Health And Medicine

Three Vanderbilt University Medical Center faculty members have been awarded grants from the American Health Assistance Foundation to support their research on glaucoma and macular degeneration — the two leading causes of irreversible blindness in the world. Read More

Middle Tennessee’s latest celebrities are the 11-and-12-year-old Little League U.S. World Series Champions from Goodlettesville. But one young player already had quite a fan base built up at a Vanderbilt pediatric diabetes clinic, where he has been a patient most of his life. Luke Brown and his family are also… Read More

New therapeutic target for angiosarcoma – an aggressive, highly fatal tumor of the blood vessels – identified. Read More

The respiratory virus HMPV uses its fusion (F) protein – which interacts with cellular receptors called integrins – to bind to and enter target cells. Read More

Despite studies that show that many adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorders are being prescribed medications, there is almost no evidence to show whether these medications are helpful in this population. Read More

Vanderbilt University and Bristol-Myers Squibb have signed a collaboration agreement for the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies acting on the mGluR4 glutamate receptor, known as positive allosteric modulators, or PAMs, for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Read More

A protein associated with aggressive breast cancers may also influence resistance of lung cancer to targeted therapies. Read More

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center’s gastrointestinal Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) has been awarded its third round of funding by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Read More

The protein Syk is essential for clearing away neuron “corpses” in the developing peripheral nervous system. Read More

An analysis of Massachusetts’ health care reform program by a Vanderbilt researcher indicates insurance gaps may remain as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) expands insurance coverage beginning in 2014. Read More

A transcription factor called LIP is capable of causing one cell to consume another. Read More

Dysfunction or loss of an “antioxidant” enzyme may lead to higher risk for esophageal cancer in patients with gastric reflux disease. Read More

Deep brain stimulation used to treat Parkinson’s disease may impair some aspects of language processing, a recent study suggests. Read More

Pregnant women who have had prior preterm births may avoid a subsequent early birth if given progestogens, which are natural or synthetic forms of progesterone, a female hormone that naturally increases during pregnancy, a Vanderbilt analysis shows. Read More

This month BioVU logged in its 150,000th unique genetic sample. It is now the world’s largest collection of human DNA linked to searchable, electronic health information. Read More

Inhibitory neurons that connect and regulate signaling in the brain (interneurons) may contribute to epilepsy and autism in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex. Read More

The Silvio O. Conte Center for Neuroscience Research at Vanderbilt has received a $10.5 million federal grant to continue its groundbreaking research on serotonin signaling in the brain for another five years. Read More

The director of Vanderbilt’s DNA databank will discuss the possibilities of personalized medicine in the first Chancellor’s Lecture of the academic year. Read More

Racial differences exist in quality surgical care, new research from VICC finds. Read More

The spinal cord’s neuropeptide Y signaling pathway may be a good target for new pain therapeutics. Read More