Health And Medicine

Genetic analyses suggest that high circulating HDL-cholesterol levels may increase breast cancer risk — a surprising finding since increased HDL-cholesterol is thought to be healthy. Read More

An international research team has discovered a new genetic syndrome caused by mutation of a single gene and named it CATIFA, an acronym for its core symptoms. Read More

The increasingly antibiotic-resistant bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii requires zinc to cause infection, and Vanderbilt researchers have identified the zinc uptake system it uses. Read More

In Southern states that expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act, adults experienced lower rates of decline in both physical and mental health, according to a new Vanderbilt analysis. Read More

A new analysis finds that people who become overweight in midlife have significantly higher rates of obesity-linked cancers. Read More

Changes to the bone matrix that occur during aging may point to novel targets for treating osteoporosis. Read More

D. Borden Lacy and colleagues used cryo-electron microscopy to define the structure of a C. diff toxin, providing a framework for the design of novel therapeutics. Read More

Ege T. Kavalali, PhD, professor and acting chair of the Department of Pharmacology in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, has been elected a recipient of a prestigious Humboldt Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany. Read More

The Division of TennCare will partner with VUMC as part of the MOM program focusing on 26 rural and urban counties to improve the outcomes for women with opioid use disorder and their infants. Read More

When biomedical engineering major Brett Koolik first started learning piano as a child, he wasn't motivated solely by his love of music. He also wanted to figure out how a piano works. Read More

A newly identified protein interaction that affects cell cycle regulation may be an attractive target for cancer therapy. Read More

To study the dynamics of structural proteins in the heart, Vanderbilt investigators generated a cellular tool they expect will be useful for screening drugs that affect heart muscle contraction. Read More

VUMC scientists are redoubling their efforts to help people fight off bird flu. Their focus is H7N9, one of the most dangerous of the influenza viruses that have been transmitted from birds to humans. Read More

Vanderbilt neurologists have identified a protein modification that could be targeted to reduce neuronal excitability in epilepsy. Read More

A drug used to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS is showing promise as a potential therapy for Alzheimer’s disease. Read More

Antibody discovery and vaccine development research may be on the verge of rapidly expanding with data that previously took decades to acquire, thanks to LIBRA-seq, a new tool developed by Vanderbilt University researchers and their colleagues. Read More

A computational method that uses hospital billing codes and electronic health records can identify genetic disease cases before clinical teams do. Read More

Poorly functioning AMPARs have been linked to a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders including seizures, Alzheimer’s disease, major depression and autism spectrum disorder. Understanding how AMPARs are formed and operate is essential for the rational design of pharmacological compounds that, by tuning AMPAR activity up or down, could improve treatment of these conditions. Read More

The identification of a protein important for insulin synthesis may hold clues for understanding the pathogenesis of diabetes. Read More

To explore how fear becomes entrenched, VUMC researchers traveled down the precise neuronal pathways in the brains of mice that trigger fear responses, and which normally extinguish the behaviors once the danger has passed. Read More