Research

A group of researchers from the lab of Larry Marnett, the Mary Geddes Stahlman Professor of Cancer Research, recently paired a precisely targeted imaging agent to an anticancer agent and found that they could specifically attack cancer cells and not normal cells with it. Their work was performed in collaboration with School of Engineering faculty members Craig Duvall and Rebecca Cook, and was published in Molecular Pharmaceutics in April 2025. Read More

Danial Asgari, a postdoctoral researcher in the Tate Lab, and Ann Tate, associate professor of Biological Sciences, recently published a study in Molecular Biology and Evolution titled “How the Structure of Signaling Regulation Evolves: Insights from an Evolutionary Model.” Their findings show that negative feedback loops (or NFLs) acting closer to a cell’s final decisions, such as turning genes on or off, are especially resistant to evolutionary change. Read More

While we know that intermediate-mass black holes should exist, little is known about their origins or characteristics—they are considered the rare “missing links” in black hole evolution. However, four new studies have shed new light on the mystery. The research was led by a team in the lab of Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Karan Jani, who also serves as the founding director of the Vanderbilt Lunar Labs Initiative. Read More

In a new study published in Science, Lisa Monteggia’s and Ege Kavalali’s labs show that it is feasible to substantially extend the efficacy of a single dose of ketamine from its current duration of up to a week to a longer period of up to two months. Read More

The VPA recently announced a new phase of growth, with the addition of key senior staff, distinguished senior fellows and renowned advisory committee members. This expansion further solidifies its leadership in policy areas such as AI and Technology, Competition and Regulation, Industrial Policy and Economic Security and Public Options and Governance. Read More

Vanderbilt University may nominate two candidates for the 2026 Searle Scholars Program. Read More

The National Center for Science Education has named Vanderbilt University’s Evolutionary Studies Initiative as one of its 2025 recipients of the prestigious Friend of Darwin award. This national honor recognizes ESI’s outstanding contributions to advancing public understanding of evolution through interdisciplinary research, education and outreach. Read More

Vanderbilt has announced eleven awardees in the latest round of its Innovation Catalyst Fund, an initiative that supports translational research that has promising commercial potential. Read More

In May, the Peabody Journal of Education released a special themed issue on seven studies conducted by the Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA), a research-practice partnership between Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development and the Tennessee Department of Education. TERA houses Tennessee’s K-12 public school… Read More

Vanderbilt’s Social, Behavioral and Educational Research Institutional Review Board will enter phase two of its launch on July 1, expanding the scope of studies it reviews and continuing the university’s transition away from the VUMC IRB for social, behavioral and education studies involving human participants. Read More

In this episode of Quantum Potential, Craig Lindsley, William K. Warren, Jr. Professor of Medicine, University Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacology and executive director of the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, joins Provost C. Cybele Raver to discuss transformative research exploring how subtle tweaks to brain chemistry could change the way we treat neurodegenerative diseases and chronic pain. Read More

Vanderbilt University may submit one nominee for the Susan G. Komen Career Transition Award opportunity. Read More

Vanderbilt (VU + VUMC, collaboratively) may nominate one candidate each from the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing for the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation’s Faculty Scholars Program. Read More

Vanderbilt University may submit one nominee for the Susan G. Komen Career Catalyst Research grant opportunity. Read More

The trial, which is funded by a K23 Career Development Award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, is expected to begin this summer and will assign peer-parent coaches to families to determine whether their having support to navigate the medical system and other challenges means their children will be healthier.   Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich Marissa Tessier, Melanie Hundley and Elizabeth Seeker. Photo: Krystal Schmidt Convincing tweens and teens to read books can be an uphill battle. But a collaboration between two Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development students, their professor, and best-selling Disney Books author Jen Calonita is… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich Only a third of American students read proficiently, according to the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress. Scores continue to lag behind those from 2019 and 2022, and there has been little overall improvement since the NAEP began tracking reading in 1992. Educators and policymakers have… Read More

Josh Clinton, Abby and Jon Winkelried Chair and professor of political science, and co-director of the Vanderbilt Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, joins Provost C. Cybele Raver to discuss how transparency and increasing public literacy about statistics—including an awareness of limitations—can disrupt Americans’ mounting distrust in polling data. Read More

Vanderbilt may nominate up to two candidates for the 2026 Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholars Fellowship Award in translational immunology (non-cancer). Read More

Vanderbilt (VU + VUMC, collaboratively) may nominate up to two candidates (one per project type) for the Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research opportunity. Read More