Pathology Microbiology And Immunology

An enzyme called PTEN reduces inflammatory signaling and mortality in sepsis, suggesting it may be a good therapeutic target for this life-threatening complication of infection. Read More

With last week’s election of Lorraine Ware, MD, as vice president of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), two faculty members of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine are among the current officers of the elite physician-scientist honor society. Read More

New research links nutrient-responsive cellular signaling to the antibody-mediated immune response. Read More

Much of everyday clinical decision-making is informed by lab tests performed rapidly on automated instrumentation — basic metabolic panels, complete blood counts, all the lab orders for which clinicians expect quick results. Read More

A new study reports that some Central American frog species are recovering from a deadly fungal epidemic, perhaps because they have better defenses against the pathogen. Read More

A new integrated imaging approach makes it possible to probe the molecules involved in invasive infections and can be broadly applied to any health or disease state. Read More

Newly discovered features in an RSV protein may be useful for rational structure-based vaccine design. Read More

New research reveals a unique mechanism of C. difficile toxin neutralization by a monoclonal antibody, suggesting new therapeutic approaches. Read More

A new probe enables iron imaging in living animals, providing a unique tool for studying iron’s contributions to health and disease. Read More

Vanderbilt’s Pampee Young, MD, PhD, has been named chief medical officer of the American Red Cross. Read More

New findings from Vanderbilt suggest that blocking the migration of cells involved in asthma may represent a new approach for treating the respiratory condition. Read More

James Crowe Jr., MD, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Read More

An enzyme that produces bioactive fatty acids has elevated activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, supporting further studies to understand its biologic roles in the disease. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered a class of compounds that inhibit a mediator of inflammation and autoimmune disorders, and that could pave the way for development of future therapies. Read More

Too much dietary manganese — an essential trace mineral found in leafy green vegetables, fruits and nuts — promotes infection of the heart by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (“staph”). Read More

Vanderbilt researchers are discovering ways that host proteins block HIV-1 infection, which could suggest new avenues for treatment. Read More

On July 24 Vanderbilt scientist Eric Skaar, Ph.D., MPH, summarized his group’s latest paper in a tweet: “If S. aureus is going to drink our blood like a vampire, let's kill it with sunlight.” Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have found that non-coding regions of the genome appear to contribute to the risk of autoimmune diseases and may represent attractive therapeutic targets. Read More

Autophagy is the cellular equivalent of trash pickup and recycling — it is a process by which proteins, protein aggregates and damaged cellular organelles are degraded in order to reuse nutrients and promote cellular metabolism. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is launching a new institute to coordinate initiatives among the rapidly evolving disciplines of infection biology, immunology and inflammatory diseases. Read More