Arts And Science Research

With colleagues from Meharry Medical College, Tuskegee University and the World Health Organization, T.S. Harvey and Ted Fischer will examine the manifold contributions of the cultural context of health to emerging and persistent health inequalities. Read More

María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Art, has been awarded a 2023 MacArthur Fellowship for her work exploring personal and collective histories across the Caribbean. Read More

Quantum Potential is a collection of wild but precise portraits of the scholars, scientists and students at Vanderbilt who are finding new ways to understand the world—and change it. A premiere event will take place Oct. 11 at 6 p.m., including a screening of two short films, behind-the-scenes discussions and an immersive performance. The event is open the general public; registration is required. Read More

Widespread trust in vaccines often leads to higher vaccination rates, but vaccine shortages can deter even those with confidence in vaccines. Furthermore, while vaccine mandates can create an appearance of universal vaccination, people may remain hesitant, resulting in lower compliance than anticipated. Read More

Aging stars expand and eventually destroy planets in their inner systems. Or do they? A team of researchers that includes Keivan Stassun finds evidence of a planet that survived its star’s transformation, and that is reshaping our understanding of planetary and stellar evolution. Read More

Nicole Creanza and Yakov Pichkar explore whether subtle cultural differences within a language mirror genetic structure within a population. The answer: Even small cultural differences like dialect can influence the spread of people and genes. Read More

Vanderbilt astrophysicist Karan Jani helped prove Einstein's theory of relativity as it relates to black holes and gravitational waves. Learn how he's using his expertise to teach undergrads with diverse majors who are eager to learn about space. Read More

Thirteen outstanding faculty members from across the university have been selected for the 2023 cohort of Chancellor Faculty Fellows. The group is composed of highly accomplished, recently tenured faculty from a wide variety of disciplines and areas of expertise.   Read More

The cultural evolution of a population depends not only on size but also on the degree of specialization within a population, according to a new study published last month by a team of scientists including Nicole Creanza. The study found that populations can increase their cultural repertoire by subdividing knowledge into smaller groups, but the total group must be sufficiently large for specialization to be advantageous. Read More

A new study led by members of Ann Tate’s lab found evidence that pleiotropy may slow down evolution of genes involved in immunity. Read More

Graduate student Reese Martin and his doctoral advisor, Ann Tate, assistant professor of biological sciences, used theoretical modeling to identify a potential relationship between genetic pleiotropy and the evolution of immune responses. Read More

Sarah Worthan, along with Robert McCarthy and Megan Behringer, led a new effort to understand the effects of the environment on the outcome of experimental evolution studies. Read More

Stephen Ferguson, first-author of a new paper with his postdoctoral advisor, Laurence Zwiebel, along with two undergraduates associated with the lab, Isaac Bakis and Nicholas Edwards, confirmed the existence of a specialized soldier caste within an ant species. Read More

By Jenna Somers Cynthia Brame, Heather Johnson, Cristina Zepeda Vanderbilt researchers in the College of Arts and Science and Peabody College of education and human development recently received a three-year grant exceeding $280,000 from the National Science Foundation to collaborate on a study aimed at improving equity… Read More

Growing worries among Grundy County, Tennessee, residents about cancer outbreaks within families, churches and neighborhoods have propelled a community partnership drawing on Vanderbilt University’s strengths to develop environmental and health self-assessment tools. Read More

A submarine volcanic eruption in the Kingdom of Tonga sheds light on volcanic behavior and new ways to understand the impact of volcanoes on climate. Est. reading time: 2.5 mins. Read More

For his work on zoonotic threat mitigation, Lars Plate was awarded $50,000 from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Read More

Researchers in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine have received three grants totaling $13.6 million from the National Institutes of Health to develop molecular “atlases” of the brain, kidney, eye and other tissues. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have developed an active machine learning approach to predict the effects of tumor variants of unknown significance, or VUS, on sensitivity to chemotherapy. Characterizing VUS can maximize clinical care and precision medicine for each patient. Read More

Keivan Stassun, Stevenson Professor of Physics and Astronomy and director of the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, is a co-author of the study “Increasing Diversity and Inclusion in the Leadership of Competed Space Missions.” The report will be published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on May 18. Read More