Pete Nadherny, left, and Kathy Beechem in a favorite photo.

Kathy Beechem became involved in the mission to eradicate brain cancer the way many people do -- by fate rather than choice.

Ms. Beechem’s late husband, Pete Nadherny, was 60 years old and going full throttle in his executive search business when he started having trouble remembering names. It was a kind of forgetting that didn’t feel like normal aging. Mr. Nadherny’s instincts were correct, and a full body scan revealed a brain tumor. His diagnosis in December 2005 began a journey that, for Ms. Beechem, continues today.

Kathy Krumme flashes a winning smile at the Health Care Heroes banquet at the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati. Photo by Cindy Starr.

Kathleen Krumme, founder of the Sunflower Revolution, which has touched the lives of thousands of people who confront Parkinson’s disease, won the Business Courier's Health Care Heroes award in the community outreach category Thursday night at the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati downtown.

Participants at the Janet Nemann Memorial Swim. Photo by Paul McDonald.
 

The Janet Nemann Memorial Relay Swim, held Jan. 23 at Turpin High School, raised $2,500 for neurosurgical research at the Cerebrovascular Disease and Stroke Center at the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute.

The relay-format swim, which drew more than 100 swimmers who swam over 12 miles, honored the late Janet Nemann, a beloved schoolteacher, for her contributions to the Forest Hills School District, the Cincinnati swimming community and Anderson Township.

Peter Strauss, center-left, with cycling legend Davis Phinney, after receiving the 2005 Every Victory Counts Award with his wife, Kitty, at the Sunflower Revolution gala. Far right, emcee Rob Braun of Local 12. Photo by Mark Bowen. 

The UC Neuroscience Institute’s clinicians, researchers, supporters and staff mourn the passing of Peter Strauss, a former Cincinnati City Councilman and Vice Mayor who was a friend to many, a champion for the underdog, and an inspiring example of how to live with a chronic disease. Peter passed away on Friday, Feb. 12, after living with Parkinson’s disease for nearly 20 years.

Photo of Brett Kissela, MD, by Academic Health Center Communications Services

Every day UCNI's Brett Kissela, MD, gives the gift of health and knowledge. As Co-Director of the Stroke Recovery Center at Cincinnati’s Drake Center and Vice Chair of UC’s Department of Neurology, Dr. Kissela is a man on the go who cares for patients, conducts research, and helps educate and train the next generation of stroke experts.

Ravi Samy, MD, Director of the Adult Cochlear Implant Program. Photo by Cindy Starr/Mayfield Clinic

If a siren sounded but you were deaf, might you still be able to hear it?

That is a challenge being addressed by Ravi N. Samy, MD, FACS, Director of the Adult Cochlear Implant Program at UCNI’s Functional Neuroscience Center, a center devoted to people who have diseases and disorders related to hearing, swallowing, voice, taste, and smell.

Former patient Mary Siereveld, center, with Eileen Hintz, left, of the University Hospital Development Office, and Public Relations Manager Diana Maria Lara. Photo by Cindy Starr/Mayfield Clinic.

When Mary Siereveld came to University Hospital to see the three sturdy new rollaway beds that a fund in her name had purchased, two of the cots were already being used. Rhonda Sarver, a registered nurse on the neuroscience floor, predicted the third cot would be in use before the weekend was over. It was.

“The rollaway beds are a godsend for patients’ families,” Rhonda said. “We are so glad to have them.”

2010 Van Wagenen Fellow Andrew Grande, MD, left, with mentor John M. Tew, MD, who won the prestigious fellowship in 1969. Photo by Martha Headworth/Mayfield Clinic.

Andrew Grande, MD, is many things: smart, skillful, striving, idealistic. He is also the product of invaluable mentoring. His story of achievement reminds us of our responsibility to nurture potential within our midst.

Richie Hawley, left, rides with cycling legend Davis Phinney in the Sunflower Revolution. Photo by Mark Bowen.

Since its founding in 1998, the UC Neuroscience Institute has been privileged to receive gifts of all sizes, from five dollars to more than five million. But few gifts have brought as much sheer enjoyment as those provided by Richie Hawley, the acclaimed Principal Clarinetist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

From left: Pauline Richardson, RN, Mary Siereveld, and Roxanne Wise, RN, during Mary's 2008 holiday visit to University Hospital. Photo by Cindy Starr/Mayfield Clinic.

A family member who wishes to stay overnight with a loved one on the neuroscience floor at University Hospital has two choices: sleep in a reclining chair or try to find a cot -- preferably one that doesn’t bend or buckle. In recent years, finding a workable cot has been a challenge.