Month: December 2013

In the holiday movie classic “A Christmas Story,” every adult in young Ralphie’s life has one warning about his desired present, a BB gun: “Careful or you’ll shoot your eye out.” Vanderbilt eye doctors have a similar caution for adults who are planning to be popping champagne… Read More

A recent survey of 1,000 parents with children between 2 and 10 found that many planned to give their kids tech instead of toys for the holidays. M. Eric Johnson, dean of the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, has studied the toy industry and is quoted. Read More

A new way of assembling things, called metamaterials, may in the not too distant future help to protect a building from earthquakes by bending seismic waves around it, the way invisibility cloaks bend light. Jason Valentine, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is quoted. Read More

Studies have indicated that death rates from heart attacks and stroke as well as non-heart-related causes spike during the holiday season. “It is not uncommon to see a heavier patient volume in the hospital during the Christmas and New Year’s period of time. Some years that’s true,… Read More

Judith Akin, M.D. During the holidays, the goal should be to set the course somewhere “between Hallmark and heartache,” a Vanderbilt psychiatrist says. In other words, don’t strive for the perfect (you won’t achieve it), and recognize and deal head-on with some of the stressors of the… Read More

Editor’s note — the following is a roundup of the news that made headlines at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2013. Strategic repositioning This year, Vanderbilt University Medical Center proactively embarked on a forward-thinking and necessary mission to reposition the institution to thrive in a fundamentally altered and challenging health… Read More

VUMC was lauded on numerous national ranking lists during the year. Read More

Leadership additions bolstered VUMC’s missions this year. Read More

Santa talks with Emma Hudson during his recent visit to see patients and families at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Read More

A chemical bond discovered by Vanderbilt University scientists that is essential for animal life and which hastened the “dawn of the animal kingdom” could lead to new therapies for cancer and other diseases. Read More

Vanderbilt University researchers have received a two-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study a mouse model of the metabolic and hormonal changes caused by bariatric surgery. Read More

School of Nursing Dean Linda Norman, DSN, R.N., awarded a VUSN pin to 16 students at Sunday’s pinning ceremony at Benton Chapel. Read More

William Stead, M.D., associate vice chancellor for Health Affairs and Chief Strategy Officer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has been re-elected to a second full term on the Council of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies. Read More

Jennifer Puck, M.D., an expert on human primary immunodeficiencies at the University of California, San Francisco, spoke on newborn screening to detect immune defects at her recent Flexner Discovery Lecture. Read More

Two features of invasive cancer cells — invadopodia and exosomes — are linked together, Vanderbilt University investigators have discovered. Read More

Biomedical and chemical engineers at Vanderbilt University, working with a pathologist, have constructed a sponge-like, biodegradable tissue “scaffold” that releases an enzyme-blocking molecule to indirectly activate endogenous pathways and enhance tissue regeneration and wound healing. Read More

Cancer researchers, led by investigators at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, have identified two novel gene fusions in melanoma that may be responsive to existing cancer therapies. Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer. Read More

“The downsizing effort is over.” With those words, Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, announced Wednesday that workforce reduction efforts announced in September at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are completed. Read More

In this week’s VUcast: Why your fingers sometimes know more than your brain; Vanderbilt athletes participate in a life-changing trip; and see the top five most-watched Vanderbilt videos. Watch now. Read More

With so many ways to keep up with Vanderbilt news, the social media might start to feel overwhelming. Now you can find all of your VU tweets, posts, images, videos and more in one place. Read More