School Of Medicine Basic Sciences

Radical collaboration is the driving vision for the state-of the-art science building planned for the current site of Stevenson Center 6. The new building will be a shared space for the College of Arts and Science, the School of Engineering and the School of Medicine Basic Sciences; it will address the growing need for updated, accessible and sustainable facilities that offer space for an open exchange of ideas. Read More

Though Helicobacter pylori lives in the guts of about half of the world's adults, infections can go undetected for decades. The problem: the bacteria is the primary risk factor for gastric cancer, and one strain of the germ carries a higher risk. Vanderbilt researchers Tim Cover and Jennifer Shuman analyzed how the genetic makeup of H. pylori strains affects how they change the molecular makeup of gut tissues and lead to gastric cancer. Read More

Stephanie Wankowicz, Assistant Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and Principal Investigator at the Wankowicz Lab (Submitted photo) When proteins are on the move, the way they wiggle, jiggle and form shapes within a cell informs the jobs they perform. From simple interactions, to making chemical reactions happen, to helping… Read More

Kevin Murphy, Andrew W. Mellon Chair in the Humanities and professor of history of art and architecture, and Mary Anne Hunting, BA’80, have uncovered the histories of female architects in the American Modernism period of the U.S. in new research. Read More

A recent study by Paula Luis and Claus Schneider, researchers in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences Department of Pharmacology and the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology, has uncovered substantial inconsistencies in the alkaloid content of Corydalis yanhusuo dietary supplements. Read More

The laboratory of Ege Kavalali, professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacology, published a new paper in Nature Communications that determined that liquid-liquid phase separation plays a key role within the nanostructure of synapses, and that its disruption affects evoked but not spontaneous neurotransmission. Read More

A recent pair of papers from the Vanderbilt University labs of Benjamin Spiller, associate professor of pharmacology, and Scott Smith, associate professor of medicine, dig into how peanut allergies are provoked and providing support for the use of a potential treatment option: hypoallergens. Both papers were published in February in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Read More

Medicine often takes a one-size-fits-all approach, but a disorder’s root cause can vary. Vanderbilt researchers have found that, for people with long QT syndrome, a heart condition that causes an irregular heartbeat, a more tailored approach could be beneficial. The research, led by Vanderbilt University Professor of Biochemistry and Vice Dean of Basic Sciences Charles Sanders and Northwestern University Professor and Chair of Pharmacology Dr. Al George, was published in PNAS in February 2025. Read More

Vestigo is a print and online magazine published by the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences. Published once a year, Vestigo provides an in-depth view of research that’s happening in our community, highlights trainee accomplishments, and celebrates the successes of our staff and faculty. Read More

On Jan. 14, President Biden awarded nearly 400 scientists and engineers the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers. Among the awardees were six Vanderbilt faculty members and three alumni. Read More

Immersion Vanderbilt, now in its third year as a graduation requirement, consistently provides students with the opportunity to pursue a variety of in-depth experiences and independent projects. Students align their immersion projects with their interests—whether those are artistic, research-oriented, career-focused, globally aimed or community-engaged. Faculty from all 10 schools and colleges support students’ goals and ambitions within immersion, and this year, that support is enhanced by a new cohort of 10 Immersion Faculty Fellows who are supported by Undergraduate Education in the Office of the Provost.  Read More

Vanderbilt University’s new Center for Computational Systems Biology brings computer science, engineering and biomedical researchers together with clinicians at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to accelerate discovery related to human diseases and conditions. Read More

Researchers at the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, a clinical stage biotech within the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences, have detailed the successful drug discovery of a Phase I Single Ascending Dose clinical trial of VU319, a drug for memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. Read More

Researchers at the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, a clinical stage biotech within the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences, have detailed the successful drug discovery of a Phase I Single Ascending Dose clinical trial of VU319, a drug for memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. Read More

Sonja Fulmer, a graduate of Chemical and Physical Biology Program who is now the deputy director of the FDA’s Digital Health Center of Excellence, sat down with us to discuss her experience studying basic science at Vanderbilt and how it played a role in her successful career. Read More

Yi Ren’s most recent paper, published in eLife, describes the structure of a protein complex involved in mRNA export that sheds light on the underlying molecular mechanism of mRNA export and the role it plays during infection by herpes viruses. Read More

Led by Craig W. Lindsley, Vanderbilt drug discovery experts set out to develop a backup drug candidate to improve memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Read More

John M. Jumper, BS’07, is one of three scientists awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Oct. 9. Jumper currently is a senior staff research scientist for DeepMind, a London-based company that made a huge leap forward in solving the protein folding problem using artificial intelligence. He is the third Vanderbilt alumnus to win a Nobel Prize. Read More

Erin Calipari, director of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research and associate professor of pharmacology and molecular physiology and biophysics, has been recognized with the Society for Neuroscience’s 2024 Jacob P. Waletzky award. Read More

Carterra Inc. and the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences announced the addition of the Carterra LSAXT label-free interaction analysis platform to the Center for Structural Biology. Vanderbilt and Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers will be able to discover and characterize large molecules including antibodies. Read More