Reporter April 8 2016

An estimated 5 billion people — two-thirds of the world’s population — do not have access to surgery because of a lack of facilities, money and trained surgeons and anesthesiologists. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is encouraging faculty and staff to answer this question: If you became incapable of making health care decisions for yourself because of injury or illness, would your family or health care provider know your wishes for health care? Read More

Jennifer Pietenpol, Ph.D., B.F. Byrd Jr. Professor of Oncology and director of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), has been selected to serve on a Blue Ribbon Panel that will inform the scientific direction and goals at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for Vice President Joe Biden’s National Cancer Moonshot Initiative. Read More

It’s been known for some time that the immune system can produce antibodies capable of “neutralizing” HIV, and stopping the AIDS-causing virus dead in its tracks. Read More

Tristan McIntosh, a 15-year-old student at Nashville School of the Arts and an American Idol contestant, visited with patients recently in the new state-of-the-art Seacrest Studios at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Read More

Harsh Trivedi, M.D., MBA, vice chair for Clinical Affairs for the Department of Psychiatry, administrative director for Vanderbilt Behavioral Health and CEO of the Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital (VPH), has accepted the position of president and CEO of Sheppard Pratt Health System in Baltimore. Read More

Even though Tennessee has laws and policies in place to protect young athletes from sports-related fatalities, more diligence is needed to abide by them, said Alex Diamond, D.O., MPH. Read More

A business plan for a robotic neurosurgical device invented by Vanderbilt University engineers won top honors last week at the sixth annual TechVenture Challenge. Read More

Philip Low, Ph.D., director of the Purdue Center for Drug Discovery, will deliver the next Flexner Discovery Lecture on April 14. Read More

Paul Moore, M.D., has lived two places in his life: Nashville and Boston. He credits experiences and people in both cities for helping shape him into the physician, pulmonary specialist (and sports fan) that he is today. Read More

The number of black students applying to medical schools across the country is decreasing. Of particular concern is the reduced number of black males going into medicine. Vanderbilt University School of Medicine wants to change that trend. Read More

The symptoms of head and neck cancer can be subtle, so to help catch the disease in its earliest stages the Vanderbilt Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center will offer free head and neck screenings Friday, April 15, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Read More

Edward G. Nelson, a prominent banker, civic leader and longtime member of the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust, has died at the age of 84. Read More

Members of the Vanderbilt community marked National Walking Day April 6 by taking group walks across campus in celebration of the university and Medical Center's commitment to a culture of wellness. Read More

Last week, David Charles, M.D., chief medical officer of the Vanderbilt Neuroscience Institute, vice-chair of the Department of Neurology and medical director of Telemedicine, represented Vanderbilt University Medical Center at a White House Convening on Rural Telehealth. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has entered into a strategic research agreement with Celgene Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company based in Summit, New Jersey. Read More

Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos discussed the implementation of the university’s Academic Strategic Plan, the university and Medical Center transition to two separate legal and financial entities, groundbreaking research, and the university's examination of what community looks like at Vanderbilt in his Spring Faculty Assembly address. Read More