Strategic Plan

Soldiers who served in the glaring desert sunlight of Iraq and Afghanistan returned home with an increased risk of skin cancer, due not only to the desert climate, but also a lack of sun protection, Vanderbilt dermatologist Jennifer Powers, M.D., reports in a study published recently in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. Read More

Students watched, transfixed, for nearly an hour last Friday as internationally known portrait artist Igor Babailov sketched Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Read More

Viruses, not bacteria, are the most commonly detected respiratory pathogens in U.S. adults hospitalized with pneumonia, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study released today and conducted by researchers at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and hospitals in Chicago and Nashville, including Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Read More

In his effort to develop better prosthetic limbs, Karl Zelik had to start with deciphering more clearly how muscles function in walking. His path not only led to a better way of quantifying human locomotion, but also to the discovery that muscles around the hip and in the foot are more important to walking than previously thought. Read More

A polymer hydrogel material developed by Vanderbilt scientists improved the delivery of stem cells for heart repair. Read More

The AmericasBarometer survey is the only scientifically rigorous comparative survey that covers all of North, Central, and South America, as well as a significant number of countries in the Caribbean. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a possible molecular mechanism of schizophrenia that could lead to new treatments for the disorder. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has received a five-year, $12.8 million grant from the federal government to develop better ways to predict how patients will respond to the drugs they’re given. Read More

Kathryn Edwards, M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program, has received a $307,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to study the immune responses of pregnant women who receive the Tdap (reduced-dose acellular pertussis vaccines combined with tetanus and diphtheria toxoids) vaccine. Read More

As a gastroenterologist, Christopher Lind, M.D., says he is often the “butt” of jokes, but few people truly appreciate the role the gut plays in their happiness. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University and the National University of Singapore have determined the structure of a human monoclonal antibody which, in an animal model, strongly neutralizes a type of the potentially lethal dengue virus. Read More

Eight days after the pediatric liver transplant program at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt was launched, 10-year-old Aubree Vanzant received her liver. Read More

There is a lot of discussion on the national health care front about how best to equip future physicians to care for the patients of tomorrow. Faculty at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) are right in the middle of the debate. Read More

The partnership with Fisk through the Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-PhD Bridge Program and other avenues, “presents us with an opportunity to see the results of our efforts impact an under-served community." Read More

Vanderbilt University has received a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish the Tennessee Center for AIDS Research with Meharry Medical College and the Tennessee Department of Health. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have received a $2.15 million grant to study the amount and activity of “brown fat” in adults, with the aim of understanding its role in metabolic disease and identifying new therapeutic targets. Read More

The Vanderbilt Eye Institute recently received a grant for $115,000 from Research to Prevent Blindness, placing the total award amount for unrestricted grants from the organization at $860,000. Read More

Traumatic spinal cord injuries are increasing with the population, and incidence is higher in older patients, according to a Vanderbilt study that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Read More

A new program being offered this fall through Vanderbilt University School of Medicine will offer health care professionals the opportunity to earn a master’s degree in the growing biomedical informatics field. Read More

Vanderbilt’s Department of Anesthesiology and the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) have teamed to provide anesthesiologists with new applications to improve workflow and safety practices. Read More