Releases

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) researchers are enrolling adults aged 75 and over to study whether taking atorvastatin, a drug commonly used to lower cholesterol also called Lipitor®, can help maintain health by preventing dementia, disability, and heart disease. Read More

A study group of more than 600,000 patients with type 2 diabetes, identified from electronic medical records in the PCORnet national research network, could be valuable for assessing the safety of type 2 diabetes drugs. Read More

Younger parents were much less likely than older parents to say they planned to vaccinate their children and themselves against COVID-19. Read More

Changes in connectivity in the brain’s white matter may be a novel neuroimaging biomarker for assessing Alzheimer’s disease progression. Read More

Consuelo Hopkins Wilkins, professor of medicine in the School of Medicine and vice president for health equity at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has received one of the highest honors in health and medicine. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have identified a new molecular partner — and potential therapeutic target — in a signaling axis that drives lung cancer. Read More

A new study from Vanderbilt epidemiologists suggests that it’s time to reconsider clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of early-stage breast cancer in older women. Read More

A new study sheds light on how molecular subsets within the tumors of kidney cancer patients determine treatment outcomes and underscores the importance of personalized medicine in making therapy decisions. Read More

Findings from a national study published Nov. 9 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) “do not support” the use of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19, the report concludes. Read More

A November article published in Rehabilitation Psychology reviews research on disabilities and COVID-19 to help rehabilitation psychologists mitigate the effects of the added stress of the pandemic. In addition, the work addresses how systemic discrimination against people with disabilities intersects with other forms of inequity. Read More

Diabetes drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as exenatide (Byetta), are a promising and safe treatment for a rare form of obesity. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has begun recruiting up to 250 participants for a Phase 3 clinical trial testing an investigational COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Read More

Behavioral and systems neuropharmacologist Jerri Rook is recognized by the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation with the Goodes Prize to continue her work in Alzheimer’s disease research. Read More

Peptides derived from the antimicrobial peptides secreted by frogs could function as microbicides to limit HIV transmission, while sparing protective vaginal bacteria. Read More

Angelika Amon, PhD, a pioneering cell and molecular biologist and winner of the 2018 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science, died Oct. 29 from cancer. She was 53. Read More

An innovative Vanderbilt program that brings together scientists and artists with the shared goal of scientific communication is set to expand with support from a three-year grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Read More

Histamine — commonly associated with allergies — also has a signaling role in the brain’s reward center and may offer a novel target for treating addiction. Read More

Vanderbilt epidemiologists identified new markers for colorectal cancer risk and characterized a previously unidentified tumor suppressor that regulates overall tumor volume in vivo. Read More

An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by Karl Zelik explores how wearable sensor technology can monitor bone stress in runners, developing a new multi-sensor algorithm that could save runners from months of pain and recovery time. Read More

Jacek Hawiger’s anti-inflammatory peptide therapy, licensed by Amytrx and now in clinical trials, has the potential to safely and effectively treat a multitude of inflammatory and metabolic diseases. Read More