Whether it’s former classmates or perfect strangers coming together to support a great cause, there is no denying that there is strength in numbers.

Fran Hardcastle still recalls her first volunteer experience — selling papers on Palm Sunday to benefit the Junior League Home for Crippled Children.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has received an 18-month, $6.9 million award to set up a Clinical Data Research Network (CDRN) that can reach millions of patients and speed the translation of research findings into clinical practice.

Jeffrey Sosman, M.D., professor of Medicine and leader of the Vanderbilt Melanoma Program, will head one of two teams of researchers at prominent national institutions investigating acral melanoma, a skin cancer that typically forms on the hands, soles of the feet or under the fingernails.

They are touchstones on the Nashville calendar — Iroquois Steeplechase and the Music City Tennis Invitational usher in spring. The Eve of Janus is a celebration of summer. Christmas Village kicks off the holiday season.

John F. Brock III, chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises, his wife, Mary, and their three children have established an endowment to support an oncology fellowship at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. The Brock Family Fellowship will provide financial assistance long into the future for young physicians, postdoctoral students and medical investigators who are furthering their training in cancer research.