Department of Medicine
Philip’s liver cancer research receives V Foundation support
Dec. 13, 2018—The grant will support Mary Philip's research to develop an organoid model — a miniature cell model of a functioning organ — of the liver to enable three-dimensional observation of immune-cancer interactions at the single-cell level at the earliest stages of cancer development.
Immunotherapies linked to specific heart complications
Nov. 16, 2018—In the first large-scale analysis of cardiovascular complications linked to immune checkpoint inhibitors, Vanderbilt researchers have identified several of the conditions that arise and have determined that they usually appear early in treatment.
Probing the pathology of impaired cognition
Oct. 26, 2018—A new link between a support protein within the brain's white matter and known Alzheimer's biomarkers discovered by Angela Jefferson and colleagues bring researchers a step toward earlier and more precise detection of neuropathology underlying cognitive impairment that may lead to new targeted therapies
Novel genetic study sheds new light on risk of heart attack
Oct. 11, 2018—Loss of a protein that regulates mitochondrial function can greatly increase the risk of a heart attack, report Eric Gamazon, Sandra Zinkel and graduate students Christie Salisbury-Ruf and Clinton Bertram in new research.
Stretch, inflammation and hypertension
Oct. 4, 2018—New research by David Harrison and colleagues sheds light on how changes in mechanical forces in the aorta enhance immune cell activation thus promoting hypertension.
Study reveals new targets to inhibit pulmonary fibrosis
Oct. 4, 2018—An international team led by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center sheds new light on the cause of pulmonary fibrosis and demonstrates a way to impede the disease.
Cancer Moonshot award to help map tumor progression
Sep. 27, 2018—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.
Diabetes drug may prevent liver cancer
Sep. 21, 2018—A new study by Harvey Murff finds that diabetics who take metformin have lower rates of liver cancer than those who take other diabetes drugs.
New histoplasmosis risk map
Sep. 21, 2018—Stephen Deppen and colleagues have developed an updated map showing new areas of increased risk for a common lung infection.
Study tracks incidence, timing of immunotherapy-related deaths
Sep. 13, 2018—Researchers led by melanoma researcher Douglas Johnson have answered questions about the incidence and timing of rare but sometimes fatal reactions to the most widely prescribed class of immunotherapies.
Research reveals link between immunity, diabetes
Sep. 13, 2018—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.
Using light to fight GVHD
Aug. 30, 2018—Vanderbilt researchers have discovered new insights into the treatment of chronic graft-versus-host-disease, a complication of bone marrow and stem cell transplants.