Releases

Lari White, Buddy Cannon and John Barlow Jarvis will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 19, as part of the 2008 Bluebird on the Mountain series at Dyer Observatory. Read More

The struggling state of the arts in America and the consequences of that struggle for the nation\'s culture were the focus of an event July 15 at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. featuring Bill Ivey, director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University. Video of the event is available. Read More

Dr. Levi Watkins Jr., whose passionate advocacy for racial equality and diversity was shaped by his early exposure to the Civil Rights Movement and its leaders, has been named the university's 2008 Distinguished Alumnus. The Vanderbilt Alumni Association will honor Watkins, a noted cardiac surgeon, at an Oct. 22 dinner at the Student Life Center. Read More

Vanderbilt Medical Center\'s technological savvy continues to garner national acclaim, as evidenced by the institution once again being named among the nation\'s 100 "most wired" hospitals and health systems. Read More

If anyone has the right stuff to set up a system to manage the new wave of federal export control regulations that is crashing down on Vanderbilt and the nation's other research universities, it is Marcia E. Williams. Read More

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Behavior Analysis Clinic, which serves families who have a child with an intellectual or other developmental disability and who also engage in challenging behaviors, is now working with children as young as 3 years old. Read More

Pediatricians can help prevent future violent behaviors in their patients with a brief, one-time office intervention during a routine exam, according to a new study published in the July issue of Pediatrics. Read More

U.S. News & World Report is listing Vanderbilt Medical Center on its "Honor Roll" of hospitals – an honor reserved for a select group of institutions labeled by the magazine as the "best of the best." Read More

Connie Vinita Dowell, a Vanderbilt University graduate with three decades of experience working in academic libraries, including two senior leadership positions, has been named dean of the Jean and Alexander Heard Library at Vanderbilt. Read More

Students at the Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory's space exploration camp will conduct a simulated space shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope on Friday, July 11. The mission will use a large mock-up of the Hubble Space Telescope and computer software derived from NASA training simulators. The mission plan was created based on the upcoming scheduled shuttle Atlantis repair mission to the Hubble in October 2008. Read More

Nationally recognized author, speaker and expert on food justice issues Mark Winne will be featured at a talk and signing of his book Closing the Food Gap, which examines methods to get decent, healthy food to our nation's poor. Read More

Letting your imagination run away with you may actually influence how you see the world. New research from Vanderbilt University has found that mental imagery – what we see with the "mind's eye" – directly impacts our visual perception. Read More

All of life is a struggle. Achieving high ideals demands teeth-gritting pain, sadness and loss. It may take generations to embody the values on which a nation is founded. And once embodied, they perpetually threaten to slip away. Read More

America is not living up to the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence. As a consequence, there is much unrest. We have forgotten who we are, how we were established and what we were meant to be. We have become a declining, decadent nation; too arrogant for its own good. On this July 4, 2008, we must look back "lest we forget." amy.wolf@vanderbilt.edu Read More

National gifted education expert Tamra Stambaugh has been chosen as the next director of Vanderbilt's Programs for Talented Youth, which provide a variety of intensive learning opportunities for gifted youth, their parents and educators. Read More

National statistics show 10 percent of firework injuries are sustained by toddlers, and injuries are most likely to occur when children have fireworks without adequate supervision. Read More

This fall Democratic campaign strategists might want to target traditionally Republican congressional districts with heavy casualties in Iraq, according to research by two Vanderbilt University political scientists. While many political pundits have attributed the unpopularity of the Iraq war to a congressional landslide for the Democrats in 2006,… Read More

Joseline Elizabeth Vasquez Santay will undergo preliminary procedures to help doctors at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children\'s Hospital at Vanderbilt determine how to safely remove a neck tumor which is as large as the toddler\'s head. Read More

Fifteen percent to 20 percent of people worldwide suffer from migraines – excruciating headaches often presaged by dramatic sensations, or "auras." By studying a rare, inherited form of migraine, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have found clues to the biological basis of the painful, debilitating disorder. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Alfred George Jr., M.D., and colleagues report that genetic mutations linked to this rare form of familial migraine alter the function of sodium channels – protein "tunnels" through brain cell membranes involved in the electrical conduction of nerve impulses. Read More

Vanderbilt University is making it easy for families and professionals to find autism services by introducing the Vanderbilt Autism Clinic – a single helpline staffed by an autism expert who can make referrals for what\'s needed. Vanderbilt recruited Sarah Zombek to serve as family services coordinator. She held a similar position at Massachusetts General Hospital in an autism clinic with a national reputation for family-centered care. Read More