Vanderbilt University School of Nursing (VUSN) recently received a $1.22 million grant to support Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students who plan to become nursing faculty. The award brings the funds the school has received for the program since 2008 to $7.3 million. This latest award is part of the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration's Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP). DNP students planning to teach can receive a NFLP award that underwrites VUSN tuition, books, fees and associated costs. After graduation, loan recipients employed as nursing faculty in any school of nursing in the United States for four years will have 85 percent of the loan forgiven.

Saint Thomas Health has awarded a $100,000 Community Benefit Grant to the YMCA of Middle Tennessee to support its Healthier Communities Initiative (HCI) program at the Northwest Family YMCA in Nashville. Built on the concept that communities can work together to support healthy choices, examples of the HCI program include helping families put nutritious food on the table by bringing farmers markets with fresh fruits and vegetables to neighborhoods where healthy food options are scarce.

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) recently announced the awarding of 55 new Pediatric Oncology Student Training (POST) program grants to undergraduate, graduate and medical students across the country. The students, who each receive $5,000 grants, work with mentors at 29 different institutions across the country for at least eight weeks. Included among the prestigious group of young researchers are two students from Vanderbilt: Kyle Garland for his project Immunotherapeutic Targeting of the STING Pathway to Combat Neuroblastoma and Sara Sinno for her research interest Epigenetic Therapy for Spinal Ependymoma.