Basic Sciences

A trans-institutional team of researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt University has received an $11 million Cancer Moonshot grant to build a single-cell resolution atlas to map out the routes that benign colonic polyps take to progress to colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer among both men and women in the United States. Read More

Research led by Matthew Tyska gives new insight into the formation of the lining of the gut that helps us absorb nutrients and guard against illness. Read More

An immune cell called CD8+ is supposed to attack disease, but it can also contribute to inflammation, which can lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Read More

Kasey Vickers has developed a new analytical method for to study small RNAs, a poorly understood component of the genome. Read More

New research by an international team that includes Vanderbilt researchers shows how a common diabetes drug blocks glucose production by the liver, suggesting new avenues for treatment. Read More

There’s promise in specific immune system peptides—amino acid compounds that signal cells how to function. In this case, they may be affecting brain activity and, by extension, drug cravings. Read More

James Galligan and Lawrence Marnett have discovered a new histone modification that can affect gene expression. Read More

A newly discovered role for the "Sonic the Hedgehog" protein in the proper development of the cerebellum. Read More

A $1 million gift has established a new faculty chair within the School of Medicine’s Basic Sciences that is named in honor of the late biochemist Richard Armstrong. Read More

New research by Masoud Ghamari-Langroudi and colleagues has revealed that a certain brain protein called MC3R plays a role in causing the body to reset its "ideal" weight. Read More

Modern statistical tools are not very accurate when it comes to predicting the discrete and non-symmetric behaviors of individual cells. Gregor Neuert and colleagues say that's because the wrong tools are being used. Read More

New research by Andrea Page-McCaw shows that a membrane that wraps around most animal tissues can heal within 24 hours, but does leave a scar. Read More

David Cortez and colleagues have found that a protein called RADX helps modulate a protein called RAD51 in order to make sure exactly the correct amount of DNA repair occurs. Read More

The Office of Biomedical Research Education and Training hosted the 16th annual Student Research Symposium, the culmination of more than 100 undergraduate students’ summer research experiences as part of the elite Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy. Read More

The process, discovered in the axons of neurons, is implicated in Alzheimer’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, traumatic brain injury and other diseases or injuries to the nervous system. Read More

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has awarded 2018 Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study—created to ensure that a diverse and highly trained workforce is prepared to assume leadership roles in the sciences—to three Vanderbilt University doctoral students and their advisers. Read More

In new research, Hassane Mchaourab and colleagues have uncovered new insights into drug resistance that could lead to the development of new anti-cancer and antibacterial drugs. Read More

Chronic inflammation is a predisposing condition for colorectal cancer, the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Anna Means, Ph.D., and colleagues have now linked inflammation-driven carcinogenesis in the colon to loss of an important signaling protein called SMAD4. Read More

Lipid molecules that bind to HDL can modify its function — and blocking that modification can protect HDL and potentially lower the risk of atherosclerosis and heart disease. Read More

Vanderbilt University’s Dan Roden, MD, internationally known for his contributions to understanding how genetic variation affects drug response, has been named a recipient of the 2018 Louis and Artur Lucian Award for Research in Circulatory Diseases by McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Read More