Epithelial Biology Center

Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have discovered why most colorectal tumors escape detection and destruction by the body’s immune system. Read More

For her scholarship that has led to the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for thyroid cancer, Dr. Nancy Carrasco has been honored with a 2023 SEC Faculty Achievement Award. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers are studying precancerous lesions and early cancers in the colon, with the goal of developing new ways to prevent colorectal cancer, the nation’s second leading cancer killer. Read More

An international team that included researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center has discovered a molecular switch that induces rapid proliferation of zymogen granule-secreting chief cells in the stomach to regenerate damaged tissue. Read More

Mutations in the protein epiregulin, an EGF receptor ligand, affect larger epithelial cell reorganization and may contribute to early cancer development, Vanderbilt researchers discovered. Read More

Vanderbilt cell biologists have developed an unbiased, quantitative framework for evaluating single-cell data. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered a novel non-genetic cause of resistance to the targeted anti-cancer therapy cetuximab. Their findings, reported this week in Nature Medicine, suggest a strategy for overcoming this resistance. Read More

Vanderbilt’s Robert Coffey Jr., M.D., has received an Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) — more than $6.6 million over seven years — to support studies aimed at advancing the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC), a leading cancer killer. Read More

Under the microscope, they sparkle like emeralds, these molecules that may hold a key to understanding — and stopping — cancerous growth. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center cancer researcher James Goldenring, M.D., Ph.D., has received a two-year, $200,000 grant from the DeGregorio Family Foundation in Pleasantville, New York, to begin clinical trials of a potential approach for reversing precancerous stomach lesions. Read More

Despite dramatic recent advances in treatment, colorectal cancer killed more than 49,000 Americans last year, according to the National Cancer Institute, making it the second most lethal malignancy after cancers of the lung and bronchus. Read More

A new method for analyzing cells in fixed biopsy tissues from patients by guide personalized treatment strategies for cancer. Read More

James Goldenring, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of the Epithelial Biology Center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), has received a Research Mentor Award from the American Gastroenterology Association Institute Council for “outstanding research mentorship.” Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have “turned back the clock” in a mouse model of metaplasia — precancerous stomach lesions — raising hopes that gastric cancer, a worldwide scourge that’s rising in the United States, can be prevented. Read More

Test after test failed to reveal why Denny Majano wasn’t gaining weight or why he suffered from severe, chronic diarrhea. At 5 weeks old, instead of gaining weight as newborns should, Denny had lost a pound since birth. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have developed a new method to study cell signaling networks at single-cell resolution. Read More

Understanding how signaling molecules are transported within and out of the cell may help to uncover the causes of certain cancers. Read More

Vanderbilt University researchers have discovered how intestinal cells build the "brush border" -- a specialized surface structure that is critical for absorbing nutrients and defending against pathogens. Read More

Clostridium difficile on the intestinal lining. (Wellcome Images) Clostridium difficile (“C. diff”) infection is a leading cause of hospital-associated diarrhea, and the frequency and severity of infections are on the rise. D. Borden Lacy, Ph.D., associate professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and colleagues recently demonstrated that the C. Read More

Molecular characterization of pre-cancerous changes in cells lining the stomach could point to lesions with a greater risk of progression to cancer. Read More