Releases

Surgical removal of the colon for recurrent diverticulosis varies by geographic region and is associated with surgeon and hospital factors; stronger national guidelines are needed, Vanderbilt researchers report. Read More

Vanderbilt Law School professor Michael Vandenbergh will discuss bipartisan efforts to address climate change and sustainability with environmental activist Benji Backer in a virtual event on Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 12:30 p.m. hosted by the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy. Read More

Gene variants increased the risk of acute kidney injury and death in veterans of African ancestry who were hospitalized with COVID-19, possibly explaining some health disparities associated with COVID-19. Read More

The Wond’ry, Vanderbilt's center for innovation, will host its first women’s entrepreneur summit in partnership with the Renaissance Marketing Group and Boss Talks Network on Thursday, Feb. 17. The event is for female entrepreneurs at all stages of their business journeys, with local entrepreneurs and marketers sharing tips on all aspects of growing or starting a business. Read More

Vanderbilt research shows that two doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine result in lower effectiveness for preventing hospitalization for the omicron variant than previous variants. However, importantly, a third (“booster”) vaccine dose significantly improves protection against omicron hospitalization up to 86%. Read More

Over the past decade, Larisa DeSantis, paleontologist and associate professor of biological sciences, has worked with a team of former Vanderbilt undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and experts from across the globe to show how species can be both generalized at the species level and specialized individually—a probable key to their success. Read More

Soheil Kolouri, assistant professor of computer science, is part of a team that has received a $1 million award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency as part of the agency’s Shared-Experience Lifelong Learning initiative. Read More

Çağlar Oskay, professor of civil and environmental engineering with a secondary appointment as professor of mechanical engineering, has been named chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Read More

Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, Stevenson Professor of Astrophysics, has received the 2022 Mentor Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The award is for individuals who have mentored significant numbers of underrepresented students who are working toward doctorates in STEM. Read More

Fourteen undergraduates and two graduate students represented Vanderbilt University in Glasgow, Scotland, as official delegates to the United Nations international climate change negotiations—dubbed COP26. Read More

The intersection of science and society is the foundation of a multi-institutional collaboration of students and faculty in a virtual and physical art exhibit titled "Nested Knowledge: Disentangling History, Truth and Race in STEM Experiences." The exhibit can be experienced online and at the Wond’ry, Vanderbilt’s Innovation Center, through February 2022 in honor of Black History Month. Read More

Graham Reside, executive director of the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership in the Professions and assistant professor at Vanderbilt Divinity School, discusses how the evolving pandemic has challenged views on illness as a moral issue. Read More

Ege T. Kavalali, William Stokes Professor of Experimental Therapeutics, has been named chair of the Department of Pharmacology in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences. Read More

Melvin Duane Joesten, an emeritus chemistry professor and co-founder of Vanderbilt Student Volunteers for Science, died Jan. 17 in Nashville after a brief illness. He was 89. Read More

The next installment of the ’Dores in Dialogue series will explore decades of the Vanderbilt Black experience through the lens of alumni memories, current student life and new leadership initiatives for the future. The Feb. 10 event is presented by the Vanderbilt Alumni Association in partnership with the Association of Vanderbilt Black Alumni. Read More

Virtual learning for Vanderbilt debate students opened doors halfway around the world this spring, as a friendly virtual competition with the Rwanda National Debate Team brought deeper opportunities to learn about that nation’s genocide in 1994.  Read More

Meredith Hunter, a sophomore electrical engineering major, has been named a Brooke Owens Fellow, a prestigious award that recognizes exceptional undergraduate women and other gender minorities with space and aviation internships, senior mentorship and a lifelong professional network. Read More

Erin Hafkenschiel, executive director of Vanderbilt's mobility and transportation initiative MoveVU since 2018, has been named president of the nonpartisan statewide research and advocacy group ThinkTennessee. Michael Briggs, assistant director of mobility, will serve as interim director when Hafkenschiel departs at the end of February. Read More

Vanderbilt research has revealed an important mechanism in the kidney by which a cell surface receptor known as DDR1 fans the flames of inflammation and fibrosis that ultimately lead to kidney failure. Read More

New research from Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development challenges conventional thinking about the benefits of state-sponsored pre-K instruction, even as experts note that its findings call for more nuanced discussion. Read More