Health And Medicine

Eleven current Vanderbilt University faculty members, 10 of whom are investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, are included in the 2024 list of “Highly Cited Researchers” around the world whose papers have been cited most frequently by other scientists. Read More

Researchers at the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, a clinical stage biotech within the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences, have detailed the successful drug discovery of a Phase I Single Ascending Dose clinical trial of VU319, a drug for memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. Read More

Researchers from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences have uncovered the first example of activity-dependent development of hypothalamic neural circuitry. Read More

The lab of Hassane Mchaourab, director of the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence in Protein Dynamics and professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, has developed a methodological blueprint that couples experimental double electron–electron resonance spectroscopy with an AI approach to help describe the conformational landscapes of a diverse spectrum of cell membrane transporters. Read More

Jens Meiler, Distinguished Research Professor of Chemistry, was named the principal investigator for the project, in cooperation with 14 investigators across eight institutions. The team will work together to use advanced technology, including computational modeling, AI-driven predictions and structural biology, to develop a groundbreaking vaccine against all alphaviruses that offers long-lasting protection. Read More

A series of three recently published studies have provided the first nationally comprehensive analysis of shootings by law enforcement officers that injured or killed people in the U.S. Led by Julie Ward, assistant professor of medicine, health, and so... Read More

A person’s native language is often referred to as their “mother tongue.” But does a first language always come from your mother? In a new study conducted by Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Nicole Creanza, postdoctoral student Yakov Pichkar,... Read More

Yi Ren’s most recent paper, published in eLife, describes the structure of a protein complex involved in mRNA export that sheds light on the underlying molecular mechanism of mRNA export and the role it plays during infection by herpes viruses. Read More

Vanderbilt engineering professor Xiaoguang Dong is leading a team of researchers that has developed a system of artificial cilia capable of monitoring mucus conditions in human airways to better detect infection, airway obstruction, or the severity of diseases like cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and lung cancer. Read More

A recent study conducted by Vanderbilt chemistry professors Sandy Rosenthal and Oleg Kovtun found that people experiencing depressed states had lower daytime activity, and people’s daytime activity increased with longer days and more sun exposure. Read More

Led by Craig W. Lindsley, Vanderbilt drug discovery experts set out to develop a backup drug candidate to improve memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Read More

Peter Embí, professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics, is among 100 newly elected members of the National Academy of Medicine, the organization announced this week. Read More

A team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center will address the concerns and hopes surrounding health-related AI chatbots with the aid of a two-year funding award of up to $7.3 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). Read More

In 2024 the National Institutes of Health awarded Sando a New Innovator Award, part of their High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. This award, which provides $1,500,000 over five years, supports early-career scientists proposing innovative and impactful research that might not get funded in the traditional peer-review process due to its inherent risk. Read More

A team of Vanderbilt researchers has developed a novel tool in the detection and analysis of structural variants in human genomes that could potentially transform genomic analysis and precision medicine. Read More

A new study led by Andre Bastos, assistant professor of psychology, found that animal subjects under general anesthesia were unable to detect moderate and complex surprises. This discovery deepens the understanding about the nature of consciousness and how it arises. Read More

Erin Calipari, director of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research and associate professor of pharmacology and molecular physiology and biophysics, has been recognized with the Society for Neuroscience’s 2024 Jacob P. Waletzky award. Read More

Christian de Caestecker, a Ph.D. student in the lab of Ian Macara, Louise B. McGavock Professor and chair of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, has proposed and validated a mechanism that addresses a decades-old mystery surrounding epithelial cells. Read More

Carterra Inc. and the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences announced the addition of the Carterra LSAXT label-free interaction analysis platform to the Center for Structural Biology. Vanderbilt and Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers will be able to discover and characterize large molecules including antibodies. Read More

Amanda Linkous, research associate professor of pharmacology, has been awarded a research grant from the Merck Research Laboratories Scientific Engagement and Emerging Discovery Science (SEEDS) program to identify therapeutic intervention points to prevent the colonization and proliferation of small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer in the lung and brain. Read More