Research – VUMC Reporter

Gifted children are likely to be the next generation’s innovators and leaders—and yet, the exceptionally smart are often invisible in the classroom, lacking the curricula, teacher input and external motivation to reach full potential. Read More

Recent work has shown that in addition to the reduction in stomach size, many metabolic and hormonal changes likely underlie the beneficial effects of bariatric surgery. Read More

Cancer researchers have been searching for biomarkers that indicate which patients should be treated aggressively and which patients can be followed through active surveillance. Now researchers at Vanderbilt and the University of Alberta in Canada have identified a biomarker for a cellular switch that accurately predicts which prostate cancer patients are likely to have their cancer recur or spread. Read More

Not enough has been done to protect the economy from the boom and bust cycles that brought the United States to the brink of disaster in 2008–09, says a Vanderbilt economist. Read More

The iPad may hold the key to enabling children with autism spectrum disorders to express themselves through speech. | Children hospitalized for pneumonia have similar outcomes, including length of stay and costs, regardless of whether they are treated with “big gun” antibiotics or more narrowly focused antibiotics such as penicillin. | It’s time to drop the requirement that inventions be “useful” in order to merit a patent, says Sean B. Seymore. Read More

Student Ownership, Responsibility Are Keys to Success Why are some high schools better than others at boosting achievement among traditionally underserved students? A new report from the National Center on Scaling Up Effective Schools (NCSU), based at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of education and human development, finds that student… Read More

Physician Exodus Is Diminishing Health Care Where It’s Needed Most The past decade has seen a dramatic rise in the number of physicians trained in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) emigrating to the United States, resulting in a “brain drain” on nations in the greatest need for affordable and accessible health care. Read More

Researchers Stalk Deadly Flu Viruses Using New Weapons The high mortality rate of a new strain of bird flu that emerged in China last spring has caused the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue provider alerts to watch for flu-like illness in recent travelers and prompted… Read More

Transplant Procedure Overcomes Blood-Type Incompatibility More young children could receive life-saving heart transplants in the future, if a procedure performed for the first time at Vanderbilt becomes accepted practice. Pediatric cardiac surgeons at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt recently performed the state’s first ABO-incompatible heart… Read More

‘Yo-Yo Dieting’ May Cause Metabolic Dysfunction The cycles of weight loss and gain that accompany “yo-yo dieting” increase the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, exactly how weight cycling increases metabolic dysfunction—more than steady weight gain alone—is unknown. © istock.com / Karen Roach… Read More

Credit: HARRY CAMPBELL You’re walking down the street when a shot rings out. You duck for cover and pull out your smartphone. A map of the neighborhood pops up on the screen with a red arrow pointing in the direction the shot came from. A team of… Read More

Credit: DONNA GRETHEN Although past studies have found little evidence that women are opting out of the workforce in general, first-of-its-kind research shows that female graduates of elite undergraduate universities are working many fewer hours than their counterparts from less selective institutions. “Even though elite graduates are… Read More

Molecular waste products pass through abdominal membrane during peritoneal dialysis. The two large objects in the foreground are red blood cells. (Credit: Dorling Kindersley/getty images) Kidney failure is an important cause of permanent disability in the United States. It can be the result of long-term chronic illnesses… Read More

Credit: Ireneusz Skorupa A $1.1 million U.S. Department of Defense grant will support development of a new surgical device that could help repair severed nerves, allowing soldiers and cancer patients to regain use of a limb and avoid amputations after a catastrophic injury or cancer… Read More

Connor Harrell, BA’13 (Credit: Joe Howell) You Snooze, You Win Strike-zone judgment grows worse over the course of a major league baseball season in a predictable way, possibly due to effects of grueling travel schedules, disrupted sleep patterns and fatigue, says a Vanderbilt sleep researcher. Read More

Credit: TODD DAVIDSON New Wave of ‘Superbugs’ Poses Dire Threat | Deadly Bacteria That Resist Strongest Drugs Are Spreading | Drug-Resistant Bacteria and Lack of New Antibiotics Could Signal Catastrophe We’ve all seen the ominous headlines—and heard the warnings from our own health care providers—about the dangers of antibiotic… Read More

Credit: JIM FRAZIER/illustration source A study comparing outcomes among prostate cancer patients treated with surgery versus radiation therapy found differences in urinary, bowel and sexual function after short-term follow-up—but those differences were no longer significant 15 years later. The study, led by first author Dr. Matthew Resnick,… Read More

Credit: JESUS ABURTO Is an angry judge a bad judge? Not necessarily. “Anger is the quintessentially judicial emotion,” says Terry Maroney, professor of law and co-director of Vanderbilt’s program in social justice. “It involves appraisal of wrongdoing, attribution of blame and assignment of punishment—precisely what… Read More

Credit: KAT CHADWICK There may be a biological basis for separate doll and dump-truck aisles in the toy store. In a study of baby mice, researchers at Vanderbilt and the University of Southern California found that males and females respond differently to the hormone arginine-vasopressin (AVP), which… Read More

Credit: GARY WATERS Prison Time Cuts Life Expectancy For every year spent in prison, overall life expectancy decreases two years. A new study by Evelyn Patterson, assistant professor of sociology, looked at New York parolees released between 1989 and 2003 and found a 15.6 percent… Read More