October 17, 2025

The importance of sunscreen on airplanes; the role of AI in diabetes care; the advent of the state’s first pediatric rehabilitation facility; plus other news stories with VUMC sources.

Airplane landing on runway (iStock)

Jami Miller, MD, associate professor of Clinical Dermatology, was quoted by Health magazine in a piece headlined, “10 Unexpected Places You Need to Wear Sunscreen.” Among those places: airplanes, cars, on the water, and around plant grow lights.

Yaa Kumah-Crystal, MD, MPH, associate professor of Clinical Biomedical Informatics, was quoted in a Medscape piece about the evolving role of AI in diabetes care.

WTVF News Channel 5 broadcast a story on Tennessee’s first pediatric rehabilitation facility, which is set to begin construction in 2026. The piece quotes Elizabeth Martin, MD, assistant professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

WKRN News 2 reporter Andy Cordan became the latest to interview Shravani Durbhakula, MD, associate professor of Anesthesiology in the Division of Pain Medicine, about the increased use of synthetic opioids.

WSMV Channel 4 News ,  WTVF News Channel 5, and Mix 92.9 covered the story about Michael Topf, MD, associate professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, leading a surgical team to perform the first surgeries in the United States to leverage a new device that can image resected tumors in real time in the operating room.

WZTV Fox 17 News reported on a drug combination treatment for kidney cancer. The story quotes Brian Rini, MD, professor of Medicine.

Bloomberg News reporter Lisa Jarvis interviewed Stacie Dusetzina, PhD, professor of Health Policy, for a story about the government’s drug pricing deal with Pfizer. As reported earlier, she had previously been interviewed by other outlets including NBC News, Politico, UPI, Associated Press, and CNN.

William Schaffner, MD, professor of Preventive Medicine, was quoted by several news outlets about public health issues, including Prevention (an over-the-counter nasal spray may lower risk of COVID and common cold); U.S. News and World Report (RSV vaccines); and The Daily Mail (where masks might be needed during coming winter).

Politico health technology reporter Ruth Reader interviewed Susannah Rose, PhD, executive director of the AI Discovery & Vigilance to Accelerate Innovation & Clinical Excellence (ADVANCE) Center, for a story about the launch of theDigital Medicine Society (DiMe’s) “The Playbook: Implementing AI in Healthcare.” The DiMe press release has been picked up by numerous outlets including Yahoo Finance and the Washington Daily News.