David T. Karzon, M.D., came to Vanderbilt in 1968 as Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics. Previously he had been Professor of Virology, Department of Bacteriology and Immunology and Professor of Pediatrics at the State University of New York, Buffalo. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Karzon has served on a number of national committees including several with the U.S. Public Health Service and the National Institutes of Health. He is internationally known for both his research and his leadership in defining national and international direction on vaccine development.

In 1970, after building support both within the community and within the university, Dr. Karzon persuaded the Vanderbilt Board of Trustees to establish the Children's Regional Medical Center (CRMC), which was housed within the existing Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In 1971, the Junior League Home for Crippled Children, an acclaimed freestanding hospital with a long history in the community, officially moved into the CRMC. By 1971, the name was changed to the Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University. Karzon was named pediatrician in-chief and medical director of the Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt in 1971.

Karzon was honored with an endowed pediatrics chair in his name in 1989. He was awarded the title of Professor of Pediatrics, Emeritus, in 1996.