCU's Level 1 Trauma Center in the Surgical Trauma ICU, she completed her Master of Science in Nursing from Virginia Commonwealth University in the Family Nurse Practitioner program. She earned her board certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and is a member of the Infectious Disease Nurse Practitioner Society of America.
Kaitlyn has more than eight years of experience in the healthcare field, starting as an EMT, then working as a nursing tech at VCU’s ER/Cardiac Surgery ICU, continuing on as a bedside intensive care nurse, and ultimately becoming a family nurse practitioner.
As a Virginia native, Kaitlyn loves the outdoors as well as all of the activities and adventures Richmond has to offer. You can catch her running for fun in the annual Richmond 8K and Monument 10K, cooking, and traveling as much as possible! She enjoys spending time with her wife, Sara, and their cat, Meadow. Both personally and professionally, Kaitlyn cares deeply about emerging research and treatments in infectious disease, advancing healthcare in the world of clinical research, and the importance of patient education as well as health promotion.
