Research

How do we identify exceptional talent, and then create the conditions for it to flourish? Those questions brought researchers from around the world to Rome this October for the 2026 Talent Economics Conference. Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development’s Camilla Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart… Read More

One year after Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development welcomed education leaders from around the world to Nashville, Peabody’s Ellen Goldring and Nicole Allen continued the conversation in Shanghai, joining international peers to consider how education can remain mission-driven amid rapid technological and societal change. Read More

See how these Chancellor Faculty Fellows are leading on campus and beyond. Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich Access to college begins long before students fill out an application. The support they receive in high school can open doors that may have previously felt unavailable.  New research from NashvillePeer affirms that a key college-readiness initiative at Metro Nashville Public… Read More

During some seizures, a person remains aware; during others, consciousness disappears. Why? What changes in the brain, and could researchers intervene before consciousness is lost? Vanderbilt graduate student Anas Reda is using a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Doctoral Research Award to address those questions. Read More

Ruogu Fang, a renowned AI researcher and the Flowers Family Dean’s Faculty Fellow in Engineering at Vanderbilt University, has received a $3.4 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a new way to study human emotion using artificial intelligence, with the goal of eventually creating emotional stimuli tailored to individual people and their brain responses. Read More

Many have voiced concerns that artificial intelligence will take jobs away from humans. But Assistant Professor of Chemistry Zhongyue (John) Yang, along with his former doctoral student Qianzhen Shao (now a postdoc at Stanford) and other team members, have created an AI tool that aims to elevate the work that scientists do—not replace them. Read More

Every September, the United Nations General Assembly brings the world’s leaders to New York. This year, a few miles from UN headquarters, Vanderbilt’s Center for Global Democracy convened leading experts to ask what makes democracy resilient. The Sept. 24 conversation at Vanderbilt’s new Chelsea campus examined how citizens view democracy, how well democratic institutions are serving them, and how global pressures shape democracy’s prospects everywhere. Read More

What if there was a better option to fighting severe pain than opioids? Hear about breakthrough research on the latest Quantum Potential podcast with assistant professor and nurse scientist Lori Schirle. Read More

Vanderbilt recently participated in two additional steps toward building a quantum campus in Chattanooga. Dean Krish Roy served on a panel during the Quantum in Business summit and the university became an inaugural member of the SE Quantum Collaborative. Read More

Vanderbilt University is among the founding members of the Southeast Regional Superintelligence Computing Consortium, announced Oct. 8 by the White House at the Science: A New Golden Age Summit. Read More

Brooke Ackerly, professor of political science, has received a Volkswagen Foundation Transatlantic Bridge Professorship at the University of Hamburg for the next three years. She is the first Vanderbilt faculty member to receive this award. Read More

A hidden world inside human bone marrow is coming into focus thanks to a breakthrough collaboration between Krishnendu Roy, Bruce and Bridgitt Evans Dean of Engineering and University Distinguished Professor, and Ankur Singh, Carl Ring Family Professor at Georgia Tech. Using a sophisticated bone marrow-on-a-chip system, researchers directly observed the antibody-producing plasma cells that help vaccines provide long-lasting protection. The study revealed that these cells actively seek specialized survival niches rather than remaining stationary. The discovery could reshape understanding of immunity, aging, autoimmune disease, cancer and vaccine durability while opening new avenues for therapeutic research. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University have discovered how to get human smooth muscle cells to organize themselves into the tiny vascular structures that help regulate blood flow throughout the body. Led by graduate student Victoria Vest and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering Leon Bellan, the team's work could lead to better models of cardiovascular disease, new avenues for drug discovery and perhaps one day even to engineered tissues that could be implanted and work much like the body's own microvascular networks. Read More

WATCH how The Longest Table events brought the Vanderbilt community together to share healthy discussions across differences. Read More

Vanderbilt University may submit one letter of intent to the Susan G Komen Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) Research Grant: Biological Underpinnings of IBC opportunity. Read More

Learn about some breakthrough research centers led by Chancellor Faculty Fellows. Read More

Between Oct. 15 and Nov. 15, 2026, faculty, staff and postdoctoral fellows who are engaged in sponsored research must complete the updated Research Security for VU Faculty and Staff course in CITI Program. Read More

Rafael Arrojo e Drigo, an assistant professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, has won a prestigious 2027 Laureate Award from the international Endocrine Society for innovative research that “has transformed our understanding of thyroid hormone biology, diabetes, and the biology of aging.” Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich Studies show that autism is now diagnosed more often among Latino children than their white counterparts. Yet few Spanish-speaking, autistic toddlers receive linguistically appropriate communication and language interventions. In general, the Latino population is more likely to miss out on crucial… Read More