Health And Medicine

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has begun recruiting up to 250 participants for a Phase 3 clinical trial testing an investigational COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Read More

Peptides derived from the antimicrobial peptides secreted by frogs could function as microbicides to limit HIV transmission, while sparing protective vaginal bacteria. Read More

Angelika Amon, PhD, a pioneering cell and molecular biologist and winner of the 2018 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science, died Oct. 29 from cancer. She was 53. 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

Histamine — commonly associated with allergies — also has a signaling role in the brain’s reward center and may offer a novel target for treating addiction. Read More

Vanderbilt epidemiologists identified new markers for colorectal cancer risk and characterized a previously unidentified tumor suppressor that regulates overall tumor volume in vivo. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center played a key role in the development of remdesivir, the first drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of COVID-19. Read More

Vanderbilt Genetics Institute investigators have added a new method to the computational genetics toolbox. Their approach, described in the journal Nature Genetics, integrates vast genomics datasets to predict gene expression and facilitate discovery of genetic mechanisms underlying human diseases. Read More

A new method that keeps microbes and gut cells together will be useful for studies of complex host-microbe interactions and for analysis of clinical specimens. Read More

Older depressed adults show accelerated brain aging, according to a new study from Vanderbilt researchers, who suggest that the effects of depression may speed the decline in cognitive functions in older individuals. Read More

It might be possible to use vesicles carrying the receptor for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to bind the virus and prevent infection. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have identified a key factor that coordinates the body’s repair response to severe injury in the stomach caused, most commonly, by infection by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. Read More

The brain’s response to low oxygen — growth and remodeling of blood vessels — involves certain cell types and molecular pathways, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. Read More

AstraZeneca is advancing into phase 3 clinical trials with an investigational COVID-19 therapy of two long-acting antibodies discovered by Vanderbilt University Medical Center and optimized by AstraZeneca. Read More

A computer-based method developed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center that scans electronic medical records (EMRs) for genetic contributors to disease has been used for the first time to reveal the impact of race on health. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have generated the first comprehensive molecular “atlas” of genes expressed by the neuronal cells within the intestine that coordinate the functions of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Read More

Conformational change in a reovirus surface protein modulate the virus’s attachment to host cells, Vanderbilt researchers have found. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have identified a signaling pathway that promotes kidney fibrosis in patients with diabetes — and that could be targeted with an existing approved medication. Read More

Specific regions of the thalamus — a central brain region — are smaller in adults with psychotic disorders and youth at risk for psychotic disorders and are associated with cognitive impairment. Read More

Studies using large DNA biobanks revealed genetic variants associated with penicillin allergy, the most common type of drug-induced allergic reaction. Read More