Pathology Microbiology And Immunology
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Study reveals new genetic disorder that causes susceptibility to opportunistic infections
An international consortium co-led by Vanderbilt's Rubén Martínez-Barricarte has discovered a new genetic disorder that causes immunodeficiency and profound susceptibility to opportunistic infections including a life-threatening fungal pneumonia. Read MoreJan 20, 2023
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Study identifies key player in T cell “education”
New Vanderbilt research could inform therapeutic strategies for enhancing thymic function when desired — such as during aging, recovery from radiation therapy or chemotherapy, or other conditions that reduce T cell output. Read MoreSep 1, 2022
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Vanderbilt researchers discover how gut inflammation leads to bone loss
Gastrointestinal inflammation, such as occurs in inflammatory bowel disease, triggers the expansion of a population of “bone-eating” cells, leading to bone loss. Read MoreAug 25, 2022
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Study describes how E. coli co-opts cells, causes recurrent UTIs
Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have discovered why the uropathogenic bacterium E. coli, the leading cause of urinary tract infections, is so tenacious; their findings could lead to new ways to prevent recurrent UTIs. Read MoreAug 25, 2022
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C. difficile may contribute to colorectal cancer: study
A Vanderbilt study found that the bacterium Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) may be a previously unrecognized contributor to colorectal cancer. Read MoreJul 28, 2022
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Three Vanderbilt biomedical researchers named 2022 Pew Scholars
Mariana Byndloss, assistant professor of pathology, microbiology and immunology, and William Wan, assistant professor of biochemistry, have been named 2022 Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences. The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust have selected Alexander Bick, assistant professor of genetic medicine, to join the 2022 class of Pew-Stewart Scholars for Cancer Research. Read MoreJun 14, 2022
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Study identifies first cellular “chaperone” for zinc, sheds light on worldwide public health problem of zinc deficiency
A team led by Vanderbilt researchers has described and characterized the first zinc metallochaperone: a protein that puts zinc into other “client” proteins. Read MoreMay 17, 2022
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VUMC team discovers how bacterial pathogen survives without water
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 MoreMay 5, 2022
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Study advances understanding of bacterial bioterrorism agent
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 MoreApr 7, 2022
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Crowe receives national award for COVID antibody research
Vanderbilt's James Crowe Jr., MD, and Michel Nussenzweig, MD, PhD, of The Rockefeller University, have been jointly awarded the 2022 Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine for “groundbreaking work” that enabled the use of human antibodies to treat COVID-19. Read MoreMar 31, 2022
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Impaired neutrophils in autoimmunity
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 MoreJan 27, 2022
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Study identifies molecular trigger of severe injury-induced inflammatory response
Vanderbilt researchers have discovered that early inappropriate activation of the enzyme plasmin caused by severe injury is a trigger of systemic inflammatory response syndrome and resulting organ failure. Read MoreJan 19, 2022
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H. pylori, lipid loss and stomach cancer
H. pylori infection — a strong risk factor for stomach cancer — changes the composition of stomach lipids, which could offer new biomarkers for detecting premalignant changes, Vanderbilt researchers discovered. Read MoreJan 17, 2022
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Salmonella overcomes host resistance
The invading pathogen Salmonella, a common cause of food poisoning, can change its metabolism to overcome host resistance to its colonization. Read MoreJan 13, 2022
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CRISPR screen identifies new anti-inflammatory drug target
A novel CRISPR screen developed by Vanderbilt researchers identified a promising new target for anti-inflammatory therapeutics. Read MoreNov 11, 2021
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Research Snapshot: COVID-19 virus test sensitivity varies with body’s circadian rhythm
Carl Johnson, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Biological Sciences and expert in biological clocks, identifies temporal component to COVID-19 viral shedding. Est. reading time: 2.5 mins. Read MoreOct 26, 2021
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“Ultra-potent” antibody against COVID-19 variants isolated at VUMC
A technology developed at Vanderbilt has led to the discovery of an “ultra-potent” monoclonal antibody against multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, including the delta variant. Read MoreSep 22, 2021
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Vanderbilt graduate student receives HHMI Gilliam Fellowship Grant for Advanced Studies
Nicholas Shealy, a doctoral student in Vanderbilt University’s Microbe-Host Interactions Program, has been awarded a prestigious fellowship grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute that advances diversity and inclusion in the sciences. Read MoreJul 22, 2021
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Therapeutic antibodies for hantavirus
Vanderbilt Vaccine Center researchers have isolated monoclonal antibodies against hantaviruses, an emerging source of human disease with pandemic potential. Read MoreMay 24, 2021
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Graduate student wins fellowship to study gut microbiome’s relationship to childhood obesity
Graduate student Catherine Shelton has been selected as one of two students nationally to receive the ninth annual Gut Microbiome, Yogurt and Probiotics Fellowship grant from Danone North America, the fresh dairy and plant-based products company. Shelton will use her grant to fund her research on identifying early-life microbiota components that may prevent obesity in children. Read MoreMay 4, 2021