Basic Sciences
New faculty Rick Sando: A better understanding of brain circuitry
Oct. 26, 2020—New Assistant Professor of Pharmacology Rick Sando is interested in how neural circuits carry out specific functions when activated—and why these processes sometimes go awry.
Interdisciplinary melanoma research brings understanding of cellular resistance to cancer treatment, opening doors to new cures
Oct. 21, 2020—Drug-tolerant persister cells–those that survive cancer treatment–found to rely on similar survival mechanisms across cancers, in a groundbreaking study led by Vanderbilt researchers.
Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery names Craig Lindsley as director
Oct. 20, 2020—Craig Lindsley, the William K. Warren, Jr. Chair and University Professor of Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Chemistry, will become director of Vanderbilt University’s Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, effective Dec. 1, 2020.
Three from Vanderbilt elected to the National Academy of Medicine
Oct. 20, 2020—Three Vanderbilt faculty members—Nancy Carrasco, Velma McBride Murry and Consuelo Wilkins—have been elected this year to the National Academy of Medicine, the organization announced on Monday.
Preserving gut mucus architecture
Oct. 20, 2020—A new method that keeps microbes and gut cells together will be useful for studies of complex host-microbe interactions and for analysis of clinical specimens.
Discovery Sciences Emerging Scholars Lecture features Princeton’s McReynolds Oct. 29
Oct. 19, 2020—Melanie McReynolds, HHMI Hanna H. Gray Fellow at Princeton University, will present “NAD+ Flux is Maintained in Aged Mice” on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 9:30 a.m. via Zoom. This Discovery Sciences Emerging Scholars Lecture is co-sponsored by the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics.
Vanderbilt researchers make counterintuitive discoveries about immune-like characteristics of cells, chemotherapy’s impact on tissue growth
Oct. 15, 2020—Biologists reveal that tissue perturbations by chemotherapy agents promote stem cell expansion and that fibroblast cells exhibit unexpected, immune-like behavior.
Possible COVID-19 “decoy”
Oct. 15, 2020—It might be possible to use vesicles carrying the receptor for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to bind the virus and prevent infection.
Brain blood vessel response to hypoxia
Oct. 15, 2020—The brain’s response to low oxygen — growth and remodeling of blood vessels — involves certain cell types and molecular pathways, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.
Cohen Fund bolsters Siciliano’s memory research
Sep. 24, 2020—Cody Siciliano, PhD, assistant professor of Pharmacology in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, has been selected to receive a one-year, $100,000 research award from the Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund to support his studies of the neural substrates of memory.
Gould appointed senior associate dean in Basic Sciences
Sep. 4, 2020—Kathleen Gould, Louise B. McGavock Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, has been named senior associate dean for biomedical research, education and career development.
New clue to Alzheimer’s disease
Sep. 3, 2020—Combining studies of genetically diverse mouse populations and human data led to the identification of a gene associated with cognitive decline and brain changes in Alzheimer’s disease.