July 2024
Features
The Goat Farm returns with a historic renovation
While the new development will include nonartist residents, artists have been and always will be the focal point. Each residential building features studio and performance spaces on the ground level. By creating a sustainable funding source for art, the residential model affirms a central Goat Farm mission: Everyone involved contributes to the arts ecosystem.
Atlanta’s Top Docs in their own words: Why they went into medicine, the patients that inspired them, and more
We asked several of Atlanta’s Top Doctors to tell their own stories about their journey as a doctor. Several said they decided to enter the profession because one or both of their parents were doctors; one mentioned that as a child, she went on weekend hospital rounds with her father. One of our favorite responses came from a neurosurgeon, Dr. Tyler J. Kenning, who said that being a physician and caring for patients embodies Theodore Roosevelt’s sentiment that “the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”
Younger women are being diagnosed with breast cancer. But better screening practices can save more lives.
For reasons researchers are still struggling to understand, rates of breast cancer in women 20 to 49 years old have increased over the last 20 years. These troubling increases have shifted the medical community’s approach to the disease. Catching breast cancer early can make all the difference: In localized cases where the cancer has not spread beyond the breast (also known as stage 1), the five-year survival rate for most breast cancers is 99 percent. But as researchers learn more about who gets breast cancer, when they get it, and why, it’s becoming clear that a one-size-fits-all approach to screening won’t be enough. It will take more than a general recommendation for regular mammograms to drive down breast cancer rates: We’ll need methods that help women understand their individual risk, access the preventive measures they need, and get the healthcare they deserve—regardless of how old they are, where they get their care, or the color of their skin.
The Connector
The first building in DeKalb County to have electricity will soon go solar
When it was built in 1891, Agnes Scott College’s Main Hall was an instant spectacle. It wasn’t for the High Victorian Gothic architecture, the bell tower, or the steam-heated interior corridors. The hall made headlines because it was the first building in DeKalb County to have electricity—described as “startling” to the town. The community would often gather at the building’s base, simply to see the lights come on. Fast-forward 133 years, and Agnes Scott Hall, as it’s formally called, will soon draw the majority of its electricity from solar power.
How an Atlanta high-tech baseball startup is helping players improve
At Maven Baseball Lab, hitters and pitchers undergo a 12-swing or 12-pitch assessment under the eyes of 16 cameras, which produce data on biomechanics, spin rate, vertical break, and more. Maven’s client list includes Braves players Matt Olson, Max Fried, and A.J. Minter, along with other MLB stars like Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt.
The Goods
Wax & Wane is ushering in a new model, using commercial work to fund narrative film
The company has only four people on staff, but they regularly work with up to 40 local crew members on their productions. While a short film can let someone flex their creative muscles, a commercial production, like a recent one for Grammarly, can pay full rates and keeps collaborators coming back. Wax & Wane has so far produced 10 shorts and plans to expand to features next.