Dr. Gary BarthIt's a long way from his modern clinic in Santa Rosa to working in traveling tents in the Indian country side, but the challenging circumstances are richly rewarding for one local eye surgeon.

For Santa Rosa ophthalmologist Gary Barth, volunteering in Nepal and India has been a part of his practice from the very beginning.

In his most recent visit, Dr. Barth worked closely with Dr. Vidya Pant, renowned for his skill and speed in performing huge numbers of cataract surgeries. The video below shows that proceedure as Dr. Pant does it in real time (2:33), and while it is not bloody, it is also not for the squeamish.

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Dr. Barth will be among the honorees at the annual Red Cross Real Local Heroes awards breakfast, to be held Thursday morning, April 19, at the Doubletree Hotel in Rohnert Park. Tickets are tight, but you can read the full list of 2012 award winners here.

One of the names on that list is Lee Gooding of Forestvile, founder of Helping American Veterans Endure (HAVE). Lee and his organization were profiled on the North Bay Report soon after HAVE was lanuched. You can find that Report here.

Researchers studying aging at Marin County's Buck Institute now have an imposing new lab where they will focus on the roles that stem cells play in that process—or might be able to have in slowing it.

Brian KennedyIt turns out that each of us carries thousands of stem cells within our own bodies, explains Brian Kennedy, President and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. But they grow old right along with the rest of us.

Deepak LambaOne of the new additions to the Buck Institute's research staff is Dr. Deepak Lamba, who is considered a pioneer in efforts to create new retinal cells from embryonic stem cells, a development that holds great promise in countering the widespread problem of macular degeneration.

It's one of the few drawbacks to living here in the North Bay:  allergy season. And it's happening now. But you probably already knew that.

Denise CoolurisAllergy sufferers know all to well what an allergic reaction feels like. But how, exactly, does it happen? Denise Cooluris, a Naturopathic Physician with Hill Park Medical Center in Petaluma, explains the connection between respiratory and GI tract responses, and how it develops early in gestation.

Not everyone is susceptible to allergies, and Cooluris explains that genetics has a lot of say about who is and isn't.

Pollen cells magnifiedIn Sonoma County and the North Bay, the biggest sources of the pollens that can trigger allergies are not trees or flowers, but native grasses.

There are also online resources you can use to track local pollen counts and forecasts, by zip code. Here's one.

 In our finite world, there is a direct connection between military spending and the international economic crisis. So cutting the one could boost the other.

Bruce GagnonBruce Gagnon, a Maine-based author, analyst and activist, is currently touring the west coast to speak out against and lead discussions about the linkages between military spending and our economic woes. One reason President Obama is making such slow progress in dealing with budget problems, Gagnon says, is because the Commander in Chief is so deeply committed to advancing the Pentagon's agenda.

Opposition to the planned American naval base in Jeju Island has united the population there and from further away, but Gagnon observes that the forces behind the appear heedless of the damage it will cause.

It isn't necessary to carve deeply into the Defense Department's budget to find funds to significantly better the nation's overall economic picture, says Gagnon. Just ending the war in Afghanistan and reallocating those funds could make a huge difference.

Bruce Gagnon will speak in SRJC's Newman Auditorium at 7 pm on Thursday, April 12. Details below. He will also be featured at a pot luck dinner at the Peace and Justice Center on Friday evening, April 13. More information at (707) 575-8902.