The Vanderbilt Story

This Week on VUCast, Vanderbilt’s weekly newscast  highlighting  research, experts, students, sports and everything Vanderbilt: A Vanderbilt doctor’s amazing surgery lands on “Grey’s Anatomy” Scientists create a breakthrough bug repellant A Vandy minister’s actions honored by the White House   [vucastblurb]  … Read More

Talk to people who know David Merryman best, and one adjective is heard frequently: passionate. Talk to Merryman yourself and it is easy to see why. Discussing his research, the assistant professor of biomedical engineering seems ready to leap out of his chair at any moment, perhaps to tweak the… Read More

Sarah Barr, senior Child Studies major, Spanish minor On campus activities: AXO, Vice President of Vanderbilt Performing Arts Council, member of Green Dots committee, Reformed University Fellowship music team, VUcept Claim to fame: Singer/songwriter    … Read More

This Week on VUCast, Vanderbilt’s weekly newscast highlighting research, experts, students, sports and everything Vanderbilt: Occupy Wall Street: A historical look at the new protest movement A cool way to learn how your brain really works with “Brain Matters” See the best of Memorial Madness! [vucastblurb]… Read More

The Yellow Ribbon Program is helping veterans and their family members pursue education (Joe Howell/Vanderbilt) For Erin Gardiner, the decision to pursue a career in medicine was forged on the battlefield. As the executive officer for an Army surgical team stationed in Seoul, South Korea, Gardiner worked with an… Read More

Bruce Morrill researches the enigma of suffering Bruce Morrill, the Edward A. Malloy Chair of Catholic Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School. (John Russell/Vanderbilt) Consider a young mother. Say she is a practicing Christian, stricken with inoperable cancer and has six painful months to a year to live. Is God… Read More

This Week on VUCast: A shark attack victim inspires a bionic breakthrough; why political prices are going up; and making a cappella cool. [vucastblurb]    … Read More

Not many teenagers would attempt to write a two-act chamber opera based on Shakespeare’s play The Winter’s Tale. But that’s exactly what 16-year-old Amy Thompson has been doing for more than a year. “It’s been a long, drawn-out project, but I hope to finish it by the end of the… Read More

This Week on VUCast: How sticky mittens could help kids with autism A new toolkit to make doctor’s visits easier May the force be with us… See Yoda’s ties to Vanderbilt It’s all in this week’s VUCast —… Read More

In college, Ashley Rowatt Karpinos, M.D., was an elite athlete, one of the best NCAA swimmers in the country. She says the dedication and work ethic she brought to the pool continues to serve her as she seeks an unorthodox combination of specialties in her medical career. Sure, the uniforms… Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have made substantial progress in developing potential new treatments for Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and fragile X syndrome, the most common genetic form of autism. Read More

Fields medalist brings informal style to Vanderbilt Vaughan Jones (Joe Howell/Vanderbilt) When Vaughan Jones was 5 years old, he made his first mathematical discovery. “I was learning the addition tables and realized that if one plus one equals two, then 100 plus 100 must equal 200 – something that… Read More

New center director explores connections between humanities and medicine Jonathan Metzl (John Russell/Vanderbilt) Jonathan Metzl was born into medicine but is drawn to the humanities. He’s still insisting on having it both ways. The new director of Vanderbilt’s Center for Medicine, Health and Society is the son… Read More

Religious scholar’s journey takes him from Millersburg to Bangladesh Tony Stewart (John Russell/Vanderbilt) Tony Stewart performed an experiment when he arrived on the Vanderbilt campus. “I asked everyone I ran into for directions to Religious Studies,” he said. “Without exception, they told me how to get to… Read More

Anthropologist explores modern Africa and black immigrant experience in America Jemima Pierre (Joe Howell/Vanderbilt) In her interactions with black immigrants over the years, Jemima Pierre said she discovered a surprising sentiment. “They told me, ‘I never knew I was black until I came to the U.S.’ I found that… Read More

Interfacial scientist thrives on moment of discovery Erin Rericha (Lauren Owens/Vanderbilt) Erin Rericha considers herself an interfacial scientist. The new assistant professor of physics explained that she has “a bit of a split personality.” “I am trained as a condensed matter physicist,” she said, “and I spent… Read More

Law professor sees progress where environmental and economic good meets J.B. Ruhl (courtesy of Vanderbilt University Law School) Environmental law and property law expert J.B. Ruhl said he considers himself part of the “radical middle” when it comes to helping craft solutions to controversial environmental issues. “Sometimes you need… Read More

Bioengineer builds robotics to make medical procedures easier Pietro Valdastri (John Russell/Vanderbilt) The prospect of a colonoscopy is about as unwelcome as a root canal, so it’s no surprise that it’s difficult to convince people to get regular screenings for colon cancer. But what if you could replace this… Read More

Political scientist looks at elections and why they matter Larry Bartels (John Russell/Vanderbilt) Larry Bartels, arguably the most influential political scientist of his generation, is fascinated with democracy – how it really works, who has the most influence and why the presidential primary election process has propelled one-time dark… Read More

Vanderbilt’s EAP helps employees find balance in their work and lives Ellen Clark (Susan Urmy/Vanderbilt) Ellen Clark’s first day on the job at Vanderbilt is stamped on her memory. It’s likely stamped on your memory, too. Clark, a licensed clinical social worker, had an official start date of… Read More