Health And Medicine

Researchers at Vanderbilt University have worked out part of the “wiring diagram” of a signaling system in the brain that has been linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Read More

When they occur among people living with HIV, certain cancers and opportunistic infections are considered by health authorities as AIDS-defining events, or ADEs. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers are comparing two types of weight-loss options to determine which is the most effective in helping obese patients reach a more ideal weight before undergoing kidney transplant surgery. Read More

From Vanderbilt Magazine: James Crowe, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, hopes to create a universal flu vaccine--permanently eliminating the problem of ineffective or under-effective annual flu shots. Read More

A new study from researchers at Vanderbilt and Harvard universities, published this week in the journal Health Affairs, uses federal health survey data to evaluate community-based efforts to address smoking, obesity and other health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Read More

Craig Lindsley, PhD, co-director of the Vanderbilt Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery (VCNDD), has been named a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and elected chair-elect of the Section of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Read More

Investigators in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care have launched a pilot study to see if patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) can tolerate the addition of a commonly used antiviral drug to standard IPF treatments. The research team believes the drug may ultimately help slow progression of the chronic and progressive disease or reverse its course. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a role for microtubules — part of the cellular “skeleton” — in organizing the unique sidedness of the epithelial cells that line organs like the intestines. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered imaging features associated with increased risk for aggressive meningiomas (tumors of the brain membranes) that could help guide surgical planning and patient counseling. Read More

New research reveals a unique mechanism of C. difficile toxin neutralization by a monoclonal antibody, suggesting new therapeutic approaches. Read More

Studies of alpha-B crystallin in zebrafish could ultimately lead to improved treatment for cataracts and heart disease. Read More

A six-member group of biomedical scientists from Europe and the United States, including Eric Delpire, PhD, MS, professor of Anesthesiology, has been awarded a $6 million grant to study the role of dietary potassium in hypertension. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University have discovered how insulin crosses the capillary endothelium to exit blood vessels and stimulate skeletal muscle cells — a major finding that may lead to new ways to reverse insulin resistance, a hallmark of type 2 diabetes. Read More

Rising obesity rates in several Southern states are leading to a rapid increase in new cases of diabetes among both black and white adults. A new study helmed by investigators at the University of Texas Health Science Center and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) found the risk of diabetes is double for black patients. Read More

Living in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood is likely to lead to death at an earlier age, especially among African-Americans, new research shows. The death rate is even more pronounced among disadvantaged individuals with unhealthy lifestyle habits. Read More

Blocking a nerve-cell receptor in part of the brain that coordinates movement could improve the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, dyskinesia and other movement disorders, researchers at Vanderbilt University have reported. Read More

Higher concentrations of high-density lipoproteins — HDL, the “good” cholesterol — may be protective against acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to starve a tumor and stop its growth with a newly discovered small compound that blocks uptake of the vital nutrient glutamine. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered that curcumin — the active ingredient in the spice turmeric — needs to be metabolically activated to exert anti-inflammatory effects. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered that functional MRI detects neural activity in both gray and white matter in the brain, suggesting new ways to investigate diseases such as Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis. Read More