Year: 2013

Tiffiny Tung, associate professor of anthropology, is on familiar terms with the dead. She may not know their names, but she can tell you a surprising amount of information about how they lived—and even, on occasion, how they died. Read More

The Aspirnaut program, funded by Billy and Julie Hudson, brings science, technology, engineering and math lessons and labs to rural teachers, students and school districts via video and teleconferencing. Read More

In the foreseeable future, robots will be sticking steerable needles in your brain to remove blood clots; capsule robots will be crawling up your colon as a painless replacement for the colonoscopy; and ultra-miniaturized snake robots will remove tumors from your bladder and other body cavities. Read More

In an effort to explore the financial viability of a possible football stadium renovation, Vanderbilt Athletics has put together a survey for fans that will help to gauge the interest of possible amenities within the stadium. Thousands of Commodore fans received an email from Vice Chancellor David Williams and Head… Read More

The Politics of Health Conference Oct. 3-4 at Vanderbilt is a free event that will speak to the scale, urgency and intimacy of health as a critical American economic and political issue. Read More

Anyone familiar with the devastating statistics knows that inexperience plus a driver’s license can be a dangerous combination. For teen drivers, lives can be forever changed in an instant. Corey Slovis, M.D., professor and chair of Emergency Medicine at Vanderbilt, has been an emergency medicine… Read More

Drive about 20 miles west of Nashville on I-40, wind around on some country roads, turn up the shady lane marked Aden Branch Farm, pass the two-room, pre-Civil War-era log cabin and pull up at the barn. This is where Lola Chambless, M.D., ’05, trades her blue cotton scrubs for… Read More

Forty years after Atari’s digital table tennis game Pong bleeped onto the scene and made video games mainstream entertainment, we’ve become a nation of video gamers. We’re playing games on phones, tablets, computers, game consoles, social networks, and even TVs connected directly to the Internet. Read More

“From a historical perspective, which looks at the American presidency since the end of World War II, Obama’s decision reflects a turning point, the clear triumph of domestic political considerations over foreign policy priorities,” according to Thomas Schwartz, a professor of history and political science at Vanderbilt. Read More

  Suanne Daves, M.D. Suanne Daves, M.D., has been named vice chair for Pediatric Anesthesiology, a key leadership role for both the Department of Anesthesiology and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Daves joined the Department of Anesthesiology as an associate… Read More

Steven Webber, MBChB, MRCP, delivers Tuesday’s State of the Department of Pediatrics address, stressing adaptation in the changing health care landscape. (Photo by John Russell) Academic medical centers are at a “fork in the road,” but Steven Webber, MBChB, MRCP,  is confident that Vanderbilt and… Read More

VUMC researchers have reported promising results in using oral antimycobacterial therapy to treat chronic cutaneous sarcoidosis, considered by clinicians a difficult illness to effectively control. Read More

Nora Volkow, M.D., director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, delivers last week’s Discovery Lecture. Since she was a medical student in her native Mexico, Nora Volkow, M.D., has been fascinated by drug addiction. “It really did not make any sense … that someone would be… Read More

A study of 381 non-Vanderbilt physicians referred to the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Assessment Program has shown that those referred for mental health, substance abuse and improper sexual boundary issues are less likely to receive a fit for duty recommendation than those referred for disruptive behavior. Read More

Hilliard and Nancy Travis He was a successful, self-made businessman, and she was a pioneering nurse, but the many professional accomplishments of Nancy and Hilliard Travis were eclipsed only by their ongoing generosity to the community, especially their beloved Vanderbilt. The most recent example is a generous… Read More

Alexander Sevy dons his white coat with the help of Kathleen Gould, Ph.D., at the fourth annual “Simple Beginnings” ceremony for new doctoral students. (Photo by Anne Rayner) Vanderbilt University welcomed 98 new doctoral students into its scientific community last week during the fourth annual “Simple Beginnings”… Read More

Vanderbilt research shows that human antibodies to the natural strain of H5N1 also protected against a dangerous lab-created airborne strain developed several years ago by scientists in the Netherlands and at the University of Wisconsin. Read More

Tammy Frazier has battled cervical dystonia for seven years. (Photo by John Russell) Seven years ago Tammy Frazier noticed an odd tremor in her neck. It wasn’t painful but was very noticeable, with her head almost constantly shaking back and forth. Her primary care provider referred… Read More

Vanderbilt University News and Communications website and University Web Communications have temporarily relocated. Read More

Although Crystal Finley, BS’13, entered Vanderbilt with a clear plan for success, her life mission would soon change when she became a volunteer mentor with Next Steps at Vanderbilt, a postsecondary program for students with intellectual or other disabilities. Read More