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MERI, Fire Department assist facilities with disaster relief

Michael Waddell, The Daily News 2/22/13

The Medical Education & Research Insitute (MERI) and the Memphis Fire Department are working with local long-term care nursing and other direct care staff to care for the elderly in the event of fire, tornado and flood-related emergencies.

On Thursday, Feb. 21, the Memphis Jewish Home & Rehab in Cordova welcomed the team for a training session and disaster drill focusing on tornado-related emergency protocols.

"This training gives the staff a chance to practice working with their own equipment to make sure everyone is comfortable with the process because you want it to be routine when you actually have a disaster," said Diana Kelly, MERI manager of institutional development.

Kelly and Lt. Jim Logan of the Memphis Fire Department led the session, which was funded from grants received in 2012 from the H. W. Durham Foundation and the Assisi Foundation of Memphis. Read more...

Healthcare

Memphis Researchers at St. Jude, VA report new insights into origins of degenerative diseases

Tom Charlier, The Commercial Appeal, 3/3/13

In separate studies, researchers at two Memphis hospitals say they're finding tantalizing clues into the origins of degenerative diseases and the mechanisms they use to wreak havoc on the central nervous system.

One study, led by scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, has identified the mutations triggering buildups of proteins that cause nerve cells to die in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig disease. The findings, which suggest there may be common origins between ALS and some cancers, were published Sunday in an advanced online edition of the scientific journal Nature.

A researcher at the Memphis VA Medical Center and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, meanwhile, has received a $650,000 grant to study the means by which antibodies attack nerve cells in people suffering from multiple sclerosis, or MS, which, like ALS is presently uncurable. Read more...

Lifestyle

Women to Watch: St. Jude exec believes in being part of the solution

The Commercial Appeal 02/23/13tacey

One hour can shape a lifetime, and in Dara Royer's case, 60 minutes shaped her career. The TV show "60 Minutes," that is.

"From a really young age, I wanted to be a journalist," said Royer, 38. "After seeing a '60 Minutes' special on children in Ethiopia, that was when I knew I wanted to go into broadcasting."

During college, Royer did eight internships in several different types of media — radio, TV and print. After college, she worked as a producer for TV news stations across the country, from Traverse City, Mich., to Las Vegas.

She was living her dream. Half of it, at least.

"I loved the newsroom," she said. "But I started missing that piece that got me into journalism in the first place, which was the idea of having an impact. Sure, if we did a consumer report or talked about a recall or did a women's health story, we could help people. But it was not the same kind of impact I envisioned when I started my career."

Then in 2000, Royer's husband, Brent, got a job in Memphis.

"At that point, even though I had some opportunities to work in TV news here, I just felt like it was the right time to explore other opportunities," she said. "I was so fortunate that there happened to be a marketing communications specialist position here at ALSAC." Read more...