Dr. Vaughan is Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology. She has been the Course Director for the highly regarded Medical Histology course since 1992, and has been directing the summer Medical Histology course since 1995. She has also been one of the core faculty of the Medical Neurosciences course since 1979. She has been awarded various teaching awards from the medical school, including the Stanley L. Robbins Award for Excellence in Teaching at Boston Medical Center (1999) and the Educator of the Year in Preclinical Sciences from the Committee on Faculty Affairs (2001).

Dr. Vaughan is Assistant Dean for Admissions for BUSM, and serves on the Admissions Committee for the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences. She is an Advisor in the BUSM Academy of Advisors. She is a director on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE). She has served on numerous standing and ad hoc committees at BUSM, most recently several of which are concerned with medical and graduate education, standards, and curriculum. Within the Department, her service includes serving as chair of the Teaching Subcommittee for the Carnegie Initiative for the Doctorate.

Dr. Vaughan received her doctorate in cell biology from Boston University in 1972, and completed postdoctoral studies with Dr. Alan Peters at BUSM. Her research activities have been concerned with characterizing the effects of advancing age on the central nervous system, especially the neurons' ability to respond to peripheral axon injury. Her research expertise includes light and electron microscope techniques in conjunction with pre- and post-embedding immunocytochemistry, enzyme cytochemistry, microscopic and ultramicroscopic morphometry, and serial reconstruction.