Reporter
VUMC research ramps up in COVID-19 transition
May. 21, 2020—As Nashville cautiously begins to emerge from its two-month-long COVID-19 Safer at Home response, so too are the labs and facilities at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Team uses imaging to study ways the heart is affected by coronavirus
May. 21, 2020—Researchers are using imaging and diagnostic pathology to examine postmortem hearts donated by victims of COVID-19 to gain a better understanding of how the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 affects the heart.
Probing innate immunity
May. 19, 2020—Manuel Ascano team validates an inhibitor of the cGAS-STING signaling pathway, which is important for cellular innate immunity against bacteria, viruses, and our own damaged DNA.
Implant one day may replace dialysis
May. 18, 2020—Vanderbilt researchers used pharmacological manipulations to increase salt and water transport by kidney cells grown in culture, a step necessary for realizing an implantable artificial kidney device.
Antibodies eye Pacific Island “fever”
May. 14, 2020—Vanderbilt Vaccine Center team isolates monoclonal antibodies against the mosquito-borne Ross River virus, which causes rash, fever and debilitating muscle and joint pain lasting three to six months.
The adaptable anthrax bacterium
May. 14, 2020—Vanderbilt researchers discover how anthrax bacterium defends itself against structural damage and resists the toxicity of the antimicrobial drug targocil.
New method captures early viral-host protein interactions
May. 7, 2020—Researchers have developed a method to identify the primary interactions between incoming viral RNA genomes and host proteins.
Study finds AI can categorize cancer risk of lung nodules
May. 7, 2020—Computed tomography scans for people at risk for lung cancer lead to earlier diagnoses and improve survival rates, but they can also lead to overtreatment when suspicious nodules turn out to be benign.
A dual-purpose metabolic switch
May. 5, 2020—John York and colleagues have demonstrated that the protein Vip1 is a rare type of bifunctional enzyme: it can both synthesize and destroy key cellular signaling molecules.
The role of diet in esophageal cancer
May. 4, 2020—New findings suggest that dietary calcium and magnesium affect the risk of esophageal cancer; if confirmed in interventional studies, they could inform dietary modifications to reduce the burden of this cancer.
EHRs, biobanks and Mendelian diseases
Apr. 30, 2020—Electronic health records and biobanks can be effectively combined to detect and study Mendelian diseases such as cystic fibrosis.
Antibody finding raises hopes for Marburg, COVID-19 treatments
Apr. 30, 2020—Monoclonal antibodies against Marburg virus — a more lethal cousin of the RNA virus that causes COVID-19 — may aid in the development of antibody "cocktails" to counter viral infection.