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FELLOWSHIP: Lily's Garden Fellowships in Childhood Cancer

Lily's Garden • October 28, 2020

Announcing the 2020-21 Fellowships

The Lily's Garden Fellowship in Childhood Cancer was established in 2010 by Larisa Featherstone and Carol and Ron Johnston to support a fellow conducting research in pediatric cancer at the School of Medicine. The fund may also be used to bring an expert in childhood cancer to Vanderbilt to give a research seminar at Grand Rounds and to spend the week teaching and rounding with the fellows and faculty in the Department of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine.

Brianna N. Smith, M.D., M.S. 

Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Fellowship

Vanderbilt University Medical Center/Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN


Dr. Smith is examining biological pathways in leukemia cells to understand why and how a new combination of chemotherapy agents are showing improved clinical results for patients with leukemia that has been difficult to treat and has discovered novel pathways of resistance and evidence for drug combinations that overcome such resistance. In addition, she has developed a new project to examine genetic origins of myeloid leukemia. She continues to work under the mentorship of Drs. Michael Savona and William Tansey. Dr. Smith was recruited to the faculty to continue this research for which she has just been awarded a scholar position on the NCI - funded Vanderbilt Clinical Oncology Research Career Development Program K12 to support her mentorship and research. Dr. Smith has presented her work at international meetings. 

Rohini Chakravarthy, M.D. 

2nd Year Fellow-Pediatric Hematology and Oncology

Vanderbilt University Medical Center/Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN


Dr. Chakravarthy obtained her BS at the University of Illinois, where she had many academic honors including the University Achievement Scholarship, James Scholar Honors Program, Dean’s List, Phi Eta Sigma Freshman Honor Society, Cum Laude and the Molecular and Cellular Biology Departmental Distinction for Senior Thesis. She went onto receive her MD from University of Kansas School of Medicine, where she was the Robert W. Wahl M.D. Scholarship merit recipient. Dr Chakravarthy completed her residency in General Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin and was recruited to the fellowship in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology in 2020. Dr. Chakravarthy is also currently a trainee on a National Institutes of Health funded grant and is pursuing a Master of Public Health degree at Vanderbilt University. Her clinical interest lies in stem cell transplantation and her research is focused on health outcomes for pediatric patients treated with stem transplantation.

Lily's Garden Discovery Researcher Fund

January 31, 2023
Discovery grants are awarded to our researchers to test high-risk/high-reward ideas that can lead to big breakthroughs and leverage large-scale funding. Well-timed research support helps ensure senior fellows and other early-career investigators have the resources they need to conduct such studies on emerging treatment options for young cancer patients. This gift will provide, in perpetuity, a critical funding bridge, so new researchers in academic medicine can continue work while they generate data to apply for large, multi-year grants. Philanthropic support will make a significant difference in the impact of important studies in pediatric cancer.

LECTURESHIP: Lily's Garden Lecture by Dr. Meredith Irwin

By Lily's Garden • March 22, 2022
Pediatric Grand Rounds Lecture: "Advances in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Neuroblastoma: Paradigm for Precision Medicine"

FUNDED RESEARCH: Lily’s Garden Research Fund supported the work of Richard H. Ho, MD, MSCI

By Lily's Garden • December 22, 2020
During the 2020–21 year, the Lily’s Garden Research Fund supported the work of Richard H. Ho, MD, MSCI, associate professor of Pediatrics. Dr. Ho is board certified in pediatric hematology and oncology and was the recipient of the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers awarded jointly by the National Institutes of Health and the White House in 2013. He also serves on the American Association for Cancer Research’s pediatric oncology committee where he provides expertise in pharmacogenomics.
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