Research

It is widely assumed that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are insensitive to pain due to the wide prevalence of self-injurious behaviors. A new study at Vanderbilt University Medical Center suggests that this may not be true. Read More

COX-2 inhibitors – used clinically to reduce inflammation and pain – may find new applications for treating PTSD and other stress-related psychiatric disorders like major depression. Read More

Vanderbilt and several community partners have collaborated on a nutrition program in which children help their families eat healthier cuisine. Read More

Workers who heavily tied their personal identity to their job felt the strongest sense of shame when their company was caught doing something bad, according to new research. Read More

The results of a new study make it far less likely that KIC 8462852, popularly known as Tabby’s star, is the home of industrious aliens who are gradually enclosing it in a vast shell called a Dyson sphere, a theory that went viral over the past year. Read More

Tennessee lawmakers encouraged aspiring teachers to use their unique perspective to impact education policy decisions during a panel discussion May 5. Read More

A Vanderbilt law professor says Wall Street should be required to make a simple change to protect itself from runs on the market like that in 2008: eliminate the use of short-term debt to fund investments. Read More

A national search will be launched this fall for the Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan R. Wente announced today. Current VBI Associate Director Ron Emeson will begin a term as interim director effective July 1. Read More

President Barack Obama honored Christopher J. Lemons during the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers at the White House May 5. Read More

How about shrink wrapping your hand to have an MRI? Or having a light in a cast to help heal diabetic foot ulcers? These are just some of the devices developed by Vanderbilt engineering students for Design Day 2016. Read More

The primary method used to test compounds for anti-cancer activity in cells is flawed, Vanderbilt University researchers reported May 2 in Nature Methods. Read More

Less than a week has passed since the reorganization that separated Vanderbilt University from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) became effective April 29, but early signs are very positive, Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of VUMC and dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said Tuesday during his Spring Faculty Meeting and Awards Program. Read More

The true incidence of hazing in youth sports is unknown because victims don’t report the mistreatment or fail to recognize it as hazing, according to a review of scientific literature on the subject by a team of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) researchers. Read More

Anesthesiology resident Loren Smith, M.D., Ph.D., recently received two national research awards: the Margaret Wood Resident Research Award, from the Association of University Anesthesiologists (AUA); and the 2016 Young Investigator Award, from the Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists (SOCCA). Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered that activation of a certain signaling pathway protects brain cancers from targeted therapies, suggesting that using therapeutics that block both pathways may be a promising treatment. Read More

A newly discovered mechanism that helps cancer cells avoid destruction by immune system cells may improve immunotherapies. Read More

A genetic mutation that promotes cancer development blocks the normal sorting of a protein called “Argonaute 2.” Read More

In an election season that will shatter the record for money spent on a presidential campaign, political scientists at Vanderbilt and UCLA have created SpotCheck, a new approach for assessing political ads using internet-based surveys. Read More

Higher genomic levels of African ancestry are associated with an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease, a consortium of investigators reported recently in Alzheimer’s & Dementia. Read More

Researchers at Columbia and Vanderbilt universities have made an important discovery in mice that has implications for understanding the gastrointestinal (GI) problems experienced by some children with autism. Read More