pathology microbiology and immunology
Less inflammation = better healing
Oct. 17, 2019—Immune cells that produce an anti-inflammatory factor are enriched in fat tissue around the heart and may be good targets to improve heart attack outcomes.
Research team sorts out drug screen false positive results
Oct. 2, 2019—Vanderbilt investigators have identified 13 previously unknown drug compounds that cause false positive screenings for amphetamines, buprenorphine (an opioid), cannabinoids and methadone.
Pua lands NIH Director’s New Innovator Award
Oct. 1, 2019—Heather Pua, MD, PhD, one of 60 investigators to receive the 2019 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, will explore a novel type of cell signaling by RNAs in allergic airway inflammation.
Cellular engines of wound repair have distinct roles
Aug. 8, 2019—Vanderbilt investigators have now discovered that, in contrast to prevailing dogma, fibroblasts are not all alike; instead, they have distinctive functions following tissue injury.
Intestinal immune cell interactions
Jul. 30, 2019—Understanding the roles of various immune cells that reside in the gut lining could shed light on inflammatory bowel diseases.
Vanderbilt team shows how stomach bug can trigger cancer
Jul. 11, 2019—Researchers at Vanderbilt University and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor have obtained the first high-resolution image of a molecular “machine” used by the insidious stomach bug Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) to inject a cancer-causing protein into the stomach lining.
Vanderbilt vaccine pioneer James Crowe honored with major science prize
Jul. 9, 2019—James Crowe Jr., MD, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, will be honored today by the science and technology company Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany for his contributions to developing new therapeutics and vaccines against some of the world’s deadliest viruses.
New method tested to block chikungunya infection
Jun. 14, 2019—Scientists are testing a new way to fight chikungunya virus that involves injecting genetic material into the bodies of infected and at-risk individuals to trigger rapid production of potent, virus-neutralizing antibodies.
VUMC joins international effort to speed vaccine development
Jun. 6, 2019—VUMC has joined an international effort to streamline and accelerate development of vaccines and other treatments against a growing worldwide surge of deadly and debilitating viral infections.
Frog fungus fights back
May. 15, 2019—Louise Rollins-Smith and colleagues have discovered a new way that a deadly fungus evades frogs' immune systems.
How bugs overcome host defenses
Apr. 12, 2019—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.
Research shows frogs can adapt to traffic noise
Feb. 21, 2019—Frogs don’t like living near noisy highways any better than people do, but research from Vanderbilt suggests that frogs, like hardened city-dwellers, can learn to adapt to the constant din of rumbling trucks, rolling tires and honking horns.