Features
House Organ story on spine surgery to be on “Grey’s Anatomy”
Oct. 2, 2011—It has all the elements of great story—a patient near death, a huge risk of complications, and a young surgeon willing to risk it all—so it was no surprise when “Grey’s Anatomy” came knocking. The ABC medical drama found the House Organ article on Judy Kerns, an east Tennessee woman whose head had literally fallen...
Looking up
Aug. 31, 2011—There is a list, famous among astronomers, of 110 faint objects in the night sky, first cataloged by French astronomer Charles Messier in the 18th century. A “Messier marathon” is when astronomers begin at dusk and work until dawn, hoping to locate every single one, searching amid the field of stars for each elusive light...
Years of Service
Aug. 31, 2011—The combined Medical Center and University Service Awards will be held Tuesday, Sept. 13, from 3 to 5 p.m. in Langford Auditorium. Those being honored this year are staff with five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 (!) years of service.
Days of miracle and wonder
Aug. 4, 2011—Normally, parents don’t rejoice at the sight of a wet diaper. But this situation was different, because Jada Daves knew if her toddler son Shafer’s diaper was wet, that would mean his new kidney was working, which would mean his transplant was successful. And it meant even more to Jada, because only hours earlier, the...
Fur, smiles and tears
Aug. 4, 2011—A celebrity had entered the concourse at Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks, causing quite a sensation. Eyes wide and mouths gaping open, onlookers young and old stopped in their tracks to gawk at the visitor, and many whipped out cell phones to snap a photo. But then they started asking questions a starlet would never...
Healing of body, and mind
Aug. 4, 2011—Ashley Tauriac, M.D., invested four years of her life, and miles of neurons to learn the practice of medicine. Then she nearly lost it all. On Friday, May 14, 2010, she graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, feeling a bit feverish during the ceremony. By the Monday after her graduation, Tauriac developed a headache...
Summer Reading 2011
Jun. 28, 2011—The House Organ Writing Contest has been held since 1985, and has published poems, fiction and nonfiction by staff and faculty every July since then; the Summer Reading Issue is part of a Medical Center tradition. And, once again, the quality of the entries again presented ample evidence that Vanderbilt is full of writers walking...
Dinosaur Rainbow Monarchs
Jun. 28, 2011—The Nonfiction category winner this year is “Dinosaur Rainbow Monarchs” by Nicole L. Baganz of Pharmacology.
The Perils of Small Mammals
Jun. 28, 2011—The Fiction winner is “The Perils of Small Mammals” by Dan Dorset of the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology.
Searching
Jun. 28, 2011—The winner of the Poetry category is Mandy Haynes of the Pediatric Echo Lab for her poem “Searching.”