Valerie Macon/Getty ImagesAs if we needed another reason to love Dolly Parton.  Her $1 million donation to Vanderbilt has made an impact on the search for a COVID-19 vaccine. 

The icon made headlines in April with the major donation to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in honor of her friend, Dr. Naji Abumrad, to support research teams working on coronavirus cures.  When pharmaceutical giant Moderna announced Monday that their vaccine had proven to be better than 94% effective in preventing COVID-19 infection, there was a familiar name among the list of research funding supporters reported by the New England Journal of Medicine: “the Dolly Parton COVID-19 Research Fund (Vanderbilt University Medical Center).”

Dolly’s money has also gone toward convalescent plasma studies, which takes the antibodies from patients who had the virus to treat those who are currently infected with it.

By Cillea Houghton
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