Releases

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

Vanderbilt Genetics Institute investigators have added a new method to the computational genetics toolbox. Their approach, described in the journal Nature Genetics, integrates vast genomics datasets to predict gene expression and facilitate discovery of genetic mechanisms underlying human diseases. Read More

A new method that keeps microbes and gut cells together will be useful for studies of complex host-microbe interactions and for analysis of clinical specimens. Read More

Older depressed adults show accelerated brain aging, according to a new study from Vanderbilt researchers, who suggest that the effects of depression may speed the decline in cognitive functions in older individuals. Read More

Biologists reveal that tissue perturbations by chemotherapy agents promote stem cell expansion and that fibroblast cells exhibit unexpected, immune-like behavior. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have identified a key factor that coordinates the body’s repair response to severe injury in the stomach caused, most commonly, by infection by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. Read More

The brain’s response to low oxygen — growth and remodeling of blood vessels — involves certain cell types and molecular pathways, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. Read More

AstraZeneca is advancing into phase 3 clinical trials with an investigational COVID-19 therapy of two long-acting antibodies discovered by Vanderbilt University Medical Center and optimized by AstraZeneca. Read More