School Of Medicine Basic Sciences

The role of artificial intelligence in drug discovery has been limited by machine learning methods that fail when they encounter chemical structures they weren’t “trained” on. Assistant Professor Benjamin Brown has written a paper suggesting a more targeted approach: using a task-specific model architecture that’s intentionally restricted to learn from a representation of the interaction space between a protein and a drug molecule and be better able to generalize and figure out which compound might best interact with that protein. That’s important, because identifying those compounds early cuts the costs and time involved in developing drugs. Read More

Advanced melanoma can be notoriously resistant to standard immunotherapy, but a new drug combination might hold some hope for patients with this most common form of skin cancer. Professor Emerita of Pharmacology Ann Richmond and her team, in preclinical work, created a “tumor microenvironment more receptive to immune challenge.” The treatment slowed tumor growth, showed stronger immune responses and increased helpful T cells. It could be on a faster-than-typical track to human studies because all the drugs are already involved in other clinical trials. Read More

Kathleen DelGiorno, assistant professor of cell and developmental biology, has received a Research Scholar Award from the American Cancer Society. The award will fund research into potential therapies against pancreatic cancer, the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, which is forecast to become the second-leading cause by 2030. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers, including those from the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, have made significant strides in understanding how the enteric nervous system—sometimes called the “brain” of the gut—forms and functions. Read More

When we think of the age-old adage about getting old, “What new ache or pain will each new day bring?” we often imagine ailments such as joint or bone pain, a hyperactive bladder, or even memory loss, but Kevin Schey, Stevenson Professor of Biochemistry at the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, thinks a lot about the loss of eyesight. Read More

James Hayes, Rekha Nagarajan and James Costanzo are the winners of the 2025 Cell Imaging Shared Resource Life Is Beautiful Image Contest. They worked with Jenny Schafer, CISR managing director and research associate professor of cell and developmental biology, Oleg Kovtun, research assistant professor of chemistry, and CISR senior research specialists Kari Seedle and Tegy Vadakkan to create these images as part of their individual research projects. Read More

Three Vanderbilt faculty members are diving into a "chicken-and-egg" problem of type 2 diabetes: Does the disease change beta-cell subtypes? Or do changes in the cells cause diabetes? Guoqiang Gu, Emily Hodges and Ken Lau have come up with a new method of studying the subtypes that can track them through different stages instead of just once when they're fully developed. "Thanks to this and other research, it may be possible to one day create a diet supplement for pregnancy that could reduce the risk of diabetes for babies," Gu said. Read More

Five Vanderbilt researchers have received Seeding Success grants for early-stage projects that have strong potential for external funding. The program, managed by Research Development and Support, reflects the university’s commitment to advancing high-impact research across disciplines. Read More

In a scientific first, researchers from Vanderbilt University and the University of California, San Diego, have generated a high-resolution metabolic “map” of how cells orchestrate glucose processing, revealing a hidden world where organelles and molecular complexes collaborate when responding to a rush of nutrients. This new study, published in Nature Communications, has redefined how glucose metabolism is visualized at the single-cell level. Read More

Quynh Anh Nguyen, assistant professor of pharmacology, is the first Vanderbilt faculty member to be awarded the highly competitive Klingenstein Fellowship in Neuroscience since 1985. Her research aims to unravel the mysteries of epilepsy by focusing on how specific cells in the brain contribute to or suppress the hyperexcitability in neural circuits that are thought to be involved in the disorder’s spontaneous seizures. Read More

A recent study from the labs of Lars Plate and Jens Meiler, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, analyzed both selectively responsive and poorly responsive variants of cystic fibrosis and revealed the molecular determinants of drug response. Read More

A group of researchers from the lab of Larry Marnett, the Mary Geddes Stahlman Professor of Cancer Research, recently paired a precisely targeted imaging agent to an anticancer agent and found that they could specifically attack cancer cells and not normal cells with it. Their work was performed in collaboration with School of Engineering faculty members Craig Duvall and Rebecca Cook, and was published in Molecular Pharmaceutics in April 2025. Read More

In a new study published in Science, Lisa Monteggia’s and Ege Kavalali’s labs show that it is feasible to substantially extend the efficacy of a single dose of ketamine from its current duration of up to a week to a longer period of up to two months. Read More

Vanderbilt University honored 32 retiring faculty members on May 9 for their years of service by bestowing upon them the title of emerita or emeritus faculty during Vanderbilt’s Commencement ceremony at GEODIS Park. Two outgoing deans also were recognized for service to the university. Read More

Targeting ncRNAs with drugs presents a much larger therapeutic opportunity than targeting proteins, but the currently available drug discovery tools are slow and computationally intensive. Assistant Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and core member of the Center for Applied AI in Protein Dynamics Carlos Oliver is working with collaborators to unlock the untapped potential of ncRNAs, as they are a promising family of targets for the development of novel small-molecule therapeutics. Read More

A new study by Vanderbilt investigators uncovered a previously unknown biological mechanism: how tissues detect and respond to damage in basement membranes, the thin layers of extracellular matrix that surround and support nearly every organ in the body. The research, published in Developmental Cell, is the first to show how local cells sense and respond to changes in basement membrane stiffness caused by damage—and how they activate a previously unknown set of “matrix mender” cells to repair the tissue. Read More

Since its inception in 1999, the VBI has spearheaded interdisciplinary neuroscience research and education. Over the years, the VBI has grown into a vibrant, trans-institutional hub that spans the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, the College of Arts and Science, the School of Engineering, the Peabody College of education and human development, and other schools and departments throughout Vanderbilt and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Read More

WATCH: Dare to grow is more than a motto for these Class of 2025 students. See how they’re pushing themselves and making an impact in cancer research, law and music. Read More

Eleven outstanding faculty members from across the university have been selected for the 2025 cohort of Chancellor Faculty Fellows. Each fellow holds the title of Chancellor Faculty Fellow and receives $80,000 over a multi-year period to support their work. Read More

Hear from Class of 2025 graduate and cancer biologist Logan Northcutt on his dream to inspire young scientists. Read More