Terhune, who also serves as the ACGME/National Resident Matching Program Designated Institutional Official, begins her ACS leadership role on Nov. 1.

Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt facility dog “transforms tears to giggles on a daily basis,” said her handler.

Rush has spent her entire medical career at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Monroe Carell, arriving at VUMC in 1984 as a motivated resident passionate about helping the tiniest of patients in neonatology, joining the faculty in 1990, and rising through the ranks as a well-respected leader.

“No matter how many inquiries, she never wavers in her professionalism and kindness, treating each patient with the care and attention they deserve.”

Four tick-borne illnesses are most common in Tennessee, including spotted fever rickettsiosis, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Bystanders assumed the healthy teen — who has danced for nine years, six of those competitively — was overheated or exhausted. Conscious, though unresponsive to questions, Zoe quickly worsened.

The announcement of the recognition of VMAC as an NIH Center of Excellence comes nearly five years after the creation of an exploratory NIA-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.