DeKalb County Unveils New Mural at Mason Mill Park: A vibrant community-driven art project, funded by the DeKalb District 2 Park Bond, will be revealed on June 1, 2024, at 10 a.m. in Decatur, GA.
Decatur, GA – May 27, 2024
The DeKalb County Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with Commissioner Michelle Long Spears and Atlanta-based artist Jermaine Clark, is set to unveil an exciting addition to Mason Mill Park’s vibrant tapestry. A new mural, the product of months of collaboration and community engagement, will be revealed on Saturday, June 1, 2024 at 10 a.m. under the South Peachtree Creek Trail bridge.
This unveiling event marks the culmination of a journey that began with public engagement meetings orchestrated by the community and Clark. Over four months, ideas were shared and explored, visions were crafted and tested, and now, the fruits of this collective effort are ready to adorn the park’s landscape.
Funded by the DeKalb District 2 Park Bond, the mural is a testament to the power of community investment in public art. Its vibrant colors and captivating imagery are poised to enrich the park’s aesthetic while serving as a symbol of unity and inclusivity.
Commissioner Michelle Long Spears of DeKalb County District 2 expressed her excitement about the project, emphasizing its role. “The creation of this mural has been a truly collaborative effort, reflecting the values and diversity of our community,” Commissioner Spears stated. “I love public art because it not only beautifies our shared spaces but also tells the story of who we are. This mural is a testament to our commitment to inclusion, creativity, and community spirit.”
The unveiling ceremony promises to be a momentous occasion, with county officials, parks staff, and members of the public coming together to witness the mural’s debut. Following the unveiling, attendees are invited to gather at the park pavilion for an update from Commissioner Spears on action items and her agenda from the past year.
The DeKalb County Department of Recreation cordially invites you to join in this celebration of art, community, and progress at Mason Mill Park. Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 1, at 10 a.m., and be a part of this thrilling moment in DeKalb County’s cultural landscape.
Vine City Revitalized: After a devastating fire, the former Walmart Supercenter has reopened as a 75,000-square-foot Neighborhood Market, bringing essential groceries, fresh produce, and community resources back to the Atlanta neighborhood.
By Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA – May 22, 2024
In March 2012, city leaders and Walmart representatives broke ground on a new Walmart Supercenter at 825 MLK Jr. Dr. NW in Atlanta. Land prep and construction took a little more than eight months.
The store opened in January 2013; the Walmart served as a cornerstone of the local community until May 2022, when a devastating arson fire forced its closure. The store suffered a second arson fire in December of that same year. The store closed and remained shuttered, leaving a void in the area and exacerbating food desert conditions in Vine City.
Mayor Andre Dickens makes first purchase.
Determined to revitalize the community, Atlanta City Councilman Byron Amos, alongside Councilman Jason Dozier and Mayor Andre Dickens, spearheaded discussions to return a grocery store, an essential business for the area. Their efforts bore fruit with the unveiling of Store 7601, a Walmart Supercenter converted into a 75,000-square-foot Neighborhood Market boasting an extensive array of groceries, fresh produce, and deli items.
In addition to providing vital provisions, Store 7601 also features an Atlanta Police Department touchdown point, offering officers a dedicated space for recharging and respite. With 135 full and part-time employees, the store promises to invigorate the local economy while fostering a safe, healthy shopping experience for nearby residents.
Jacob Onuzulike, manager store 7601
Jacob Onuzulike, appointed as the manager of Store 7601, expressed his enthusiasm for serving the community and ensuring a seamless shopping experience for patrons. Mayor Andre Dickens, a resident near the store, underscored his commitment by making the inaugural purchase post-ribbon cutting and pledging to support the establishment regularly.
Walmart’s extensive footprint across the United States, comprising 3,559 Supercenters, 357 Discount Stores, 673 Neighborhood Markets, 20 Small Format Stores, and 599 Sam’s Club locations, underscores the corporation’s deep-rooted commitment to serving diverse communities. The Vine City Community is grateful for their dedication and support.
The resurgence of Store 7601 stands as a testament to Vine City’s resilience and the collaborative spirit between city leaders and corporate partners. As the community embarks on a new chapter, the reopening serves as a beacon of hope, signaling the transformative power of perseverance and partnership.
USPSTF Updates Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations: Women aged 40-74 should receive biennial mammograms, with individualized decision-making for those under 40, to balance benefits and harms of breast cancer screening
Atlanta, GA – April 30, 2024
The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has released new recommendations for breast cancer screening. Research evidence suggests that women aged 40 to 74 should now get biennial mammogram screening.
One of the USPSTF’s most important roles is to make recommendations about the effectiveness of specific preventive care services for patients without obvious related signs or symptoms to improve the health of people nationwide. The USPSTF bases its recommendations on the evidence of both the benefits and harms of the service and an assessment of the balance. While the USPSTF makes recommendations based on research, it understands that every case has its specific circumstances and that decisions involve more considerations than evidence alone. Clinicians should understand the evidence but individualize decision-making to the specific patient or situation. The USPSTF has found that race, ethnicity, and gender are all social rather than biological factors, but they are also very important predictors of health risk.
According to the USPTSTF, among all US women, breast cancer is the second most common cancer and the second most common cause of cancer death. In 2023, an estimated 43,170 women died of breast cancer.
According to the American Cancer Society, The Susan G. Komen Foundation, and the National Library of Medicine, non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic white women have the highest incidence of breast cancer. Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer at every age and are more likely to develop more aggressive, advanced-stage breast cancer that is diagnosed at a young age.
White women have a higher incidence rate of breast cancer between the ages of 60 and 84, while Black women have a higher incidence rate before age 45. Hispanic women have the lowest incidence of breast cancer.
Earlier Recommendations
In 2016, the USPSTF recommended biennial mammograms for women aged 50 to 74 and individualizing the decision to undergo screening for women aged 40 to 49, based on factors such as individual risk and personal preferences and values.
Latest Recommendation
Based on its most recent research and findings released April 30, 2024, the USPSTF recommends, biennial mammograms from ages 40 to 74. The USPSTF further notes that all screening is subject to modification based on individual needs, conditions, and preferences.
More Research Required
The USPSTF concedes that there is still more research required to understand and address the disparities between Black women and other women.
Research is needed to understand why Black women are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancers that have biomarker patterns that confer greater risk for poor health outcomes.
Research is needed to understand how variations in care (including diagnosis and treatment) lead to increased risk of breast cancer morbidity and mortality in Black women, across the spectrum of stages and biomarker patterns, and on effective strategies to reduce this disparity. Research is needed to determine whether the benefits differ for annual vs. biennial breast cancer screening among women overall and whether there is a different balance of benefits and harms among Black women compared with all women.
Other Recommendations
The USPSTF included in their finding the recommendations of agencies in the fight for women against breast cancer.
The American Cancer Society recommends that women with an average risk of breast cancer should undergo regular screening mammography starting at age 45 years. It suggests that women aged 45 to 54 years should be screened annually, that women 55 years or older should transition to biennial screening or have the opportunity to continue screening annually, that women should have the opportunity to begin annual screening between the ages of 40 and 44 years, and that women should continue screening mammography as long as their overall health is good and they have a life expectancy of 10 years or longer.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that women at average risk of breast cancer should be offered screening mammography starting at age 40 years,
The American College of Radiology and the Society of Breast Imaging recommend annual screening mammography beginning at age 40 years for women at average risk.
The most important thing to know is that regardless of age, all treatments and preventive screenings should be carefully scripted with a focus on individual conditions, preferences, and beliefs.
The full report can be found on the USPSTF website.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University are studying cellular aging to develop a more accurate measure of human age, potentially leading to innovative treatments for age-related health decline and blood cancers.
By Milton Kirby
Jude M. Phillip, an assistant professor said that his research being conducted at Johns Hopkins University could tell us how old we are not by looking at the calendar, but by looking at our cells. Dr. Phillip and his team are examining and studying the cells in our bodies to better understand their movement and structural features. Dr. Phillip said the characteristics could be a much better indicator of our true age. For example; one person who is 70 years old can run a marathon and shows very few signs of aging, while another individual could be 70 years old and show multiple signs of aging, including diminished mobility.
His lab studies biological aging dynamics in the context of health and disease. He combines fundamental engineering approaches with translational aging and oncology research to develop strategies and technologies to probe aging and identify means to modify aging trajectories to drive healthy aging.
In the research that Dr. Phillip and his team are doing, they look at a cell’s ability to move, its ability to stay flexible, and its structure. The team’s findings determined that there are three groups: those whose cell function was parallel to their chronological age, those whose cell function was distinctly older than their chronological age, and those whose cell function was younger than their chronological age. This life-changing research could eventually allow doctors to see aging in the cells before the patient shows any age-related health decline.
Dr. Phillip’s research is the development of innovative treatments for blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma. He has conducted extensive research on the use through the use of immunotherapy, a type of cancer treatment that uses the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells. Dr. Phillip’s work has contributed to the development of CAR-T cell therapy, which is a type of immunotherapy that uses T cells from your immune system to make your treatment. It has been shown to be effective in treating certain types of blood cancers.
Dr. Philip’s work has been published in several prestigious medical journals. Dr. Phillip, who specializes in both hematology and oncology, has spent his entire professional life working to improve both the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
Dr. Phillip is also dedicated to giving his patients good care in addition to his research. He is known for his compassionate and personalized approach to patient care, and he takes the time to listen to his patient’s’ concerns and explain their treatment options in detail.
Dr. Philip’s long-term goal is to develop and translate discoveries and technologies from the laboratory into the medical arena to improve human health and longevity. He intends to develop robust cell-based biomarkers of aging in health and disease and to establish research pipelines that explain the relationships among age-related dysfunctions, disease progression, and treatment responses.
His current projects include:
Development and validation of cell-based biomarkers of aging in health and disease (frailty)
Scale-dependence of aging – pathways for modifiable aging trajectories
Understanding the role of age-induced stroma-immune crosstalk, and how it shapes lymphoma tumor immune-microenvironment (tiME)
Doctor Jude M. Phillip spoke about his research as the keynote speaker for the 2023 A.G. Rhodes Board of Advisors Living Well Luncheon.
Dr. Phillip born and raised on the island of Grenada, is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, with a secondary appointment in Chemical & Bimolecular Engineering, Oncology, and a core member of the Institute for Nanobiotechnology (INBT) at Johns Hopkins University.
Phillip has a Bachelor of Engineering degree in chemical engineering from the City College of New York and a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He completed his postdoctoral work at Weil Cornell Medicine with Leandro Cerchietti, MD, and Ari Melnick, MD. (https://inbt.jhu.edu/people/jude-phillip).
Dr. Phillip has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to the field of oncology.
Dr. Phillip enjoys being outdoors and experiencing nature with his wife and two daughters. He has run the New York City Marathon twice.
The A.G. Rhodes Living Well Luncheon is a major fundraiser that provides scholarship assistance in the field of caregiving. The scholarships benefit the staff, residents, and their families. The Board of Advisors also paid tribute to Laura Smith Spearman and the Smith Family Legacy during the Living Well Luncheon. Ms. Spearman is a longtime member of the A.G. Rhodes Board of Advisors, and third generation of Smith family volunteers and supporters of A.G. Rhodes.
For more than 115 years, A.G. Rhodes (AGR) has been a mission-driven organization guided by what is best for its patients and residents. The AGR Board of Trustees and Board of Advisors enable the mission of the AGR. AGR has become one of Atlanta’s most successful nonprofit organizations.
AGR’s long-standing reputation of providing high-quality care is achieved, in large part, because of its successful compliance program (https://www.agrhodes.org/about-agrhodes).
Jocelyn Dorsey, former WSB-TV Broadcast Manager and member of the AGR Board of Trustees served as host and emcee for the occasion.
From left to right: Dr. Jude M. Phillip, Keynote speaker, Jocelyn Dorsey, Board of Trustees, Deke Cateau, CEO A.G. Rhodes, David Perdue, Chair Board of Trustees, Felicia Huger, President of the Board of Advisors, Kim Beasley, Director of Communications & Outreach, Claire Kaye, Director of Development
