Brian Reid, CRNA, used to pack Chris and Mary's lunches before school. Now they all work together in VUMC's Department of Anesthesiology.

A full understanding of retinal cell types and their functions could point to novel therapeutic targets for diseases that affect the visual system, such as glaucoma — a leading cause of blindness for people over age 60.

In 2008 at VUMC there were a group of doctors trying something unheard of on a handful of patients who signed up for their study. Half would receive deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery in attempt to slow the progression of their early-stage Parkinson’s disease, and the others would not.

The funds will help launch a clinical trial in the U.S. with one of the therapies and compare it with another therapy from an ongoing clinical trial in Japan.

Roughly 1 in 10 people over age 70 will develop CHIP, an explosive, clonal growth of abnormal blood cells that increases risk of blood cancers and death from cardiovascular, lung and liver disease.

John Henderson has been to the VUMC Emergency Department numerous times over the past several years but was discharged Monday with a new treatment plan, SSDI income, outpatient advocate, cell phone and supportive housing.