The Tennessee Public Health Association and the Tennessee Medical Association are collaborating to establish the “William Schaffner, M.D., Public Health Hero Award,” to be presented annually to an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary efforts in the advancement of public health in Tennessee.

In the United States, one infant is born each hour with drug withdrawal, known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), after being exposed to opioid medications like oxycodone in utero.

Muktar Aliyu, M.D., MPH, Dr.P.H., associate director for Research at the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, is the recipient of the 2014 Alumnus Award for Scientific Excellence from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health.

William Schaffner, M.D., professor of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, received the Immunization Champion Award — Friend of Pharmacy from the American Pharmacists Association (APA) at the group’s annual meeting recently in Orlando, Fla.

Influenza and parainfluenza infections – but not other respiratory viruses – increase the risk of acquiring pneumococcal bacteria, the most common cause of severe pneumonia.

Muktar Aliyu, M.D., associate professor of Health Policy and Medicine, is receiving the William Kane Rising Star Award from the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) at its annual banquet on Saturday in New Orleans.