Releases

Emmy Award–winning journalist Byron Pitts, co-host of ABC’s Nightline, will be the keynote speaker for Vanderbilt’s 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemorative event on Monday, Jan. 16, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Blair School of Music’s Ingram Hall. Other activities planned for VU’s commemoration include a Joint Day of Service on Saturday, Jan. 14, and the Nashville MLK Day March and Convocation on Monday morning. Read More

By determining how proteins in different areas of the eye’s lens change over time, Vanderbilt researchers have learned more about how they could contribute to the mysterious progression of cataracts—a clouding of the lens that affects more than 65 million people worldwide each year.   Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered that vasopressin, which has long been thought to be produced only in the brain, is also produced in the kidney. Read More

College of Arts and Science faculty members Nathan Schley, Allison Walker, and John Yang have each been awarded grants from the National Institutes of Health to continue their groundbreaking chemistry research. The faculty members are conducting big-picture research with practical applications in a variety of health contexts—including drug synthesis, biomolecular conversion, and disease treatment. Read More

Armed with a two-year, $141,444 grant from the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research, Professor of Psychology and Human Development Elisabeth Dykens is developing the first psychometrically sound self-report survey of hyperphagia for people with Prader-Willi syndrome. Read More

Vanderbilt consumer behavior expert Brianna Escoe explains cringe, its implications on brands, and ways brands can avoid ‘cringeworthy’ campaigns. Read More

As a new year begins, Vanderbilt is encouraging all employees to take advantage of the extensive well-being resources available to them. The offerings include newly launched wellness and mental health programs and are part of the university’s broader commitment to supporting the holistic health of its faculty, staff and postdocs across key aspects of their lives. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers in the lab of Erin Calipari, assistant professor of pharmacology and molecular physiology and biophysics, have demonstrated a role for dopamine signaling in novelty-based learning—a finding that could have major impacts on how neurological diseases are treated. Read More

SNARE proteins determine how tiny membrane pouches called vesicles fuse with different cellular compartments to transport cargo and organize cells. How cells correctly target individual SNAREs to their destination is poorly understood, but the laboratories of Todd Graham, Jason MacGurn and Lauren Jackson recently published a paper uncovering part of the process that controls this compartmentalization.   Read More

A group of Vanderbilt researchers has become the first group to uncover the 3D structure of the sodium/iodide symporter, also called NIS—the membrane protein that transports iodide into the thyroid to make thyroid hormones. Read More

Vanderbilt's Office of Biomedical Research Education and Training gave students, postdocs, staff, and faculty the opportunity to step into the spotlight during its fourth annual winter showcase on Dec. 15 at the Blair School of Music. Read More

This year’s roundup of the top news articles highlights the wide reach and positive impact of Vanderbilt’s research and innovation. Read More

Allison Schachter, associate professor of Jewish studies and English, was awarded the Fenia and Yaakov Leviant Memorial Prize in Yiddish Studies from the Modern Language Association of America. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered a molecular mechanism that promotes chronic kidney disease following kidney injury. Read More

An international team of investigators has found that mild to moderate reduction in kidney function may cause cardiovascular disease, even in people without symptoms of heart disease or diabetes. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have uncovered conditions needed to produce cellulose at the single molecule level that could one day aid in the dismantling of bacterial defenses as well as potentially lead to the engineering of more efficient and cost-effective biofuel feedstock sources. Read More

Local students from Stratford and Overton high schools got to excavate 70 million-year-old oysters, clams and shrimp at the Evolutionary Studies Initiative fossil search. The event aimed to teach students about food webs and to connect students with ESI grad students, postdocs and faculty to talk about college, science and evolution. Read More

Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs C. Cybele Raver represented Vanderbilt at the White House Summit on STEMM Equity and Excellence in Washington, D.C., Dec. 12. The summit marked the launch of the STEMM Opportunity Alliance.   Read More

When Syrian native Musbah Shaheen, BA’17, traveled to the U.S. for the first time to attend Vanderbilt, he had no idea how the university’s cornerstone philosophies of equity, diversity and belonging would stretch him personally or shape his professional future and Ph.D. research. Read More

Nicole Joseph, associate professor of mathematics education at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, has been recognized with the 2023 Louise Hay Award for Contributions to Mathematics Education by the Association for Women in Mathematics. Read More