Research – VUMC Reporter

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a genetic mutation that causes pulmonary hypertension, which leads to brisket disease, a life-threatening pulmonary condition that affects cattle grazed at high altitude. Read More

Creating artificial human capillary blood vessels using cotton candy and gelatin | Increasing and improving retention of underrepresented minority students in STEM fields Read More

The electric eel—the scaleless Amazonian fish that can deliver a jolt strong enough to knock down a horse—possesses an electroshock system uncannily similar to a Taser. Read More

New “tumor in a dish” technology is poised to assess rapidly how effective specific anticancer cocktails will be on an individual’s cancer before chemotherapy begins. Read More

About a decade ago, the hit movie Minority Report featured a police force that could predict crimes and swoop in before they happened. That kind of crime fighting may not be far off if a team headed by Eugene Vorobeychik, assistant professor of computer science and computer engineering, has its way. Read More

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is known as “good cholesterol” because elevated levels protect against heart attacks and plaque buildup. However, in some cases HDL may not function properly and may actually accelerate the disease. Read More

For those most severely affected, epilepsy treatment means drilling through the skull deep into the brain to destroy the small area where seizures originate—invasive, dangerous, and requiring a long recovery period. Five years ago a team of Vanderbilt engineers wondered: Is it possible to address epileptic seizures in a less invasive way? Read More

Bacterial Bullies |Nurses Staying in Workforce Longer |A Reassessment of Minority-Serving Colleges | Vice–Virtue Bundles Read More

Conditions on Earth for the first 500 million years after it formed may have been surprisingly similar to the present day, complete with oceans, continents and active crustal plates. Read More

High-dose influenza vaccine is 24 percent more effective than the standard-dose vaccine in protecting persons ages 65 and over against influenza illness and its complications. Read More

Researchers have developed a model that estimates the effect that a star's diet has on its chemical composition. This model will add substantially to astronomers’ understanding of the process of planet formation as well as assist in the ongoing search for Earth-like exoplanets. Read More

Tobacco smoking has been linked to approximately 2 million deaths among adult men and women in Asia in recent years, according to a new study that predicts a rising death toll. Read More

Simple heat treatments may give the frog immune system a boost and help it fight off a deadly fungal pathogen, according to a new study published July 10 in the journal Nature. Read More

The commonly held notion that the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has eroded teacher job satisfaction and undermined job retention is off the mark, according to new Vanderbilt research. Read More

Private Property and Government Inaction | Probiotic Could Prevent Obesity | Freedom from Power Cords | Pickiness Doesn’t Always Pay Read More

Vanderbilt psychologists Robert Reinhart and Geoffrey Woodman show that selectively manipulating one’s ability to learn through the application of a mild electrical current to the brain is possible, and that this effect can be enhanced or depressed depending on the direction of the current. Read More

“Doctor shopping,” or going to multiple doctors for narcotic prescriptions, is prevalent among more than 20 percent of orthopedic trauma patients, according to a new Vanderbilt study. Read More

An ultrafast, ultrasmall optical switch could advance the day when photons replace electrons in the innards of consumer products ranging from cellphones to automobiles. Read More

Lone star tick bites are likely the cause of thousands of cases of severe red-meat allergies plaguing patients in Southeastern states and spreading up the Eastern Seaboard. Read More

Marijuana's effects on the brain | Income inequality's impact on Americans' health | Evolutionary mismatch between humans, microbes | Music therapy for premature babies Read More