Health And Medicine

The multicellular, 3-D structure of human pancreatic islets — the areas of the pancreas containing hormone-producing or endocrine cells — has presented challenges to researchers as they study and manipulate these cells’ function, but Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have now developed a pseudoislet system that allows for much easier study of islet function. Read More

A protein linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurological disease that causes muscle weakness, may be a key to treating fibrotic disease of the kidneys and other organs, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported recently. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers conducted the largest analysis to date of a heart complication in children following stem cell transplant. The findings may help guide screening practices to improve outcomes. Read More

Consumption of soy foods may shape the microbiome and protect against hypertension only in individuals with soy-responsive microbiota, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. Read More

The H. pylori machinery that “injects” an oncoprotein into stomach cells contributes to the development of gastric cancer, Vanderbilt researchers demonstrate. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is attracting international attention for its proposal to repurpose existing drugs for new uses in ways that can dramatically improve access to medicines by billions of people throughout the world. Read More

A cellular RNA quality control mechanism was known to restrict replication of RNA viruses. Vanderbilt researchers have discovered it is also antiviral against DNA viruses. Read More

Katherine Amidon, a PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University, has been selected as the 2020 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have shown for the first time that when one optic nerve in the eye is damaged, as in glaucoma, the opposite optic nerve comes to the rescue by sharing its metabolic energy. Read More

Based on positive results in preclinical studies reported today, potently neutralizing antibodies identified by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are showing promise as a potential therapy for preventing and treating COVID-19. Read More

An experimental coronavirus vaccine stimulated robust immune responses against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and raised no serious safety concerns in an early-stage clinical trial. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have identified and characterized inhibitors of an enzyme that synthesizes lipid signaling molecules with roles in energy balance, inflammation and addiction. Read More

Vanderbilt immunologists have discovered that the protein Nur77 is part of a control mechanism that guards against autoimmunity in natural killer T cells. Read More

This week researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Gilead Sciences reported that remdesivir potently inhibited SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, in human lung cell cultures and that it improved lung function in mice infected with the virus. Read More

Bacterial invasion of vaginal cells sets up a protective niche and a reservoir for recurrent urinary tract infections, Vanderbilt researchers demonstrated. Read More

The Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation (VI4) recently moved into its new research and administrative home. Read More

Vanderbilt cell biologists are defining the factors that help beta cells in the pancreas stay healthy, secrete insulin and prevent diabetes initiation and progression. Read More

Sunil Kripalani, MD, MSc, professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has been appointed director of the Vanderbilt Center for Health Services Research. Read More

Scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona, have discovered previously unreported genetic and cellular changes that occur in the lungs of people with pulmonary fibrosis (PF). Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have isolated human monoclonal antibodies that potentially can prevent a rare but devastating polio-like illness in children linked to a respiratory viral infection. Read More