Reporter

Robert B. Cotton Jr., M.D., professor of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University and former longtime director of the Division of Neonatology, died Friday, Jan. 2. He was 74.

Melanoma is the most lethal form of skin cancer, with high mortality rates. While new drugs have been approved to treat the disease, patients nearly always develop resistance to the therapies and the cancer advances.

A study appearing in the January edition of Pediatrics, led by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, looks at how Nashville children ages 6 months through 5 years fared over 11 consecutive flu seasons concluding in 2010-11.

Kathie Krause, MSN, R.N., has been named chief nursing officer of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

One of the most promising new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease may already be in your kitchen. Curcumin, a natural product found in the spice turmeric, has been used by many Asian cultures for centuries, and a new study indicates a close chemical analog of curcumin has properties that may make it useful as a treatment for the brain disease.

In recent months Vanderbilt University Medical Center has begun delivering patient education materials to patients and their care teams using a technology called Infobutton.

The Nashville Coalition for the Homeless recently honored Christian Ketel, DNP, MSN, manager of the Clinic at Mercury Courts, with the Phyllis M. Frank Volunteer Award.