Health And Medicine
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Paraplegia-causing proteins pair up
Peter Hedera, M.D. Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), a group of progressive neurodegenerative disorders that impairs the ability to walk, can be caused by mutations in more than 40 different genes. Despite this genetic heterogeneity, the pathologic features – degeneration of long axons in the spinal cord – are relatively uniform,… Read MoreFeb 4, 2011
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Going underground in search of new drugs
Every few months, chemist Brian Bachmann sheds his white lab coat, collects his flashlight, helmet, surgical gloves and knotted rope, puts on old clothes and hiking boots and heads to a nearby cave. Bachmann, an assistant professor of chemistry at Vanderbilt, has combined his industrial experience in… Read MoreFeb 1, 2011
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Vanderbilt joins consortium to discover and map all Alzheimer’s genes
Jonathan Haines and his colleagues at Vanderbilt are part of a global collaboration to discover and map all genes relating to Alzheimer's disease. (Daniel Dubois / Vanderbilt University) Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and across the globe, announced today a multi-national collaboration to discover and map all genes relating… Read MoreFeb 1, 2011
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Protein related to aging holds breast cancer clues
David Gius, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues are studying an aging-associated protein’s role in the development of breast cancer in older women. (Vanderbilt University/photo by Mary Donaldson) The most common type of breast cancer in older women – estrogen and progesterone receptor (ER/PR) positive breast cancer – has been linked to… Read MoreFeb 1, 2011
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Breast cancer patients with strong social network live longer
(Photo credit: iStock photo) Breast cancer patients who have a strong social support system in the first year after diagnosis are less likely to die or have a recurrence of cancer, according to new research from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the Shanghai Institute of Preventive Medicine. The study, led… Read MoreJan 31, 2011
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Mental health research fund lauds VU scientists
Left to right: Karen Gregory, Elizabeth Hammock, Peilin Jia, John Panos Eight Vanderbilt University scientists have won 2010 Young Investigator Awards from NARSAD, the world’s leading mental health research charity. Each scientist will receive up to $60,000 over two years for innovative brain and behavioral studies of serious psychiatric disorders. Read MoreJan 31, 2011
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Tennessee’s first Berlin heart infant receives heart transplant
Nathan Roberts, an 18-month-old patient from Snead, Ala., whose heart has been operating with the help of a mechanical assistance device called the Berlin Heart since May 27, 2010, received a donor heart early yesterday morning at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Doctors say the transplant surgery went… Read MoreJan 14, 2011
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Scripps Research and Vanderbilt launch joint institute to advance science at interface of chemistry and medicine
Personalized medicine refers to the relationship between genetic differences among individuals and corresponding differences in their chemical state and how they respond to various nutrients, drugs, and compounds in their environment. (Photo courtesy of Scripps Research Institute) Leftover blood samples from Vanderbilt’s clinics are retrieved daily from the Pathology lab. Read MoreJan 13, 2011
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Seven Vanderbilt University Faculty Honored by AAAS Scientific Society
Seven Vanderbilt University faculty members have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an honor bestowed upon them by their AAAS peers. They are among 503 AAAS members from around the country who achieved this honor because of their distinguished efforts to advance science… Read MoreJan 12, 2011
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Aliquots – VUMC research highlights
RSV prefers stressed cells “Stress granules” – globs of proteins and RNAs – form inside cells in response to environmental stressors and are thought to regulate protein production. Several viruses induce stress granule formation, but the function of these structures during virus replication is not well understood. James Crowe Jr.,… Read MoreJan 6, 2011
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Impact of Recovery Act funds profound for VU
During the past 18 months, scientists at Vanderbilt University have received $148 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to buy major equipment, hire additional staff and accelerate their research. University officials predicted the impact of the 246 two-year “stimulus” grants awarded to more than 200 researchers across campus… Read MoreJan 6, 2011
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Ezra Fitz: In His Own Words
Ezra Fitz (Photo credit: Daniel Dubois, Vanderbilt University) In late January of 2006, I was looking neither at tide pools, nor at stars. I was staring intently – just as I am now, as I’m writing this – into a computer screen, trying to cover a bone-white Word document with… Read MoreDec 8, 2010
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New Comprehensive Care Center at One Hundred Oaks feels like home to its first patient
Dr. Stephen Raffanti, M.D., with Loren Antes at the Comprehensive Care Clinic opening. (Photo credit: Joe Howell, Vanderbilt University) Loren Antes, 41, was dying to stay alive – literally. Diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1987, Antes was subjected to a pharmaceutical regime that just about killed him. Each day he faced… Read MoreDec 1, 2010
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New initiative to develop a system that controls prosthetic limbs naturally
Anita Mahadevan-Jansen, Duco Jansen and Peter Konrad Using beams of light to allow amputees not only to control but also to feel the movement of prosthetic limbs is the ambitious goal of a new $5.6 million Department of Defense initiative. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is tapping the… Read MoreNov 17, 2010
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New NRC report provides data on 31 Vanderbilt doctoral programs
A new report from the National Research Council offers insights into 31 doctoral programs at Vanderbilt University, and finds the programs to be competitive with those at other top research institutions in the United States. The report is based on data collected for the 2005-2006 academic year… Read MoreSep 28, 2010
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Vanderbilt University study to be most comprehensive look at link between stress and health disparities
Researchers at Vanderbilt will begin a landmark study to examine how social stress contributes to disparities in health among minority populations. Vanderbilt University is launching a landmark study in Nashville to look at the role stress plays in the health disparities observed across socioeconomic status and race. The study will… Read MoreJul 6, 2010
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Vanderbilt medical researchers, engineers play major role in new national center established to secure the privacy of electronic health information
Slowly but steadily the U.S. health care community is moving into the digital age: shifting their medical records from paper to electronic information systems. This movement raises serious concerns about security and privacy of patients’ medical information. Read MoreMay 28, 2010
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How cancer cells lose their (circadian) rhythm
Immortality and uncontrolled cell division are the fundamental differences between cancer cells and normal cells. Read MoreMay 10, 2010