Department Of Pharmacology

New findings add to the understanding of how the enzyme COX-2 works, which is critical to the development of COX-2-targeted anti-inflammatory drugs. Read More

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co. and Vanderbilt University have signed a research and license agreement covering Vanderbilt’s research program and intellectual property rights related to compounds that block bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) type-I receptors. The compounds have therapeutic potential in a broad range of diseases, including rare genetic disorders. Read More

New findings show that fibrin, a protein that was thought to play a key role in fracture healing, is not required, shifting understanding of how fractures heal. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered how certain molecules with antibiotic properties are synthesized, findings that could lead to new drugs that overcome the increased antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered how human antibodies induced during testing of an experimental “bird flu” vaccine kill the virus. Read More

A new imaging probe developed by Vanderbilt investigators enhances tumor visibility and has broad applications in diagnosing and monitoring patients with cancer. Read More

Inhibitors of the enzyme phospholipase D1 suppress the replication of HIV-1, Vanderbilt investigators have discovered. Read More

Vanderbilt University researchers have uncovered a surprising finding that could lead to the development of new, more effective therapies for schizophrenia, which affects more than 2 million Americans. Read More

The protein neurofibromin acts as a brake in a signaling pathway that is important in bone development, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. Read More

Preemptive genotyping: It sounds like a surprise attack, and it is. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University have discovered a new way to inhibit Hedgehog (Hh) signaling, an important regulatory pathway for vertebrate development – and cancer. Read More

Mary Relling, Pharm.D., chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, will deliver this year’s Grant R. Wilkinson Distinguished Lecture in Clinical Pharmacology on Thursday, April 9. Read More

Although heteromeric dopamine receptors composed of both D1 and D2 subunits have been proposed to play a role in depression and schizophrenia, recent studies suggest these heteromers do not exist. Read More

Growing evidence suggests that fish oil, thought to directly prevent inflammation, oxidative stress and heart disease, may have limited clinical utility. Read More

New findings suggest that misfolded proteins accumulate in the heart atria, particularly in patients with hypertension, and may contribute to atrial heart disease. Read More

New structural findings reveal how "gatekeeper" proteins participate in the secretion systems bacteria use to infect host cells. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a new target for the prevention of atherosclerotic plaque development and cardiovascular disease. Read More

Peter Doherty, Ph.D., had some advice for young scientists at last week’s Flexner Discovery Lecture. The way to win a Nobel Prize, he said, “is to make a very big discovery first.” Read More

Defects in the production of certain receptors are linked to the pathogenesis of genetic epilepsies and fever-induced seizures. Read More

Nobel laureate Peter Doherty, Ph.D., who discovered how the immune system recognizes virus-infected cells, will deliver the next Flexner Discovery Lecture on Thursday, Oct. 2. Read More