June 20, 2024

My daughter did not “lose” her “battle” with cancer; Celine Dion’s stiff person syndrome diagnosis; America is ingesting sunscreen; and other news stories with VUMC sources

Psychology Today published an editorial from Stephen Camarata, PhD, professor of Hearing and Speech Sciences, about his daughter Laura’s “fight” with stage 4 colon cancer before her death.

The Tennessean reporter Melissa Brown interviewed Kyla Terhune, MD, vice president for Educational Affairs and associate dean for Graduate Medical Education, for a story about new AAMC research that shows a drop in residency applications in certain states, including Tennessee. The researchers found patterns among the states with the largest year-over-year decreases: All had adopted strict abortion bans. For Tennessee, the reports finds a decrease of 1,614 applications last year overall, including 175 in OB/GYN specialties and 185 in pediatrics.

William Cooper, MD, MPH, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Pediatrics and Health Policy and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs for Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, was quoted in a Medscape story about his study indicating that surgeons are the medical specialty most likely to be reported for behaving unprofessionally.

William Schaffner, MD, professor of Preventive Medicine, has been interviewed by numerous news outlets about a variety of stories in the news. Among them: a Voice of America story about conspiracy theories regarding bird flu; a Fortune story about COVID variants; a Verywell Health story about getting a COVID booster for the summer; an AARP piece about side effects of the RSV vaccine; and CNN and CBS News interviewed him for stories about a drug-resistant flu strain.

Stacie Dusetzina, PhD, professor of Health Policy, was quoted by STAT in a story about the origin of $35 insulin and a Reuters piece about the arthritis drug Humira.

Shailee Shah, MD, assistant professor of Neurology, was quoted in a Healthline story, “Celine Dion opens up about living with stiff person syndrome.”

Grace Koo, MD, assistant professor of Medicine, was quoted in a Self magazine story, “How to know when it’s time to swap antihistamines for allergy shots.”

Food & Wine magazine published a story, “America is Ingesting Sunscreen: What You Need to Know about Titanium Oxide,” that quotes Heidi Silver, RD, MS, PhD, research professor of Medicine and director of the Vanderbilt Diet Body Composition and Human Metabolism Core.