Research

Vanderbilt chemist John McLean served as one of the 14 members of the NRC expert committee that prepared a report in September that recommends the potential of new methods for monitoring the process of destroying the remainder of the nation’s aging stockpile of chemical warfare munitions that could reduce the time and expense involved by almost two thirds. Read More

A rare genetic syndrome provides new clues to lung scarring (pulmonary fibrosis), a potentially deadly consequence of many lung diseases. Read More

Components of human breast milk help ward off viral infection, a new study shows. Read More

"Our scientists and engineers are making discoveries today that will lead to unimaginable technological breakthroughs tomorrow in medicine, energy and technology. Without long-term sustained federal investments in science and engineering research, these discoveries simply will not be made," write Chancellor Zeppos and University of Tennessee president Joseph Di Pietro in The Tennessean. Read More

"Beyond the damaging effects on the health of our people, disrupting the nation’s biomedical science infrastructure puts our economic future at risk," writes Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Jeff Balser in The Tennessean. Read More

A gene associated with long life participates in the normal regulation of bone remodeling and may have a role in bone loss associated with aging. Read More

A study of California school districts by Jason Grissom, assistant professor of public policy and education, shows that nearly half of superintendents left their districts within three years, including nearly three-quarters of the superintendents of the largest districts. Read More

Students from the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt trekked about three miles from campus to the School of Engineering’s wind-solar alternative energy site to see a wind turbine in action atop Love Circle hill in Nashville. Read More

Vanderbilt biologists have discovered that mosquitoes possess a previously unknown mechanism for destroying pathogens which takes advantage of the peculiarities of the insect’s circulatory system to increase its effectiveness. Read More

Researchers have determined how a DNA lesion caused by exposure to chemicals may spark cancer formation. Read More

Electrical engineering professor Alan Peters has posted the lecture notes to his popular introductory image processing course online. Read More

A new map of the developing gut of quail offers valuable tool for studying intestinal diseases. Read More

The main antioxidant compound in green tea increases contractile force in isolated heart cells, suggesting it may be useful in heart failure. Read More

Vanderbilt research looks at how consumers value products based on price and popularity. Read More

Antioxidants promote cell growth in a mouse model of prostate cancer, Vanderbilt researchers report in the journal PLoS ONE. The findings provide insight into the recent controversy regarding antioxidants and prostate cancer prevention. Read More

An inherited lung disease does not appear to have earlier onset and increased severity – a phenomenon called genetic anticipation – in successive generations. Read More

Doug Fisher, associate professor of computer science, participated in a panel discussion at the Ithaka Sustainable Scholarship conference. This year's topic was the impact of digital learning technology on scholarly practices and notions of quality in the academy. Read More

Through a set of experiments, Gordon Logan, Nashville musician Jerry Kimbrough and Matthew Crump (now of Brooklyn College-CUNY) have illustrated that guitarists – and players of other related instruments like mandolin, banjo and bass – tend to acquire their skills differently than most other musicians. Read More

They spent a total of $1 billion on TV ads, but most were instantly forgettable—and none swayed opinion. Next time, writes John G. Geer, make the ads memorable. Read More

Sleep research is one of the many initiatives made possible through Vanderbilt’s participation in the Autism Treatment Network. Read More