INNOVATION  Cancer may have been around a long time, but nothing is outdated here. Shiny new iMacs glisten on every desk; straight-lined architecture and quiet dribbling fountains fill the waiting room. Behind the desk, italicized letters affixed to the wall spell out, “Evergreen Hematology and Oncology. The Center of Science and Hope.” A small, bright green leaf hovers above the letter “v.”
It’s not the center of running tests or diagnosing diseases or sending patients home with the month’s most popular pill. This is the home of cutting-edge, fast-evolving technology: personalized treatment. Read More>>

INNOVATION  When President Barack Obama signed the long-debated health care reform bill into law on March 23, he affected one-sixth of the U.S. economy with a few pen strokes. While the bill runs 2,400 pages, it’s predicted to create 200,000 to 300,000 pages of new or changed rules and regulations.
As Vice President Joe Biden said, it’s a big, uh, deal. Read More>>

INNOVATION  There’s a lot you can learn from a just a little bit of bone. Peer into it under a microscope and the shape and structure can tell a pathologist about malignancies, about deficiencies, about cancer. Read More>>

INNOVATION  Maybe it was a bar fight. Maybe a hockey puck. Maybe it was the result of an ill-considered bet. For whatever reason, there’s a gaping, whistling hole where your two front teeth used to be. These days, an oral surgeon can help you out with an implant — a faux-tooth held in place by a titanium rod. Reports of discomfort may vary, but no one argues it’s not expensive. Read More>>

INNOVATION  Between the east and the west sides of Washington state, there’s a dental gap. And not the David Letterman kind. Graduates at the University of Washington School of Dentistry tend to stay in Seattle. They tend to practice in the Big City or the Big Suburbs. But Seattle doesn’t need dentists. Places like Colville do. Read More>>

INNOVATION  Spokane resident Robert Yamada never knew how many friends he had. But when he suffered a spinal injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down, a vast network of friends, families and strangers gathered around him in support.

There is the handful of people who’ve flown to visit him at Craig Hospital in Denver and those he talks to by phone — his girlfriend, father and brother in Spokane.

But every day, he also hears from aunts and uncles, school friends and complete strangers on a Website his parents set up for him at CaringBridge.org the day after his August accident. Read More>>

INNOVATION  For millions of Americans watching Oprah last April, a quirky little moment occurred that has been reverberating around the country ever since. Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, was her guest, via Skype, on the Earth Day show, talking about ways to save the planet and save some money. Oprah asked, “So what is the greenest way for us to save money when it comes to food?” Pollan responded, “One is very simple. Reduce your meat consumption. I’m not talking about going vegetarian. Even one meatless day a week — a meatless Monday, which is what we do in my household — if everybody in America did that, that would be the equivalent of taking 20 million mid-size sedans off the road.” Read More>>

INNOVATION  Santiago Acosta watches his mother across the table from behind the lenses of his neon green eyeglasses. He scoots slowly down the table — slow enough not to garner any attention — with his cup of macaroni and cheese. His eyes are on her as he attempts to sit under the table with his lunch. Read More>>

INNOVATION  It was in a grocery store one day when a stranger approached Katy’s mother in tears. The stranger — who somehow knew that Katy had lived for eight years with anorexia — wanted to know where she could get help for her own child who had an eating disorder. Read More>>

INNOVATION  Starting this spring, some Spokanites will use Google not just to search the Web or check their e-mail, but to manage their health.

“The idea is to put health information in the hands of the consumers, the people who really need access to it and the people who should, legitimately, be controlling it,” says Inland Northwest Health Service’s Jac Davies. “We want to help people bring all [their health information] together in one place where they have easy access to it.” Read More>>