Featured Research

The latest semiannual, statewide Vanderbilt Poll reflects that the election had little impact on Tennesseans’ stances on key issues. A notable exception was increased approvals for state lawmakers since May, despite often holding positions on some issues that are out of step with Tennesseans.   Read More

Vanderbilt University secured four National Endowment for the Humanities grants totaling $330,696 to support projects ranging from Yiddish literature to the preservation of Special Collections. The grants highlight Vanderbilt’s leadership in humanities research and were facilitated by the university’s Research Development and Support team. Read More

Stassun, who is also a founding co-director the Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program, was among the 2024 MacArthur fellows announced on Tuesday, Oct. 1. The fellowship, which is awarded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, aims to identify extraordinarily creative individuals with a track record of excellence in a field of scholarship or area of practice. Recipients also demonstrate the ability to affect society in significant and beneficial ways through their pioneering work or the rigor of their contributions, according to the foundation. Read More

A landmark, multi-institution project being led by Vanderbilt engineering professor Robert J. Webster received an award up to $12 million in funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health to develop a fully autonomous surgical robot. Read More

Vanderbilt University announced today the launch of its Institute of National Security, led by Paul M. Nakasone, former director of the National Security Agency, former commander of U.S. Cyber Command and retired four-star general. Read More

The semiannual, statewide Vanderbilt Poll showed in its most recent survey that slightly more than half of the state’s voters support a woman’s right to an abortion, that there is significant bipartisan support of IVF procedures as well as modest gun control legislation, and that views about many state and national issues differ significantly by gender.  Read More

Vanderbilt Department of Computer Science researchers Kevin Leach and James Weimer have won a $2 million award from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health to develop technology aimed at improving software security in medical devices like insulin pumps, pacemakers and stroke predictors. This is the first award Vanderbilt has received from ARPA-H, an agency within the National Institutes of Health with a mission to support “high-impact” solutions for pressing health care needs. Read More

Vanderbilt University is proud to announce the launch of the Institute of National Security. The founding director and leader of the institute will be retired General Paul M. Nakasone, who has served as commander of U.S. Cyber Command, director of the National Security Agency, and chief of the Central Security Service. Read More

Vanderbilt University has named Timothy P. McNamara, a visionary leader, trusted peer and mentor, as Ginny and Conner Searcy Dean of the College of Arts and Science for a two-year term beginning July 1. Read More

According to the 2024 Vanderbilt Poll–Nashville, a majority (53 percent) of Nashvillians believe the city is on the right track, which represents a nine-point increase from last year. It is the first time in four years the measure has increased. Read More

Vanderbilt University will harness its global expertise in scientific discovery, technological innovation, public policy, law and education to launch the Vanderbilt Center for Sustainability, Energy and Climate (VSEC). The multimillion-dollar investment follows a recommendation by an interdisciplinary working group to address the crucial societal challenge of ensuring a sustainable world. Read More

Vanderbilt has begun work to establish a transformative college dedicated to computer science, AI, data science and related fields, university leaders announced today. In addition to meeting the growing demand for degrees in technological fields and advancing research in rapidly evolving, computing-related disciplines, the new, interdisciplinary college will collaborate with all of Vanderbilt’s schools and colleges to advance breakthrough discoveries and strengthen computing education through a “computing for all” approach. Read More

Manuel Ascano, associate professor of biochemistry and pathology, microbiology and immunology, and Dr. Alissa Weaver, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair and director of the Vanderbilt Center for Extracellular Vesicle Research, are one of nine U.S. research teams awarded funding from the National Science Foundation to more fully understand the potential biotechnological uses of RNA, ranging from crop disease protection to treatments that combat cancer. Read More

Brandt Eichman and Walter Chazin, professors of biochemistry, have worked together to provide a better understanding of how exactly DNA replication is initiated in eukaryotes. Using Vanderbilt’s state-of-the-art instrumentation in the Center for Structural Biology’s Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility, Eichman, Chazin and their colleagues provided detailed visualizations of a multi-functional protein in action, which sheds light on how DNA replication is initiated in humans. Read More

Join the next Lab-to-Table conversation, “Biotech Entrepreneurship: Stories & Strategies” on March 26 at 11 a.m. CT. Read More

The Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy’s latest Vanderbilt Unity Index shows the country continuing its trend toward more polarization, ending 2023 down nearly three points from the start of the year. Read More

Join the next Lab-to-Table conversation, “Picturing Progress: Representation in Scientific Art” on Feb. 20 at 11:00 a.m. Read More

Avenir Award funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse recognizes research that represents “the future of addiction science.” Brown’s research is creating an AI-experiment feedback loop that will help optimize painkilling drugs to be less addictive. Read More

Join the next Lab-to-Table conversation, “Beyond Addiction: Therapeutic Developments and Societal Impact” on Jan. 24 at 11:30 a.m. CT. Read More

The Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, led by Erin Calipari, advances research to understand how addiction and substance use disorder develops in the brain. VCAR’s goals are to develop new pharmaceutical strategies and to destigmatize addiction as a personal failing. Read More