Eric Skaar

A team led by Vanderbilt researchers has described and characterized the first zinc metallochaperone: a protein that puts zinc into other “client” proteins. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers are studying a bacterial pathogen that can survive on hospital surfaces — without water — for months, an ability that has helped it become a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have identified a critical regulatory factor in the bacterium that causes the disease anthrax and has been used as a biological weapon. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers help answer the question of why patients with autoimmune diseases like lupus are more susceptible to bacterial infections: their neutrophils have impaired antibacterial activity. Read More

Seth Bordenstein, Centennial Professor of Biological Sciences and director of the Vanderbilt Microbiome Initiative, has been elected to fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology. Read More

Valeria Reyes Ruiz, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, has been selected as a 2020 Hanna Gray Fellow by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Read More

An innovative Vanderbilt program that brings together scientists and artists with the shared goal of scientific communication is set to expand with support from a three-year grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Read More

Understanding how bacteria evolve resistance to antibiotics and host stresses could guide the development of more effective antimicrobial therapeutics. Read More

The Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation (VI4) recently moved into its new research and administrative home. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center scientists have identified a C. diff protein system that senses and captures heme (part of hemoglobin) to build a protective shield that fends off threats from our immune system and antibiotics. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers discover how anthrax bacterium defends itself against structural damage and resists the toxicity of the antimicrobial drug targocil. Read More

The increasingly antibiotic-resistant bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii requires zinc to cause infection, and Vanderbilt researchers have identified the zinc uptake system it uses. Read More

An unprecedented view of bacterial products within infected tissues opens new opportunities to explore infection biology and devise novel therapeutic strategies. Read More

Vanderbilt University Board of Trust Chairman Bruce R. Evans has appointed a Chancellor Search Advisory Committee to assist in the search for the university’s ninth chancellor. Read More

Eric Skaar and colleagues have figured out how a common bug responsible for ventilator-associated pneumonia responds when starved of zinc, a metal it needs to survive, which may lead to new therapeutic targets for the dangerous infection. Read More

The new factor, an enzyme involved in host-pathogen interactions, may be a viable target for treating staph infections. Read More

A new integrated imaging approach makes it possible to probe the molecules involved in invasive infections and can be broadly applied to any health or disease state. Read More

A new probe enables iron imaging in living animals, providing a unique tool for studying iron’s contributions to health and disease. Read More

Fifteen Vanderbilt faculty members conducting a range of biomedical and clinical research have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Six of the 15 have received funding through the university’s Trans-Institutional Programs initiative, which facilitates research and teaching collaborations across disciplines and are a core pillar of the university’s Academic Strategic Plan. Read More

Too much dietary manganese — an essential trace mineral found in leafy green vegetables, fruits and nuts — promotes infection of the heart by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (“staph”). Read More