W E D N E S D A Y
April 19, 2023 Vol. 43, No. 38
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Health and Wellness SEE INSIDE
Local doctor brings joint surgeries to the global poor Just back from Vietnam, cofounder of Operation Walk trains doctors here By JESSICA MACKINNON
FLOORED
Contributing Reporter
Dr. Victoria Brander has dedicated much of her medical career to transforming the lives of individuals in developing countries who suffer from advanced joint disease. Cofounder of Operation Walk Chicago, Brander, a River Forest resident, recently returned from a weeklong medical mission in Vietnam, where she and a team of volunteers performed more than 40 free hip and knee replacement surgeries. Since 2005, the organization has been involved in missions in Nepal, India, Brazil, Ecuador and China, as well as Vietnam, performing surgeries on roughly 1,800 patients. In recognition of her humanitarian medical service, Brander was presented with the “Unsung Heroes of Compassion” award by the Dalai Lama. Brander, who grew up in Oak Park and attended Trinity High School, always knew she wanted to be a physician and remembers, as a child, reading medical textbooks
Park district and preservationists at odds over decision to rip up the floorboards in historic Pleasant Home STORY BY STACEY SHERIDAN, PAGE 16
See DR. BRANDER on page 14
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