Research

Marcelo Disconzi, assistant professor of mathematics, has been awarded a $65,000 fellowship for early career researchers from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Read More

Combining a natural dye from blackberries with photosynthetic proteins extracted from spinach leaves increases the voltage of biohybrid solar cells by a factor of 20. Read More

Newly discovered features in an RSV protein may be useful for rational structure-based vaccine design. Read More

New findings suggest that oxidative stress damages mitochondrial DNA, and they link this damage to a disease state. Read More

School choice is often touted as way for students in low-income areas to attend better schools. But what benefits does school choice offer for students in affluent areas with access to high-performing schools? As part of Vanderbilt’s Sterling Ranch TIPs program outside of Denver, two Peabody graduate students investigated these high-choice, high-status environments to find out. Read more about TIPs grants and other internal faculty funding programs—including University Courses, Discovery Grants and Research Scholar Grants—at the VU BreakThru blog. Read More

A team of researchers, led by David Calkins, PhD, vice chair and director of Research at the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, has made a breakthrough discovery in the field of glaucoma showing new hopes for treatments to preserve vision. Read More

Sandra Rosenthal, the Jack and Pamela Egan Professor of Chemistry and director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Nanoscale Science and Engineering, is being recognized for her development of nanocrystal probes for neuroscience and white-light emitting nanocrystals as well as her leadership in the NSF-funded TN-SCORE program. Read More

Engineering professors Sharon Weiss and  Anita Mahadevan-Jansen have been named fellows of The Optical Society (OSA), a leading international association for optics and photonics. In addition, Weiss has been named a fellow of SPIE, the international society advancing an interdisciplinary approach to the science and application of light. Read More

Young women who don’t comfortably see themselves in the role of “sexual beings” are at higher risk of performing undesired sexual acts to appease a partner. Read More

Xenofon Koutsoukos, professor of electrical engineering, computer engineering and computer science, has been named an IEEE Fellow by the board of directors of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The honor recognizes Koutsoukos for his contributions to the design of resilient cyber-physical systems. Read More

Carlo Ratti, director of MIT's Senseable City Lab and an architect and engineer by training, will deliver the School of Engineering’s John R. and Donna S. Hall Engineering Lecture on Thursday, Feb. 22. The lecture also will be streamed live. Read More

Professor Linda Sealy has won the AAAS Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement for her continued efforts to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in STEM Ph.D. programs. Read More

Astrophysicist Keivan Stassun has been named mentor of the year by AAAS for his efforts in increasing the number of underrepresented minorities in STEM Ph.D. programs. Read More

New composite materials make wind energy even greener by making the turbines themselves recyclable. Read More

Vanderbilt students and faculty came together to transcribe digitized handwritten records from the 19th century about African American history Feb. 14 at the Center for Digital Humanities. Read More

In VU BreakThru, Peabody alumni Kristin Baese and Eve Rifkin discuss school reform in Sterling Ranch – a planned community outside of Denver that won a 2015 Trans-Institutional Programs (TIPs) award and continues to flourish. Read More

Duvall conducts research on advanced drug delivery systems designed for regenerative medicine applications, such as tissue engineering, wound healing, vascular bypass grafts and protection of tissue from degenerative diseases. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered that a sirtuin protein has oncogenic properties in neuroblastoma cells — and that blocking it reduces their growth and tumor-like characteristics. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have conducted the first systematic evaluation of cognitive function in children with a rare genetic disorder. Read More

The rich Syriac culture, which has faced continued threats of extinction due to ongoing strife in nations such as Syria and Iraq, is featured in an exhibit at Cohen Memorial Hall through March 2. Read More