Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
A compound to counteract aging?
Apr. 29, 2021—A compound that increases lifespan in yeast is offering clues to pharmacological approaches that might slow the aging process and improve health.
Class of 2021: Interdisciplinary teamwork in the lab leads Ph.D. student to job with biotech giant
Apr. 9, 2021—After graduating with a Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology from the Vanderbilt School of Medicine Basic Sciences, Alissa Guarnaccia will begin a rare postdoctoral research position with health care biotechnology giant Genentech.
Genetic clues in eye birth defect
Feb. 18, 2021—Sabine Fuhrmann and colleagues have discovered a novel underlying cause of coloboma — a birth defect that causes missing tissue in the eye and accounts for up to 10% of childhood blindness.
Trans-institutional collaboration receives $2 million BRAIN Initiative grant, developing brain organoids to map neurological development
Feb. 1, 2021—Researchers will combine expertise in developmental cell biology and tissue engineering/microfluidics to develop highly complex organoids, with the goal of understanding currently incurable neurological disorders.
A protein that can melt tumors discovered at Vanderbilt
Jan. 27, 2021—For the second time, cancer researchers at Vanderbilt have discovered a protein that—when genetically manipulated to impede it from interacting with a gene responsible for cancer genesis—effectively melts tumors in days.
Cell and Developmental Biology hosts weekly seminar series
Jan. 22, 2021—The Department of Cell and Developmental Biology hosts a weekly seminar series most Mondays at 12:15 p.m. CT via Zoom. The weekly seminars are on cutting-edge topics in cell or developmental biology as well as stem cell and epithelial biology. Visiting speakers are invited from a variety of institutions throughout the U.S.
WIN for blocking cancer growth
Jan. 21, 2021—William Tansey and colleagues identified proteins that interact with the cancer drug target WDR5 and are important for cancer cell growth.
Vanderbilt microscopist receives Chan Zuckerberg Initiative grant to expand access to imaging technologies
Dec. 2, 2020—Bryan Millis, research assistant professor of cell and developmental biology and biomedical engineering, has been awarded a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Imaging Scientists program. The proceeds will go toward building an immersive virtual education platform to expand instruction and accessibility of high-end microscopy techniques within and beyond the Vanderbilt research community.
New therapeutic target for lung cancer
Nov. 12, 2020—Vanderbilt researchers have identified a new molecular partner — and potential therapeutic target — in a signaling axis that drives lung cancer.
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.
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.
Factor involved in stomach injury response identified
Oct. 15, 2020—Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have identified a key factor that coordinates the body’s repair response to severe injury in the stomach caused, most commonly, by infection by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori.