By Shawn Nowlin shawn.nowlin@ourvalley.org
It’s been 23 months since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first US case of COVID-19. Although tremendous strides have been made in research, people still have questions about the virus: What is community spread? What is multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C)? Is at-home specimen collection or testing available?
On Dec. 11, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) hosted the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Hope Gala titled “Celebrating Healthcare Heroes.” Each of the recipients continues to provide their expertise during the pandemic.
Gala honorees Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Griffin Rodgers awarded the Rapaport Lifetime Service Award to Sally Southard, the former Salem School Board Chair.
A retired pediatric nurse practitioner who worked for Carilion for decades, Southard spent the last 23 years in the Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergy Clinic in Roanoke. For five years, she was an instructor at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in addition to the UVA School of Nursing.
Throughout her career as a pediatric nurse practitioner, Southard precepted many students from the University of Virginia, Radford University, University of Southern Alabama and Old Dominion University.
Introduced last Saturday by Barbara and Laura Rapaport, Southard said, “It’s really hard to believe that you two chose me as the recipient of your Lifetime Service Award. After all, there are so many other people in the Mid-Atlantic Chapter who devote countless hours to JDRF. I am truly honored and humbled. When I was diagnosed in 1966 at the age of ten, and my mom was diagnosed at the age of 35, she and I had to boil our glass syringes every night before our one shot of insulin the next morning. Now, thanks to JDRF and many researchers across the world, I have an insulin delivery device that warns me when my blood sugars are climbing too high.
Southard, a 1977 Roanoke College graduate, added, “In the clinical trial that I’m currently participating in at the University of Virginia, I get weekly recommendations to change the settings in my insulin pump to better fine-tune the insulin at various times in the day and night.”
Currently, Southard serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Blue Ridge Chapter of JDRF as well as the President of the Board of Directors of Child Health Investment Partnership (CHIP) of the Roanoke Valley. After 16 years, 14 as Chairman, Southard retired from the Salem City School Board.
