Research Blog

  Documentarians Michael Moore and Ken Burns at work Calling all would-be Ken Burns and Michael Moores on campus: The Task Force on American Innovation (TFAI) is challenging students to create three-minute videos that celebrate American innovation. The basic instructions from TFAI are: “The… Read More

  Printha K. McCallum, right, and her mother, Lenda Bates DuBose Lenda Bates DuBose knew she would not survive peritoneal cancer. Yet the longtime Nashville resident and Vanderbilt graduate was grateful for the treatments that prolonged her life. She wished there was a way she could express her… Read More

Nuclear physicist Joseph Hamilton (Daniel Dubois / Vanderbilt) The year has gotten off to a good start for modern-day alchemists like Vanderbilt physicists Joe Hamilton and A.V. Ramayya who are engaged in the extremely challenging scientific endeavor of extending the periodic table by creating new… Read More

For better or for worse, what’s posted online, stays online. That embarrassing photo, the awkward comments, your less than stellar PowerPoint? Yep, they’re still there. For those of us in the research communications business, the elephantine memory of the Internet allows our stories to continue to reach readers for years… Read More

When the human genome was sequenced in 2003, scientists around the world turned their collective attention to discovering what roles genetic variation plays in human health and illness. Their goal: to use that knowledge to tailor disease treatment and prevention strategies based on an individual’s own DNA blueprint, a concept… Read More

The first graduating class of the School for Science and Math celebrates last spring. Photo by Tommy Lawson Their research papers are published in a scientific journal. They win accolades in a prestigious national science competition. And that’s before they graduate from their public high schools. These are the… Read More

A landmark study that found early antiretroviral therapy (ART) can reduce the risk of HIV transmission between sexual partners by 96 percent has been named Breakthrough of the Year by Science magazine. The study, conducted by the… Read More

Photo of post doctoral researcher Michal Kliman that ran on the cover of Chemical & Engineering News magazine in October. (Steve Green / Vanderbilt) In the world of molecular biology, lipids haven’t gotten as much respect or attention as nucleic acids and proteins even though they play… Read More

  Vanderbilt's virtual control room for the CMS detector that allows scientists and students to participate in meetings, monitor the experiment and analyze the data that it produces (John Russell / Vanderbilt University) After the most complete search yet, the world’s largest atom smasher, the… Read More

Arun Majumdar is the first director of the Department of Energy's ARPA-E (Zach Goodyear / Vanderbilt University) “Gentlemen, we have run out of money. It’s time to start thinking.” This quote, attributed to the New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford, summarizes the main point of the presentation that… Read More

By packing many tools into one advanced, minimally invasive platform, the MAC offers new capabilities for medical providers and less discomfort for patients undergoing colonoscopy or endoscopy. The robot is one of the initiatives of the Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering. SAN DIEGO, Calif. – A team of Vanderbilt… Read More

While listening to a physics colloquium titled “Science: What the Public is Thinking, What Congress is Doing, How You Can Contribute” delivered by Michael S. Lubell, professor of physics at the City College of New York and director of public affairs for the American Physical Society (APS), I couldn’t… Read More

A new technique for imaging whole cells in liquid – with a nanometer resolution that brings into focus individual proteins and other intracellular structures – could dramatically improve the study of cancer, viral infections and brain function. Read More

An update on federally funded projects at Vanderbilt and their impact on efforts to improve education, protect people from disease and meet our nation’s energy needs. Read More

Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction members (C-span) These days the news is full of stories about the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, nicknamed the Super Committee, and whether it can come up with a politically acceptable way to reduce the ballooning federal deficit. This… Read More

First Lady Michelle Obama addresses the National Science Foundation's Career-Life Balance initiative event in the East Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) On Monday, Sept 26, when First Lady Michelle Obama hosted an event at the White House to announce… Read More

(iSTOCK) Like the Wizard of Oz, computer scientists have largely been happy to perform their magic behind the curtain, out of public view.  However, this reticence has begun causing problems in the digital realm. “Computer scientists face the drawbacks of lacking public awareness,” wrote an international team… Read More

Astronomer Davy Kirkpatrick (Courtesy of Davy Kirkpatrick) If Davy Kirkpatrick’s calculations stand up, then Vanderbilt will have solid connections to two of the Sun’s nearest stellar neighbors. One link is long standing. Barnard’s star, which is six light years away from the Sun and its second-closest… Read More

Thomas Schwartz Thomas Schwartz, professor of history, recently responded to an interview request from a journalist in São Paulo, Brazil, about the lasting political impacts of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Professor Schwartz’s responses provide a concise overview of the lasting impact of a day… Read More

Scanning electron micrograph of a Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus colony by Perrin Ireland. Art and science are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, these two important fields of human endeavor often draw from and inspire each other. Think Leonardo da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin. A 21st century version of this cross-fertilization currently… Read More