Department Of Pharmacology

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

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have used high-throughput robotic technology to rapidly study and classify variations in a gene linked to heart rhythm disorders and cardiac conditions. Read More

Danny Winder and colleagues are teasing apart the actions of neurotransmitter receptors in a brain region linked to anxiety and addiction, with a goal of finding treatments for substance use disorders. Read More

Sean Davies and colleagues are exploring lipid aldehydes produced during oxidative stress and their contribution to HDL dysfunction and atherosclerosis. Read More

Ege T. Kavalali, PhD, professor and acting chair of the Department of Pharmacology in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, has been elected a recipient of a prestigious Humboldt Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany. Read More

A newly identified protein interaction that affects cell cycle regulation may be an attractive target for cancer therapy. Read More

Researchers at VUMC have taken a major step that could ultimately facilitate development of a new class of antidepressants which may relieve symptoms more rapidly and effectively and with fewer side effects than current medications. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have linked genetic mutations in a single receptor to epilepsy, autism and intellectual disability. Read More

Vanderbilt University’s F. Peter (Fred) Guengerich, PhD, and Elaine Sanders-Bush, PhD, are among 22 prominent scientists named this week to the inaugural class of fellows of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). Read More

Engineered bacteria that produce beneficial compounds — and that could potentially be administered in foods like yogurt — may be a future treatment for obesity and other chronic diseases. Read More

A first-of-its-kind mouse model may help reveal mechanistic underpinnings for the altered behaviors of autism spectrum disorder. Read More

Vanderbilt Eye Institute researchers have discovered that an imbalance in the ionic environment of retinal ganglion cells may contribute to functional impairments in glaucoma. Read More

Postdoctoral scholars Samantha Yohn and Anneke Sanders and ophthalmology professor Rebecca Sappington were honored by the Graduate School at the 13th Annual Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Association Symposium on April 9. Read More

Vsevolod Gurevich and colleagues have discovered new insights into arrestin proteins, which turn off a cell's environmental message "inbox." Read More

Lauren Woodard and Matthew Wilson have discovered a way to reprogram adult human kidney cells into cells similar to those that form during embryonic development, which could lead to new kidney disease treatments. Read More

Stimulating the vagus nerve triggers certain epigenetic changes involving learning and memory. Read More

Heidi Hamm and colleagues have reported the first animal model of a "shut-off valve" for neurotransmitter and hormone release through SNARE complex-mediated membrane fusion. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and colleagues have identified a gene that increases the risk for a severe and potentially life-threatening reaction to the commonly prescribed antibiotic vancomycin. Read More

Danny Winder and colleagues have demonstrated how norepinephrine and a stress factor call CRF interact, which may lead to new treatments for stress-related disorders. Read More

Inhibiting COX-2 — an enzyme associated with inflammation — could provide a novel therapeutic approach for stress-related psychiatric disorders. Read More