Health and Medicine
Novel infection fighter
Jun. 13, 2018—A drug in use clinically to help make vaccines more effective may be a powerful new tool for fighting antibiotic-resistant infections.
Confronting TB resistance
Jun. 11, 2018—Vanderbilt researchers describe how certain tuberculosis treatments work and suggest these medications may overcome the threat of drug-resistant tuberculosis.
$8.1 million grant funds new center to research highly aggressive form of lung cancer
Jun. 8, 2018—A five-year National Cancer Institute grant will fund an interdisciplinary research center for the study of small cell lung cancer, a highly aggressive, incurable form of the disease.
A “public” target for HIV
Jun. 8, 2018—Common sequences of antibodies against HIV may be key to developing a successful vaccine strategy for the virus.
Enzyme protects against obesity-related heart disease
Jun. 7, 2018—Vanderbilt scientists have discovered that a certain enzyme plays a crucial role in preventing obesity-related cardiac dysfunction.
Student-run clinics may reduce hospital utilization
Jun. 7, 2018—Student-run free health clinics, a hallmark of most medical schools across the country, not only provide valuable clinical experience for the students who volunteer there, but may actually reduce hospital utilization by the patients in their care, according to a Vanderbilt study recently published in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.
New PET/CT scanner set to expand research opportunities
Jun. 7, 2018—A research-dedicated PET/CT scanner installed recently in the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science (VUIIS) will expand opportunities for Vanderbilt researchers to conduct studies of a wide range of disorders, from cancer to Alzheimer’s disease.
VU BreakThru: Leveraging quality improvement efforts to increase HPV vaccination rates in Tennessee
May. 31, 2018—Although HPV vaccination in adolescence can successfully prevent six kinds of cancer, rates in Tennessee remain relatively low, while occurrence of these cancers remains relatively high compared to the rest of the country. Pamela Hull, assistant professor of medicine, and her colleagues are conducting a study funded by the HPV ACTIVE TIPs award, in collaboration with the Cumberland Pediatric Foundation, to test a model for disseminating a web-based quality improvement coaching program to pediatric clinics.
Research reveals underappreciated role of brainstem in epilepsy
May. 31, 2018—New research from Vanderbilt suggests that repeated seizures reduce brainstem connectivity, a possible contributor to unexplained neurocognitive problems in epilepsy patients.
Team seeks to shed light on rare immune-mediated adverse drug reaction
May. 31, 2018—Thirty years ago when she was 16, Katie Niemeyer was prescribed carbamazepine for depression. Three weeks later she was in a St. Louis, Missouri, burn unit with second and third degree burns all over her body. “My parents were told the chances of me surviving were slim,” she said.
New research finds lung cancer risk drops substantially within five years of quitting smoking
May. 29, 2018—Just because you stopped smoking years ago doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods when it comes to developing lung cancer. That’s the “bad” news. The good news is your risk of lung cancer drops substantially within five years of quitting.
New method to thwart false positives in CT-lung cancer screening
May. 24, 2018—A team of investigators led by Fabien Maldonado, MD, associate professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt, and Tobias Peikert, MD, assistant professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, has identified a new technology to address false positives in CT-based lung cancer screening. The study was published in the latest issue of PLOS One.