Research

Like anyone, it takes time for coders to reengage in their work, meaning interruptions from bosses, co-workers, and email and messaging notifications can lead to a loss of focus, decreased productivity, increased stress, and a longer time to complete tasks. But according to a new award-winning study by researchers in Vanderbilt’s Institute for Software Integrated Systems, not all interruptions are created equal. Read More

A new study by Vanderbilt investigators uncovered a previously unknown biological mechanism: how tissues detect and respond to damage in basement membranes, the thin layers of extracellular matrix that surround and support nearly every organ in the body. The research, published in Developmental Cell, is the first to show how local cells sense and respond to changes in basement membrane stiffness caused by damage—and how they activate a previously unknown set of “matrix mender” cells to repair the tissue. Read More

At a time of deep political divisions, registered Tennessee voters are united in their overwhelming support for key federal programs, according to the latest semiannual statewide Vanderbilt Poll. Concern about the U.S. economy and personal financial futures is also prevalent, while partisan divides are more apparent on issues such as immigration, tariffs and President Donald Trump’s response to court rulings against his actions and policies.   Read More

Vanderbilt University and its Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization hosted the inaugural Southeast Venture Showcase, a first-of-its kind collaboration among top research universities and federal laboratories across the Southeast to highlight their most promising new technology-based ventures.  Read More

Generative AI will play a key role in three new campus projects being developed thanks to early-stage funding from the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries’ Digital Lab. The Digital Lab’s 2025 seed grant projects will be celebrated in a public showcase this fall.  Read More

Vanderbilt University may submit up to two proposals, one in Medical Research and one in Science and Engineering, for the W.M. Keck Foundation Research Program. Read More

Vanderbilt University may submit two nominations to the American Diabetes Association for the Pathway to Stop Diabetes Awards, one nomination spanning basic through preclinical research and one nomination spanning clinical through public health research. Read More

Crucial research by Neil Osheroff and his lab leads to approval of the first new class of antibacterial drugs in decades. The drug, gepotidacin, developed by GlaxoSmithKline under the brand name Blujepa, will be available starting later this year, potentially bringing relief to thousands of women who struggle with uncomplicated urinary tract infections. Read More

Vanderbilt (VU + VUMC, collaboratively) may nominate up to two candidates for the V Foundation V Scholar Award program. Read More

Nashville’s tumultuous spring weather upended plans for an in-person faculty assembly on April 3. Fortunately, faculty will still have an opportunity to connect with colleagues and congratulate the 10 spring award winners during the May 1 Faculty Senate meeting. Read More

In this live performance turned Quantum Potential episode, Provost C. Cybele Raver hosts an extraordinary musical collaboration between Ji Hye Jung, associate professor of percussion at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music, and the multi–Grammy Award–winning Attacca Quartet—Amy Schroeder and Domenic Salerni (violins), Nathan Schram (viola), and Andrew Yee (cello). The result? A rich exploration of what it means to be a classical musician in the 21st century. Read More

A new paper, co-authored by Eric M. VanEpps, associate professor of marketing at Vanderbilt Business, shows that a lack of consumer confidence in forecasting ability, instead of pessimism, sways stock market predictions, often pushing estimates too low. In this study, the term consumers refers to ordinary people who are not professional investors or economists; consumer confidence refers to how confident they feel in their own ability to understand and predict the stock market. Read More

See how historian Jane Landers and her team are rescuing enslaved Africans’ stories from oblivion and honoring thousands of lives. Read More

Vanderbilt (VU and VUMC, collaboratively) may submit one proposal for the Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation Grant Program.  Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich With artificial intelligence being rapidly deployed across all sectors of public life, including education, it is becoming increasingly important to understand how younger children interact with AI algorithms. Future programmers will need to consider the social and ethical impacts of technology, contends Vanderbilt Peabody College of… Read More

Vanderbilt (VU + VUMC, collaboratively) may nominate one associate or full professor to submit a Letter of Intent for the 2026 Brain Research Foundation Scientific Innovations Award (SIA). Read More

Though Helicobacter pylori lives in the guts of about half of the world's adults, infections can go undetected for decades. The problem: the bacteria is the primary risk factor for gastric cancer, and one strain of the germ carries a higher risk. Vanderbilt researchers Tim Cover and Jennifer Shuman analyzed how the genetic makeup of H. pylori strains affects how they change the molecular makeup of gut tissues and lead to gastric cancer. Read More

Read the stories of what motivates members of Vanderbilt's faculty to pursue excellence as researchers, professors, experts and innovators. Read More

Understanding how proteins get from point A to point B is top of mind for Stephanie Wankowicz, assistant professor of molecular physiology and biophysics and principal investigator at the Wankowicz lab. She conducts research on how entropy, a measure of the tendency toward disorder or randomness within a system, shifts when a protein binds to a drug or another protein. Now, her work is being shared through the diffUSE project, a new multi-institutional collaboration focused on reshaping the future of structural biology by moving beyond traditional “snapshot” views of proteins to reveal their full dynamic motions. Read More

As Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Physics and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Julia Velkovska studies the tiny particles that form our universe. She focuses on how nuclear matter behaves when confronted with extreme density and temperatures (think trillions of degrees)—similar to the conditions existing microseconds after the big bang, right as the universe was starting to take shape. Just this year, Velkovska and her team of physicists were awarded the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, along with 13,508 colleagues across four landmark CERN experiments. The prize honors decades of work expanding our understanding of the physical universe. Read More