Department of Medicine

Closeup shot of an African American man testing his blood sugar level

Race, hormones and diabetes risk

Apr. 8, 2020—Variation in the levels of hormones called natriuretic peptides may contribute to racial differences in susceptibility to diabetes, suggesting that this hormone system may be a target for reducing risk of the disease.

A Latino grandfather sitting on an outdoor sofa surrounded by his sons and grandsons

Study reveals an inherited origin of prostate cancer in families

Apr. 8, 2020—Vanderbilt researchers have identified haplotypes, ancestral fragments of DNA, that are associated with hereditary prostate cancer in a first-of-its-kind genomic study made possible by the study of prostate cancer patients with family histories of the disease.

Assorted meat and sausage on grill with the coals, cooking outdoors, weekend concept

Meat intake and colorectal polyps

Mar. 9, 2020—Red and processed meat intakes are strongly associated with increased risk of sessile serrated polyps, which are not as well studied as conventional adenomas.

Athletic fair skinned woman with brown hair striking a heavy bag with boxing gloves on

One-two punch for cancer

Mar. 5, 2020—A drug combination effectively killed aggressive blood cancers in cell and animal models; now it’s being tested in patients.

Study finds certain genetic test not useful in predicting heart disease risk

Feb. 27, 2020—A Polygenic Risk Score — a genetic assessment that doctors have hoped could predict coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients — has been found not to be a useful predictive biomarker for disease risk.

effervescent heartburn tablet fizzing in clear glass of water

Potential new heartburn drug studied at VUMC

Feb. 26, 2020—An investigational drug that binds bile acids in the stomach can reduce the severity of heartburn symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) when combined with a proton pump inhibitor (PPI), a new study suggests.

Post-transplant diabetes may be reversible: study

Feb. 20, 2020—Post-transplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM), a common complication of immunosuppressive drugs that are given to prevent transplant rejection, may be reversible and at least partially preventable, researchers at VUMC report.

Helicobacter Pylori bacterium, medical illustration pathogenic microorganism in human stomach

Powering H. pylori pathogenesis

Feb. 6, 2020—Timothy Cover and colleagues report new insights into the sources of energy used by a bacterial “machine” linked to the pathogenesis of stomach cancer.

head-on underwater photo of caucasian male snorkeling and making heart shape with hands

Team tracks integrin’s role in lung function

Feb. 6, 2020—Beta-1 integrin, a critical component of epithelial extracellular matrix receptors, is essential for normal lung function in adulthood, researchers at VUMC have discovered.

Asian senior woman with cancer holds her granddaughter tightly in her lap. Grandma is wearing a headscarf and smiling. (A beautiful ethnic senior woman with cancer holds her granddaughter tightly in her lap. Grandma is wearing a headscarf

HDL-cholesterol and breast cancer risk

Jan. 23, 2020—Genetic analyses suggest that high circulating HDL-cholesterol levels may increase breast cancer risk — a surprising finding since increased HDL-cholesterol is thought to be healthy.

DNA helix with a piece cut off and set to the side

Vanderbilt-led team discovers new genetic disease and defines underlying mechanism

Jan. 13, 2020—An international research team has discovered a new genetic syndrome caused by mutation of a single gene and named it CATIFA, an acronym for its core symptoms.

Doctor's hands touching virtual reality diagram of heart on glass screen

Protein dynamics in the beating heart

Dec. 16, 2019—To study the dynamics of structural proteins in the heart, Vanderbilt investigators generated a cellular tool they expect will be useful for screening drugs that affect heart muscle contraction.