Year: 2014

The Vanderbilt Anesthesiology and Perioperative Informatics Research (VAPIR) Division was recently established to extract and analyze data from Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s archive of de-identified perioperative patient data comprising more than 729,000 completed surgical cases to help improve patient safety and quality of care. Read More

Obesity causes peripheral immune cells to move to the brain, where they may contribute to inflammation and the pathophysiology of obesity. Read More

A former Vanderbilt student dreamed of using business and economics to help the poorest people in the world help themselves. That student was micro-loan pioneer and nobel-prize winner Muhammad Yunus. Now another Vandy student is following this dream, as Amy Wolf reports. [vucastblurb]… Read More

The UK audio science fiction magazine Starship Sofa has published a podcast of "Descartes' Stepchildren," a short story by Robert Scherrer, professor and chair of the Vanderbilt's department of physics and astronomy. Read More

When an Aztec child was born, soothsayers would consult the birth almanacs contained in codices to determine the most auspicious date to initiate the child into the Aztec community. Read More

Variation in the gene for the beta-1 adrenergic receptor increases the risk that a patient will have an abnormal heart rhythm after cardiac surgery. Read More

YP, the largest local search and advertising company in the U.S., announced that Allison Checchi, BS’99, has been appointed chief marketing officer. In this role, Checchi will be responsible for leading YP’s marketing, advertising, branding and communications efforts to improve the way the company connects consumers with local businesses. Read More

Over the past 28 years with the parent company of the Grand Ole Opry and Ryman Auditorium, Steve Buchanan, BS’80, MBA’85, the president of Opry Entertainment Group, has resurrected the Ryman into a beloved performance space. Buchanan used his rebranding and rebuilding skills to lead the Grand Ole Opry into… Read More

If you’ve ever spent time in a major city, chances are you’ve come face-to-face with someone who is experiencing homelessness. Most people might walk straight past these individuals. Some might give a dollar or two. But for the average pedestrian, anything more than a small handout is too tall an… Read More

Targeting the production of molecules that promote tumor blood vessel development offers a new path for treating lung cancer. Read More

Beginning with staff and faculty of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, VU Card Services will replace employee identification badges with a newly designed, contactless “smart” card. Read More

A program launched by Schnelle in January 2013 aims to reduce readmissions for Medicare patients transferred from Vanderbilt University Hospital to any of 23 area skilled nursing facilities, or SNFs. The specific goal is 17 percent reduction, by 2015, in 30-day hospital readmissions directly from these SNFs. Read More

Joey Barnett, Ph.D., has been named assistant dean and director of the Office for Medical Student Research. Read More

Ron Vale, Ph.D., co-discoverer of the molecular “motor” kinesin, spent the first 10 minutes of his Flexner Discovery Lecture last week talking not about science, but about science communication. Read More

Rob Naftel, M.D., traveled more than 8,000 miles to learn a new surgical technique to treat hydrocephalus, the buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. Read More

Wayne J. Riley, M.D., MPH, MBA, clinical professor of Medicine with Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and adjunct professor of Healthcare Management with the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, is president-elect of the American College of Physicians (ACP). Read More

Healthcare Informatics Magazine has awarded Vanderbilt University Medical Center third place in its 2014 Innovator Awards. Read More

Christoph Lehmann, M.D., professor of Pediatrics and Biomedical Informatics, and Lynn Walker, Ph.D., professor of Pediatrics and director of the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Young Adult Health, have been elected to the American Pediatric Society (APS). Read More

The Nashville Health Care Council’s second class of fellows participates in medical simulation exercises at the Center for Experiential Learning and Assessment (CELA) at Vanderbilt. Read More

The next Bedside Matters, an hourlong, monthly rounds geared toward helping all Vanderbilt University Medical Center health care providers deal with the social and emotional issues of caring for patients and families, will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Read More