Health And Medicine

Doctors formerly had to extract the malaria parasite’s DNA first, virtually impossible to do in rural, low-resource areas. Read More

Understanding how a steroid-metabolizing enzyme binds to its substrates may aid in designing drugs to treat sexual dysfunction as well as prostate cancer. Read More

Scott Baldwin and colleagues have discovered early signaling events during heart development, findings that could guide cell replacement therapies for heart disease. Read More

VUMC has joined an international effort to streamline and accelerate development of vaccines and other treatments against a growing worldwide surge of deadly and debilitating viral infections. Read More

Microbial species in the mouth could be playing a role in colorectal cancer development, according to new research from epidemiologists at VUMC. Read More

A new study published in Neurology reports the drug trofinetide has proven safe and effective in treating core symptoms of Rett syndrome in female children and adolescents. Read More

A study from Vanderbilt’s Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society is bringing renewed focus on the concept of comprehension of informed consent for research purposes. Read More

Vanderbilt University researchers have discovered how a protein pump distinguishes between chemicals that it will expel from a cell and inhibitors that block its action. The new findings could guide the development of more efficient inhibitors to prevent cancer cell resistance to chemotherapy. Read More

Vanderbilt's inaugural Alzheimer’s Disease Research Day drew more than 100 attendees to hear faculty lectures on subjects ranging from diet to brain modeling, take in short “data blitzes” on individual areas of research, and visit a 35-station poster session. Read More

The flu mutates so quickly that we need a new vaccine every year, but Vanderbilt scientists have found a vulnerable part of the virus that doesn't mutate as much. Read More

Seasonal light exposure during pregnancy had effects on serotonin and depression that persisted into adulthood in mice. Read More

Basement membranes are important structural and functional components of tissues. New research provides insight into how they repair themselves. Read More

New findings may speed progress toward programming cells to rebuild damaged hearts more quickly. Read More

New research by School of Nursing professor Sheila Ridner finds that a special scan measuring lymphatic fluid volume is significantly better than a tape measure at predicting which women undergoing treatment for breast cancer are at risk of developing a common complication resulting from damaged lymph nodes. Read More

Mary Jo Gilmer is piloting new research into the effectiveness of therapy dogs in reducing the anxiety of children with cancer. Read More

Postdoctoral scholars Samantha Yohn and Anneke Sanders and ophthalmology professor Rebecca Sappington were honored by the Graduate School at the 13th Annual Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Association Symposium on April 9. Read More

Benign lesions caused by a common fungus can mimic those caused by cancer in the lungs. A Vanderbilt research team is on the hunt for a non-invasive way for doctors to tell the two diseases apart. Read More

Asian countries are in the early stages of a tobacco smoking epidemic with habits mirroring those of the United States from past decades, setting the stage for a spike in future deaths from smoking-related diseases. Read More

Using a unique computational framework they developed, a team of scientist cyber-sleuths in the Vanderbilt University Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute has identified 104 high-risk genes for schizophrenia. Read More

A team of researchers from Vanderbilt University’s schools of law, medicine and management has received a five-year research grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the Department of Health and Human Services to develop and test “safe harbor” standards of care based on scientific evidence. Read More