The Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) has awarded grant funding to the Caregiver Relief Program of Bedford County in Shelbyville to help fund their free nursing support program, which provides free monthly nurse visits to individuals and families affected by Alzheimer's disease. This $5,000 grant will help the Caregiver Relief Program of Bedford County provide free nursing support with Hope, Help, and Radical Loving Support to individuals and families affected by Alzheimer's disease. A nurse visits the home of the family on a monthly basis, providing physical and emotional support, education, a personalized care plan and respite for the whole family. The family caregiver is counseled, educational materials are provided, and the caregiver is equipped with the tools and encouragement to continue to be effective.

Researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), UC San Francisco (UCSF), and Silicon Kidney have been awarded one of 15 cash prizes in the inaugural KidneyX's Redesign Dialysis Phase I competition for their roadmap to create an implantable dialysis system that would allow patients to treat kidney failure at home. Each of the 15 winning teams will receive $75,000 ... and more importantly ... will work closely with the FDA, Medicare and HHS leadership to see how the concepts can be translated into products for patients. VUMC's William Fissell, MD, associate professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology, and UCSF's Shuvo Roy, PhD, professor of Bioengineering in the School of Pharmacy, won their award for the design of an innovative implantable hemofilter dialysis system that allows patient to safely and effectively treat kidney failure at home. The proposed system, known as iHemo (for implantable hemodialysis), creates a permanent implanted dialyzer inside the patient's body.