School Of Medicine

It’s difficult to monitor lung disease patients’ airways remotely and noninvasively, so symptoms of their conditions—tissue stiffness, pressure, mucus accumulation or temperatures—can worsen undetected. Assistant Professor Xiaoguang Dong and a team of researchers have developed a device with multiple sensors and a magnetic switch that can give health care personnel consistent and long-term data to improve patient treatment. Their research was published in Science Advances on April 15. Read More

Thinking of getting an advanced degree? Graduate, professional students give their best advice. Read More

During the Spring Faculty Assembly on April 9, nine faculty members received awards for their significant impact through scholarship, research, creative expression, service, teaching or mentoring. The chancellor also spoke about Vanderbilt’s strength even during uncertain times.  Read More

PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” have already been linked to disruptions in thyroid hormones, among other detrimental health effects. A recent paper by first author Heather Hartmann, a Ph.D. student in the lab of Associate Professor Vivian Weiss, dug into thyroid cell behavior under long-term exposure to PFAS. It finds that the chemicals alter cellular function, including signaling pathways that are involved in cancer. “We hope [this] can help people who are already at risk for thyroid cancer … make better-informed choices, as consumers, to limit exposure to these chemicals,” Hartmann said. Read More

Mentorship shapes every phase of student development at Vanderbilt, from the direction of students’ research papers to their careers and aspirations. But its impact is especially strong in the lab of F. Peter “Fred” Guengerich, PhD’73, in the department of biochemistry. Read More

Read what inspires and motivates these graduate and professional students to make a positive impact. Read More

The annual Graduate Education Honors Banquet honored doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty members who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, excellence in academics, innovation and mentorship. The March 19 banquet recognized the outstanding achievements taking place across more than 50 graduate programs and departments. Read More

For centuries, the human brain has intrigued scientists and philosophers alike. It stores our memories and shapes our behavior—the center of learning, emotion and identity. Yet even after decades of research, much about how the brain works remains a mystery. “People have been fascinated with questions of how you learn and who you are—philosophical questions that all come back to processes in the brain,” says Lisa Monteggia, Lee E. Limbird Professor in Pharmacology and the Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute. Now neuroscience is at a watershed moment, with new tools poised to dramatically expand understanding of the central nervous system.   Read More

On March 24, Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs C. Cybele Raver honored scholars from across Vanderbilt at an endowed chair investiture ceremony. Read More

After nearly two decades serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Vanderbilt Health and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, will retire from both leadership roles on Dec. 31. A national search for his successor, who will hold both leadership roles, will be led by the Vanderbilt Health Board of Directors. Read More

For patients with advanced melanoma without BRAF mutation who no longer respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors, treatment options remain frustratingly limited. A new study from Vanderbilt researchers led by Professor Emerita of Pharmacology Ann Richmond outlines a promising therapeutic strategy that may re-sensitize these resistant tumors to immunotherapy. Read More

Research into combating cocaine addiction has been limited by the difficulty in structuring accurate animal models; standard practice relies on implanting IV catheters that the animals can use to self-dose. Now Assistant Professor Cody Siciliano's lab has devised a method that more closely mimics cocaine use in humans—effectively, a way for the animals to snort cocaine. This makes the animal model more analogous to human experience, and it reduces surgical and intravenous procedures for the animals. "This model provides a powerful framework for linking motivated drug use with real-time neural activity, offering new opportunities to study the circuitry underlying reinforcement and decision-making," Siciliano said. Read More

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center has announced its latest Nicholas Hobbs Discovery Awards, which recognize innovative research to improve the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Colleen Niswender, Dr. Bill Nobis, Audrey Bowden and Laurie Cutting are the recipients for 2025–26, earning support for projects that address Rett syndrome, Dravet syndrome and other developmental epilepsies, and reading difficulties like dyslexia. Read More

A new potential treatment for schizophrenia discovered through the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery has entered phase 1 clinical trials, marking the fifth WCNDD therapeutic to advance into human testing. Read More

Schizophrenia has been proven to be heritable, but typical analyses so far haven’t been able to pinpoint what, genetically, is going wrong in the brain. A new paper by Professor Bingshan Li and research instructor Rui Chen outlines how to improve on existing genetic screening for schizophrenia risk by expanding the areas of the chromosome scanned for genetic signals. Their results point to a “tangible biological pathway—and potential treatment target—linking genetic risk to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia,” Chen said. Read More

Shan Meltzer has been awarded a prestigious Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation Award to advance her pioneering research that seeks to determine how the body’s sensory circuits form and function. Her work seeks to answer a fundamental question in neuroscience: how do the brain and spinal cord organize their intricate networks to perform such a wide range of functions? Read More

At Vanderbilt, research doesn’t just live in the lab. It moves into the world in the shape of new tools, treatments and technologies that improve lives, support communities and expand what’s possible. Read More

Five exceptional Vanderbilt faculty members have been named 2025 Master Innovators for their extraordinary contributions to translating research into commercial applications that have significant societal impact. The 2025 honorees represent diverse fields from infectious disease therapeutics to neuroscience drug discovery and biomedical engineering.  Read More

The AAVA embodies the transformative power of connection and cultural identity—all from a place of gratitude. It strengthens the presence of the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American community through cultural celebrations and networking events, collaborating with student organizations to connect alumni with current Vanderbilt students. Joy Cox, BA’98, MD’02, is AAVA's president. Read More

Miller Morris, BS’16, MS’17, MPH’19, is the founder and CEO of Comma, a company that aims to improve reproductive health through menstrual care products, sustainability, clinical research and technology. She describes herself as a “women’s health researcher turned social entrepreneur.” Read More