Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia Foundation awarded $25,000 to March of Dimes in an effort to help Georgia’s babies get a healthy start in life. Due to the grant, pregnant women in Georgia will receive critical prenatal services as well as education. www.marchofdimes.com
Northside Hospital announced the opening of its new Blood & Marrow Transplant Unit located on the hospital’s Atlanta campus, which secures the hospital as one of the largest transplant programs in the Southeast United States. The new unit expands the number of beds available to 36 from 17 and provides a state of the art center for inpatient BMT and leukemia treatment. www.northside.com
Dr. Shahram Rezaiamiri has been named a Top Doc by Lifestyles Magazine. Rezaimiri is a DeKalb area resident.
Atlanta Medical Center’s Women’s Services Center has recently expanded its selections beyond natural and traditional birthing to include eight certified midwives on staff, plus water birthing. Today’s midwives must graduate from an accredited education program and pass a certification exam. Once certified, midwives — who work in conjunction with an obstetrician — attend continuing education programs in order to keep abreast of changes in obstetrics. www.atlantamedcenter.com.
The Free to Breathe Lung Cancer 5K Run/Walk will take place Saturday, Aug. 21, at 8:30 a.m. in Virginia Highlands Registration is $20 online and $23 for mail-in and closes Aug. 16. Event day registration costs $25. The walk unites people who are passionate about raising public awareness and vital research funding to combat lung cancer. All proceeds help support the National Lung Cancer Partnership’s research, education and awareness programs.www.freetobreathe.org
A silent auction and dinner on Saturday, Aug 7 at Garden Hills Recreation Center, $50, to raise money for Doug Hanny who needs a mult-organ transplant. Event includes barbecue and live music by DejaBlueGrass Band. Auction items include vacations, artwork, crystal, jewelry and more. Reserve by Aug. 3. betsyj@mwmcorp.com or (404)375-1779.
Works from ABC’s Medical Mysteries’ Jon Sarkin will be featured at the Atlanta Folk Fest, Aug. 20-22, presented by the Traylor-Post Gallery. A former chiropractor, Sarkin became a medical mystery after a brain hemorrhage and stroke. Emerging from his near death experience, he awoke a different man both in body and spirit. He was deaf in one ear, his vision splintered and his balance skewed. Neurologists told him his brain had changed and the neurons that were left had been forced to make new connections, find new meaning. Eighteen months after his stroke, he was overtaken with an effusive, unfocused desire to create art. Tom Cruise bought the rights to his life story who is executive producing and starring in the film. His work is in the private collections of Tom Cruise, Robert DeNiro, Diane Von Fursternberg and Meryl Streep, to name a few. Sarkin’s work and that of other outsider artists can be viewed at The Traylor-Post Gallery booth at the Atlanta Folk Fest, at the North Atlanta Trade Center, 1700 Jeurgens Court, Norcross. For more information visit, www.traylorpostgallery.com
