The Green Heart Louisville Project is a groundbreaking scientific study that is testing the hypothesis that introducing more green trees and shrubs into a neighborhood can directly lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide.

“Receiving this award is a great honor not only for our investigators, but also our partners and communities,” said Aruni Bhatnagar, director of the at University of Louisville and project leader for Green Heart Louisville. “It validates years of work which has shown that thoughtfully planned greening can improve cardiovascular and community health, and it affirms that the Green Heart project is not only good science, but also a model for how to improve human health in urban environments. The recognition gives us new momentum to scale this work across Louisville and beyond.”

The Witte-Sakamoto Family Medal in City and Regional Planning was established in 2019 by William Witte, an alumnus of the Weitzman School, and his wife, Keiko Sakamoto to recognize a firm, team or professional for an exemplary plan that advances the field of plan making in at least four of the following areas: social equity, environmental quality, design, public health, mobility, housing affordability and economic development. The juries for the Witte-Sakamoto Family Medal and Prize were chaired by Megan Ryerson, UPS Foundation Chair of Transportation, chair of city and regional planning, and professor of city and regional planning and electrical and systems engineering at Weitzman.

“Green Heart Louisville exemplifies a holistic way of looking at public health – a marriage of design, planning and science to emulate,” said Fritz Steiner, dean and Paley Professor at Weitzman, and a member of the jury who selected Green Heart Louisville for the award.

Launched in 2018 by UofL’s Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute with support from The Nature Conservancy, the study investigates whether and how living among more densely greened surroundings contributes to better heart health. The Green Heart team applied the treatment – the addition of thousands of mature trees and shrubs – to the center of a four-square-mile area in south Louisville.

The first clinical outcomes from the study, , indicate that people living in neighborhoods where the number of trees and shrubs was more than doubled showed lower levels of a blood marker of inflammation than those living in the control area. General inflammation is an important risk indicator for heart disease and other chronic diseases.

The Green Heart Project’s work to establish a scientific link between nature – specifically urban greenery – and human health is already influencing projects worldwide. The first clinical outcomes announcement garnered widespread national media attention. Many research papers, posters and talks on the project have been delivered to both scientists and laypeople since the project’s inception, and robust research and outreach for the project continues.

“Being a model of optimal aging means continuing to evolve and flourish as we age to the best of our ability. It is a state of being and mind that one grows toward over a lifetime,” said Anna Faul, executive director of the Trager Institute. “It is choosing not to passively accept society’s ideas of what aging means but rather to find what matters most to you and pursuing it.”

Adults who achieve the age of 85 by Sept. 1 and who live according to the physical, social, creative and spiritual principles of optimal aging are eligible for the Gold Standard of Optimal Aging Award. Anyone may nominate an older adult at the until July 15. Sponsorship information for the award ceremony also is available at the site.

“This award is one of the cornerstone events of Optimal Aging Month, a time dedicated to promoting the view that aging is an opportunity, not a disease,” said Christian Davis Furman, medical director of the institute. “We are so excited to share with the community all of our older adults who are optimally aging.”

Honorees will receive their awards during a luncheon on Sept. 30 at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage as part of UofL’s Optimal Aging Month. Each honoree and one guest may attend the event for free and may either join in person or virtually. Additional tickets at $40 per person may be purchased at the later this summer. The event benefits the and its efforts to empower older adults to flourish.

For more information, call 502-588-0433 or email tragerinstitute@louisville.edu.

Nominations for the 31^st annual award, presented by the UofL Equine Industry Program, are being accepted through Oct. 30.

The award is named for the late John W. Galbreath, the first person ever to breed and race Kentucky Derby winners (Chateaugay and Proud Clarion) and an English (Epsom) Derby winner (Roberto). He received Eclipse Awards as racing’s “Man of the Year” in 1972 and as the country’s outstanding breeder in 1974. Galbreath was heavily involved in importing top Thoroughbred stallions from overseas, including Ribot and Sea-Bird II.

Galbreath built a small local firm into an international real estate/project development company. His interests included the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team and Darby Dan Farm, a Thoroughbred breeding and racing enterprise that won stakes races on three continents. He also served for many years as chairman of Churchill Downs.

Recipients of the Galbreath Award demonstrate original and creative techniques or approaches to business, a willingness to take personal or career risks, forward-thinking and visionary management planning, an ability to render a business firm or organization more effective and profitable and the respect of peers as evidence of character and integrity.

Previous awardees include John A. Bell III, Cothran “Cot” Campbell and Judith Forbis. The 2019 winner was B. Wayne Hughes, who re-established Spendthrift Farm as one of the largest stallion stations in the world through innovative marketing techniques such as the “Share the Upside” program.

The 2020 awardee will be announced in late fall and honored at a dinner in Louisville. More information is available online.

Reynolds, the president and CEO of Louisville Urban League, earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UofL.��

She has previously been named the 2017 Person of the Year by Louisville Magazine and one of 100 women to watch by BizWomen’s Business Journal.��

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Heather Hibbard, BSN, RN, manager of the medical oncology and infusion center at the University of Louisville , is being honored for making a difference in the lives of cancer patients. Hibbard is one of seven health care providers who will be in the spotlight at the Third Annual Commitment to Compassion Luncheon, sponsored by Passport Health Plan, Insider Louisville and the Compassionate Louisville Healthcare Constellation. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 28, at the Muhammad Ali Center.

Hibbard uses her training as well as her personal experience to make life a little easier for cancer patients. Her father and grandfather were diagnosed with lung cancer within one month of each other, and passed away one month apart in 2013. Although it was a painful time for her, that experience helps her understand how to improve care provided to the patients at the Brown Cancer Center.

Hibbard says she wants to provide the kind of care for patients and families that she would want to receive. To help make things easier, she developed a lab and line room where patients can have their vitals and lab work done before seeing the physician. This reduced patient wait times by two thirds.

“Cancer does not have to be a death sentence, but the patients need top-notch, nurturing and individualized care,” Hibbard said. “My one goal in life is to make a difference in cancer care – to give others hope that we are doing everything we can as an oncology center. I have a great group of people who want better care for their patients and I help them in reaching that goal.”

It is often little things that make a difference for patients.

“You don’t ever hear, ‘thank you for accessing my port,’” Hibbard said. “But you do hear ‘thank you for being gentle with me,’ ‘thank you for listening,’ ‘thank you for calling home health and getting things set up so my life is a little easier.’”

The Commitment to Compassion luncheon, emceed by television health and science reporter Jean West, will include recognition of the compassionate care honorees, a performance by the West Louisville Boys Choir and a panel discussion on “Innovative and compassionate care in West Louisville.” Reservations are available .