Department Of Veterans Affairs

James Powers, M.D., associate professor of Medicine and chief of Geriatric Medicine at the Veteran Affairs Medical Center, was recently named to receive the Iris Award from the Nashville Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Read More

Using patients’ health records to assess preparedness for hospital discharge is more effective at predicting readmission or death than commonly used questionnaires. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have “turned back the clock” in a mouse model of metaplasia — precancerous stomach lesions — raising hopes that gastric cancer, a worldwide scourge that’s rising in the United States, can be prevented. Read More

Combining therapies for melanoma that induce cell senescence and that activate the immune response may improve outcomes for patients. Read More

The elasticity of a scaffold used for healing skin wounds is a key factor in promoting regeneration versus scarring. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have developed a new method to study cell signaling networks at single-cell resolution. Read More

Microtubules — cellular “highways” that deliver cargo to the cell membrane for secretion — have a surprising role in pancreatic beta cells. Instead of facilitating glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, they limit it, a team of Vanderbilt investigators reported recently in Developmental Cell. Read More

A signaling protein that is essential for recovery from acute kidney injury works by increasing the population of tissue-repairing immune cells. Read More

Understanding factors, such as the receptor TLR9, that detect and defend against pathogens may lead to therapeutic approaches that promote an effective immune response to treat infections. Read More

Vanderbilt study adds to the mounting role for inflammatory signaling in obesity. Read More

Drugs that inhibit the Wnt signaling pathway can regenerate injured skin and may be useful in treating fibromatosis, degenerative joint disease and cancer. Read More

The first study to suggest that major depressive disorder (MDD) is an independent risk factor for heart failure in HIV-positive adults has been published in Circulation. Read More

Understanding how macrophage immune cells accumulate in fat tissue and contribute to the pathology of obesity could lead to the development of novel therapeutics for metabolic disorders. Read More

The factor FoxM1 increases the proliferation and function of insulin-producing beta cells, making it an attractive therapeutic target for diabetes. Read More

The rigidity of the bone extracellular matrix increases the ability of tumor cells to destroy bone, suggesting new targets for anticancer drug development. Read More

An antioxidant protein may protect against colon cancer that develops in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, suggesting new strategies for reducing colon cancer risk in these patients. Read More

A new mouse model demonstrates that the Hhex gene – which is linked to blood cancers – is critical for normal blood cell production. Read More

A polymer hydrogel material developed by Vanderbilt scientists improved the delivery of stem cells for heart repair. Read More

A metabolic change in adult stem cells makes them less “fit” for regenerative heart therapies, suggesting that strategies to prevent this response may boost the therapeutic usefulness of the cells. Read More

A novel mechanism could point to new therapies for a group of inherited diseases that share pathological features. Read More