Skip to main content

MPH grad Creech one of six selected to share his story for NIH-StoryCorps collaboration

Posted by on Thursday, July 28, 2016 in News .

A new collaboration between StoryCorps, the NIH and Vanderbilt is a first-of-its-kind partnership for an academic medical center, recognizing persons who enable health care work while capturing and preserving the stories of those connected with the extensive and diverse NIH community.

Buddy Creech, M.D.,M.P.H., associate professor of Pediatrics, and patient Cole Christopher. Cole was born with an immune defect known as chronic granulomatous disease, putting him at risk for very specific infections. As he entered adolescence, he became highly noncompliant and, as a result, his infections worsened. He then developed what would become a potentially fatal infection of his spine. In the hopes of providing salvage therapy, Creech worked with colleagues at the NIH to see Cole and evaluate him for bone marrow transplant. They performed this risky transplant and he is now doing extremely well.