Research

Over the next four years, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Alex Lupsasca will lead a Vanderbilt team in a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional collaboration funded by an $8 million grant from the Simons Foundation with a focus on black holes and strong gravity. Read More

In a new white paper sponsored by the Vanderbilt AI Law Lab (VAILL) and Vanderbilt Private Climate Governance Lab (PCG), Vanderbilt researchers spotlight two innovative tools they built to accelerate research into climate adaptation policy and AI regulation. Read More

The Vanderbilt Innovation Catalyst Fund, launched in 2023, bridges the gap between academic research and real-world applications by supporting projects with commercial and societal potential. To date, the fund has completed six award cycles, distributing 39 grants to VU and VUMC awardees across diverse disciplines. Read More

Vanderbilt University and England’s University of Liverpool have announced the inaugural recipients of a new joint seed grant program, which supports faculty teams pursuing innovative projects designed to grow into larger collaborations and external funding.  Read More

By Jenna Somers Whether a young child lives in Guatemala or the Netherlands, whether they attend school in a mudbrick building with dirt floors or a state-of-the-art facility, is it possible to develop common measures to understand their health and development? How does child development differ across cultural contexts, and… Read More

By Jenna Somers After a hard day of work, a parent reading a bedtime story to their child might feel too tired and stressed to think of questions that could spark insightful conversations about the story with their child. But these conversations—which scholars call dialogic reading—are critical to literacy development. Read More

By Jenna Somers The Great Recession of 2008 led to a pronounced decline in birthrates, and the impact has caught up with colleges and universities. Children born at the start of the recession are now 18 years old, but there are fewer of them compared to the prior decade,… Read More

Meet some of Vanderbilt's newest faculty as they explain why Vanderbilt is the right academic home for them. Read More

By Jenna Somers Key Takeaways Researchers uncovered new personality traits and developed a new personality hierarchy using novel data science methods in taxonomic graph analysis (TGA). TGA could lead to a more precise understanding of personality and classifications in psychopathology. The researchers’ TGA method builds personality hierarchies from the bottom… Read More

Vanderbilt researchers uncovered evidence of a Chinese government-linked AI propaganda campaign, revealing unprecedented scale and precision in influence operations. The work reflects the university’s growing role in addressing urgent global security challenges.  Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich and Krystal Schmidt As kids return to school, families considering special education services for their children may wonder where to start. Even after support is in place, Section 504 plans and IEPs can feel overwhelming. Vanderbilt Peabody College researcher Meghan Burke, professor of special… Read More

Jack Noble, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is working with clinical colleagues to develop and validate an augmented reality vision guidance system to help surgeons place cochlear implants more precisely. The guidance system leverages emerging artificial intelligence technology and uses inexpensive, commonly available equipment, making it practical for many operating rooms. Read More

When we think of the age-old adage about getting old, “What new ache or pain will each new day bring?” we often imagine ailments such as joint or bone pain, a hyperactive bladder, or even memory loss, but Kevin Schey, Stevenson Professor of Biochemistry at the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, thinks a lot about the loss of eyesight. Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich Teenagers in the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt (SSMV), staff with the Vanderbilt University Museum of Art (VUMA) and Nashville Metro Historical Commission archaeologists recently joined forces in a unique collaboration. Beginning in January 2025 with support from Vanderbilt’s Community Engagement Collaboration Fund, three… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich This July 6 – 23, rising high school seniors in the Cooke Young Scholars Program immersed themselves in life and learning at Vanderbilt University. During the initiative’s annual Senior Summit, 57 students stayed on campus, studied in advanced courses and participated in engaging residential experiences.  … Read More

by Jenna Somers Karen Legrand Karen Legrand returned to Guatemala with “new eyes” after her experience in the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development in 2020-2021. In the highlands of Guatemala, she created a violence prevention program, followed by a… Read More

Amy Owen The Tennessee Education Research Alliance, a research-practice partnership between the Tennessee Department of Education and Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development, is pleased to announce Dr. Amy Owen as its new executive director. Owen succeeds Dr. Laura Booker, who will transition into… Read More

Ultra-thin layers of gold and copper sulfide developed by Vanderbilt doctoral student Yueming Yan with Associate Professor of Chemistry Janet Macdonald and Stevenson Professor of Physics Richard Haglund could revolutionize medical imaging and environmental sensing. The energy exchange between the metal and semiconductor particles—resonant energy transfer—can convert infrared light into visible and ultraviolet colors. The nanoscale films "could replace bulky optical sensors with flexible, wearable or even implantable devices, thus transforming health and safety technologies." Read More

The Vanderbilt Biophotonics Center, led by Professor Anita Mahadevan-Jansen, developed a device called the PTeye that can help surgeons see patients' parathyroid glands—which have unpredictable locations—better during neck surgery by making the tissue glow! A large, multicenter clinical trial has provided evidence of its effectiveness, which the team hopes will improve the accuracy of endocrine neck surgery and improve patient outcomes. Clinical implementation of the device was pioneered by Dr. Carmen Solórzano, director of Vanderbilt Endocrine Surgery at VUMC. Read More

Three Vanderbilt faculty members are diving into a "chicken-and-egg" problem of type 2 diabetes: Does the disease change beta-cell subtypes? Or do changes in the cells cause diabetes? Guoqiang Gu, Emily Hodges and Ken Lau have come up with a new method of studying the subtypes that can track them through different stages instead of just once when they're fully developed. "Thanks to this and other research, it may be possible to one day create a diet supplement for pregnancy that could reduce the risk of diabetes for babies," Gu said. Read More