Molecular Physiology And Biophysics

Salted peanuts make you thirsty so you drink more: that’s bartender wisdom. While that may be true in the short-term, within 24 hours increasing salt consumption actually makes you less thirsty because your body starts to conserve and produce water. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have mapped the conformational changes that occur in a protein “notorious” for pumping chemotherapeutic drugs out of cancer cells and blocking medications from reaching the central nervous system. Read More

Investigators in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine and the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism recently received a $1.25 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Read More

"Diverse: Issues In Higher Education" has ranked Vanderbilt University No. 1 in the country for the number of doctoral degrees awarded to African Americans in the biological and biomedical sciences. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have identified cocaine-induced modifications at specific neuronal connections, which could aid the development of new therapies for substance abuse disorders. Read More

The discoveries that can change the course of human health forever often begin in the tiniest places: in molecules and cells, at the most fundamental intersection of physics, chemistry and biology. Understanding how these cellular and molecular processes work is the focus of basic biomedical research at Vanderbilt. Read More

Meena Madhur, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of Medicine, has received an NIH New Innovator Award, which is designed to support exceptionally creative, early-career investigators who propose innovative, high-impact projects. Read More

Defining the genes required for the function of insulin-producing beta cells is crucial for ongoing efforts to develop a cell-based therapy for diabetes. Read More

Alyssa Hasty, Ph.D., a Vanderbilt obesity researcher, has been selected to participate in the 22nd class of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program for Women. Read More

COX-2 inhibitors – used clinically to reduce inflammation and pain – may find new applications for treating PTSD and other stress-related psychiatric disorders like major depression. Read More

An international research team that included scientists from Vanderbilt University Medical Center has found a novel way to counteract obesity in mice — by stimulating the growth of blood vessels in fat tissue. Read More

The hormone leptin regulates glucose balance, but not fat stores, in zebrafish. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Sachin Patel, associate professor of Psychiatry and of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, is one of 106 researchers named today by President Obama as a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators are exploring the shape changes in a multidrug transporter to understand the mechanisms of antibacterial resistance. Read More

A study by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center is offering a glimmer of hope to alcoholics who find it hard to remain sober because their abstinence is hounded by stubborn, difficult-to-treat depression. Read More

Kevin Niswender, M.D., Ph.D., a physician-scientist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center whose work has helped advance understanding of diseases ranging from obesity to schizophrenia, is one of 10 recipients of the 2016 Harrington Scholar-Innovator Awards. Read More

The brains of children who are obese function differently from those of children of healthy weight, and exhibit an “imbalance” between food-seeking and food-avoiding behaviors, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have found. Read More

With discoveries ranging from the origins of consciousness to the end of the universe, 2015 was a year of incredibly diverse research at Vanderbilt University. Read More

Anne Kenworthy, Ph.D., professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, has been named to a two-year term as chair of the Biochemistry and Biophysics of Membranes Study Section in the Center for Scientific Review of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Read More

The Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics (MPB) will celebrate its 90th anniversary on Dec. 3 with a day-long symposium entitled “Mus musculus (Latin for lab mouse): What does the future hold?” Read More