Patients at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt were surprised with their very own My Special Aflac Duck, a high-tech robot that uses medical play, lifelike movement and emotions to engage and help comfort children during their cancer care.

Lily Hensiek, diagnosed with pre B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia 10 years ago at age 7, has helped raise $1 million, through community fundraisers and individual donors, to create two funds to support pediatric cancer research and training at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. The funds are the Lily’s Garden Endowed Lecture in Childhood Cancer and the Lily’s Garden Research Fund.

Debra Friedman, MD, director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, has been awarded a $100,000 Hyundai Hope on Wheels Impact Award. The grant was celebrated in a “handprint ceremony” with Hyundai representatives on June 12.

Nine Vanderbilt University faculty members named to endowed chairs were honored during a celebration at the Student Life Center Feb. 28.

The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Neurofibromatosis (NF) Clinic has joined the Children’s Tumor Foundation NF Clinic Network.

Adam Esbenshade, M.D., MSCI, assistant professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, has been awarded a $50,000 Hyundai Hope on Wheels Impact Award. Esbenshade plans to use data to create a risk prediction model to predict blood stream infections in pediatric cancer patients.