Basic Sciences

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. Read More

Tina Iverson and colleagues provide a structural view into the assembly of a protein machine essential for cellular energy production. Read More

Excess dietary salt activates immune cells to induce inflammation and hypertension, supporting current recommendations for low sodium consumption. Read More

Vanderbilt scientists have discovered a new target for normalizing tumor blood vessels to improve cancer immunotherapies. Read More

While 60 percent of people with metastatic melanoma, an aggressive type of skin cancer, have multiple treatment options available to them, roughly 40 percent either do not respond to treatment, or relapse. Read More

Deborah Lannigan and colleagues identify a key regulator of the estrogen receptor and suggest that its downregulation by oral contraceptives may increase oxidative stress and DNA damage, a common cause of cancer. Read More

The VBI recently marked its 20th anniversary, a span that has seen the institute’s wide-ranging missions—including administering the university’s Neuroscience Graduate Program, as well as postdoctoral training and community outreach—steadily coalesce under a single umbrella. Read More

Assistant Professor of Pharmacology Cody Siciliano has been awarded the Fay/Frank Seed Grant from the Brain Research Foundation and the Alkermes Pathways Research Award from the biopharmaceutical company Alkermes. Both awards support early-stage researchers pursuing high-risk, high-impact innovative research so that their work may become competitive for NIH grants and other types of funding in the future. Read More

"Vestigo," a new publication by the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, provides an in-depth view of research happening in the Vanderbilt community, highlights trainee accomplishments and celebrates the success of Basic Sciences faculty.  Read More

A cellular RNA quality control mechanism was known to restrict replication of RNA viruses. Vanderbilt researchers have discovered it is also antiviral against DNA viruses. Read More

Terunaga Nakagawa and the Vanderbilt Brain Institute discover new qualities of GSG1L, responsible for activity in the anterior thalamus. Read More

As the new academic year gets underway, Vanderbilt’s faculty heads of house are revealing some things about themselves in this special portrait series. Get to know Alyssa Hasty, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and faculty head of Murray House. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have identified and characterized inhibitors of an enzyme that synthesizes lipid signaling molecules with roles in energy balance, inflammation and addiction. Read More

Vanderbilt cell biologists are defining the factors that help beta cells in the pancreas stay healthy, secrete insulin and prevent diabetes initiation and progression. Read More

Being a biomedical scientist has served Interim Chancellor and Provost Susan R. Wente well as she’s led the university through “a rapid succession of significant decisions” since the first reports of COVID-19. Read More

A single mutation in one gene can impair inhibitory signaling in the brain and cause multiple types of seizures and behavioral abnormalities. Read More

After discovering a new mechanism for DNA damage repair last year, Vanderbilt biochemists now provide direct evidence for how it works. Read More

Vanderbilt cell biologists have developed an unbiased, quantitative framework for evaluating single-cell data. Read More

Vanderbilt University’s Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery has entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing and collaboration agreement with San Diego-based ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. to develop treatments for disorders like Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia. Read More

Craig Lindsley, William K. Warren, Jr. Chair in Medicine and university professor of biochemistry, chemistry and pharmacology, has been named interim editor-in-chief of the journal "ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science." Read More