Pathology Microbiology And Immunology

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

A new antiviral drug candidate inhibits a broad range of coronaviruses, including the SARS and MERS coronaviruses, a multi-institutional team of investigators reports this week in Science Translational Medicine. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators report that dysregulation of certain immune cells in the intestines may lead to inflammation and disease. Read More

Infectious diseases specialist David Aronoff, M.D., recently became one of 73 new fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology, an honorific leadership group within the American Society of Microbiology. Read More

Pathologist Carol Rauch, M.D., Ph.D., likes being prepared. Read More

(photo by Anne Rayner) The Rockefeller University’s Paul Bieniasz, Ph.D., center, here with Vanderbilt’s Samuel Santoro, Ph.D., left, and Christopher Aiken, Ph.D., discussed his research on retroviruses at his recent Flexner Discovery Lecture, which was sponsored by the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. Read More

James Crowe Jr., M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, is the 2017 recipient of the Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award given by the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), one of the nation’s oldest and most respected honor societies for physician-scientists. Read More

Paul Bieniasz, Ph.D., a pioneer in the study of retroviruses, will deliver the next Flexner Discovery Lecture on Thursday, March 9. Read More

James Crowe Jr., M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, is the 2017-2018 recipient of the Samuel Rosenthal Prize for Excellence in Academic Pediatrics. Read More

Scientists at Vanderbilt University have created a three-dimensional organ-on-a-chip that can mimic the heart’s amazing biomechanical properties in order to study cardiac disease, develop heart drugs. Read More

The signaling molecule IL-15 promotes septic shock, a life-threatening condition involving organ injury caused by infection. Read More

High dose flu vaccine boosts the immune response in older adults by increasing activation of certain immune cells. Read More

The compound MPLA is an attractive vaccine component, designed to elicit a robust immune response. Read More