Health And Medicine

More than half of hospitalizations due to influenza pneumonia could be prevented by influenza vaccination, according to a study led by investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Read More

The glutamine transporter protein appears to contribute to the survival of lung cancer cells, suggesting it may be a useful diagnostic biomarker and target for therapies. Read More

New findings add to the understanding of how the enzyme COX-2 works, which is critical to the development of COX-2-targeted anti-inflammatory drugs. Read More

Vanderbilt University has received a contract from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for up to $28 million over four years to help more than 4,000 clinicians in the Southeast transform their clinical practices in ways that improve quality of patient care and hold down costs. Read More

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co. and Vanderbilt University have signed a research and license agreement covering Vanderbilt’s research program and intellectual property rights related to compounds that block bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) type-I receptors. The compounds have therapeutic potential in a broad range of diseases, including rare genetic disorders. Read More

A new genetic model has generated new strategies for promoting tolerance to transplants – and improving long-term transplant outcomes – in the background of autoimmune disease. Read More

Declining use of prescription painkillers among preoperative patients seeking joint replacements indicates efforts by the state of Tennessee to tighten the spigot on opioids are beginning to have an impact, according to a study by Vanderbilt’s Andrew Shinar, M.D. Read More

Reduced-nicotine cigarettes were beneficial in reducing nicotine exposure and dependence, and also the number of cigarettes smoked per day, when compared with standard-nicotine cigarettes in a six-week study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Read More

Children with autism who participated in a 10-week, 40-hour, theatre-based program showed significant differences in social ability compared to a group of children with autism who did not participate, according to a Vanderbilt study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Read More

Disruptions in a specific signaling pathway in the brain can cause overeating of high-fat food, researchers at Vanderbilt University have found. Read More

Two survivors of a 2014 Ebola outbreak in Nigeria visited Vanderbilt University Medical Center last week to share their experiences and participate in a study aimed at finding ways to treat the often-fatal infection. Read More

To most effectively use electronic health records for research, investigators should query multiple components of the record to identify patients with specific diseases. Read More

A compound acting on serotonin receptors delays a critical step during reovirus cell entry, reducing viral infectivity. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have defined a gene expression program that controls the timing of synaptic remodeling – a process that is critical to brain development, learning and memory. Read More

A signaling factor called Wnt10b is a novel target for optimizing cardiac repair after a heart attack. Read More

The initial results of a landmark clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicate lowering systolic blood pressure below a commonly recommended target significantly reduces rates of cardiovascular events and lowers risk of death in a group of adults 50 years and older. Read More

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC) has been awarded a $6.5 million, five-year grant to continue as a national Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC). Read More

Vanderbilt University researchers have received two major federal grants — totaling $7.6 million over four years — to support groundbreaking research aimed at making genetic information a routine part of patients’ electronic medical records. Read More

Kiersten Eaddy had long looked forward to her high school graduation day and joining her classmates to celebrate the accomplishment. Read More

The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) is partnering with a public charity, Cures Within Reach, to encourage “rediscovery research,” the “repurposing” of already approved medical treatments to other conditions or diseases for which there are no “universally” effective therapies. Read More