How a young doctor came to love Memphis and St. Jude. And, along the way, changed the world.
Dr. Justin Baker, a St. Jude palliative care physician, also leads the QoLA "quality of life for all” team. The QoLA team’s mascot is a koala bear, and Baker often wears a koala costume while visiting patients. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian file)
Geoff Calkins
Geoff Calkins has been chronicling Memphis and Memphis sports for more than two decades. He is host of "The Geoff Calkins Show" from 9-11 a.m. M-F on 92.9 FM. Calkins has been named the best sports columnist in the country five times by the Associated Press sports editors, but still figures his best columns are about the people who make Memphis what it is.
Dr. Justin Baker never intended to stay nearly 20 years in Memphis. But he came to love both the city and his work at St. Jude Children’s Research hospital. Now he’s is leaving for Stanford — but not before sharing some lessons he learned along the way.
Topics
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Dr. Justin Baker palliative care pediatric palliative care Stanford Marc Gasol Memphis Geoff Calkins Subscriber OnlyAre you enjoying your subscription?
Your subscription gives you unlimited access to all of The Daily Memphian’s news, written by nearly 40 local journalists and more than 20 regular freelancers. We work around the clock to cover the issues that impact your life and our community.
You can help us reach more Memphians.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we provide free news access at K-12 schools, public libraries and many community organizations. We also reach tens of thousands of people through our podcasts, and through our radio and television partnerships – all completely free to everyone who cares about Memphis.
When you subscribe, you get full access to our news. But when you donate, you help us reach all Memphians.
Pay it forward. Make a fully tax-deductible donation to The Daily Memphian today.
Thank you for reading the local news. Thank you for investing in our community.
Geoff Calkins on demand
Never miss an article. Sign up to receive Geoff Calkins' stories as they’re published.
Enter your e-mail address
Related stories
Bereaved parents help pediatric hospitals, medical professionals deliver bad news
St. Jude shows world its palliative success in symposium
St. Jude symposium is designed to help hospitals worldwide see what works in palliative care and develop it at home.
Domino’s pledges $100 million to St. Jude, largest gift in hospital’s history
New, 140-apartment housing building will be called The Domino’s Village. Opening of the on-campus facility is planned for spring of 2023.
Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here.