David Cortez

Vanderbilt faculty filled the Student Life Center for the 2025 Fall Faculty Assembly on Aug. 28, listening as Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and Provost C. Cybele Raver lauded their achievements and dedication to students. Faculty Senate Chair Tyler Barrett opened this year’s assembly, encouraging the room to “Grow with Vanderbilt,” the faculty theme for the 2025–26 academic year. Read More

David Cortez, a world-renowned leader in DNA damage response and repair mechanisms and the pathophysiology of cancer, developed and applied highly creative technological approaches to identify and characterize proteins involved in DNA and genome maintenance. The Protein Society is the premier international society dedicated to supporting protein research. 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 scientists have identified 593 proteins that are enriched at sites of DNA duplication and chromatin packaging of newly synthesized DNA. Read More

Investigators have discovered how a DNA repair pathway protein shields sites of damage to avoid mutations and maintain genome integrity. Read More

David Cortez and colleagues have discovered a new DNA repair mechanism. 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

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have discovered a protein that may lead to a new way to prevent resistance and improve outcomes for patients whose cancers have mutations in the tumor suppressor gene BRCA2. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have determined that a previously uncharacterized protein responds to DNA replication stress and has an essential role in maintaining the integrity of the genome. Read More

A top Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) investigator recently met with Vice President Joe Biden regarding the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, a major national program to identify, fund and accelerate the most promising research leading to cancer cures. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered details about the mechanism of an important DNA repair protein that maintains genome stability. Read More

Telomeres – the caps on the end of chromosomes – are a source of stress for a particular protein involved in copying DNA, a new study reports. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have generated a “parts list” for the molecular machinery that duplicates DNA each time a cell divides. The research has implications for cancer therapies that target components of this machinery. Read More

Insights into the workings of DNA damage response proteins such as SMARCAL1 could suggest new ways to improve genome integrity and prevent cancer. Read More

David Cortez, Ph.D., and his Vanderbilt colleagues report new findings that shed light on fundamental processes involved in DNA replication and have implications for cancer therapies that target these processes. Read More

A new tool will allow researchers to identify proteins involved in DNA replication and damage repair, processes that go awry in cancer. Read More