Vanderbilt University Medical Center

David C. Miller, Chief Executive Officer of Michigan Medicine and Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs for the University of Michigan, has been chosen to succeed Jeff Balser as the next President and CEO of Vanderbilt Health and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Miller will assume the role at Vanderbilt on Jan. 1, 2027. Earlier this year, Balser announced plans to retire on Dec. 31, after serving Vanderbilt in both leadership roles for nearly two decades. Read More

Annette Schaffer Eskind, a civic leader and philanthropist who, with her late husband, Irwin Eskind, MD’48, made transformational contributions to Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and throughout the city of Nashville, died July 13, 2025. She was 97. Read More

This spring, the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center named six people in the Vanderbilt community as recipients of its annual awards. 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

Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center rank 24th nationally in the National Science Foundation’s 2024 Higher Education Research and Development Survey, with combined research and development expenditures of $1.33 billion. The ranking places Vanderbilt 10th among private research universities. Read More

Cells lining crucial structures in the kidney are full of mitochondria—parts of the cell that help it do its job. The cost of doing that job, though, can be damage to the mitochondria, which then cripples the cells and leads to poor kidney function. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have found that the protein Rac1 kicks cell repair into high gear to help the body remove and replace damaged mitochondria. Their work was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; Assistant Professor Fabian Bock is among the paper’s authors. Read More

Three leaders in health policy, informatics and cancer research from Vanderbilt University Medical Center have been elected this year to membership in the National Academy of Medicine, a preeminent advisory body on critical matters of health care, medicine and public health. Read More

As summer comes to an end, it’s important to remember that flu season is right around the corner. You can protect yourself and those around you by getting your annual flu shot.  Read More

The Vanderbilt Biophotonics Center, led by Professor Anita Mahadevan-Jansen, developed a device called the PTeye that can help surgeons see patients' parathyroid glands—which have unpredictable locations—better during neck surgery by making the tissue glow! A large, multicenter clinical trial has provided evidence of its effectiveness, which the team hopes will improve the accuracy of endocrine neck surgery and improve patient outcomes. Clinical implementation of the device was pioneered by Dr. Carmen Solórzano, director of Vanderbilt Endocrine Surgery at VUMC. Read More

The announcement of the recognition of VMAC as an NIH Center of Excellence comes nearly five years after the creation of an exploratory NIA-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Read More

Vanderbilt University School of Nursing has received a $250,000 Innovation Grant from the Bedford Falls Foundation for a pilot program designed to equip nursing students and new registered nurses with tools that increase their job satisfaction so that they remain vitally needed members of the nursing workforce. The grant is the first awarded by the Bedford Falls Foundation. Read More

Researchers led by John T. Wilson, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and biomedical engineering, have developed a new approach using a molecularly designed nanobody platform that seeks to make immunotherapy more effective in the treatment of cancer. Read More

Vanderbilt’s Social, Behavioral and Educational Research Institutional Review Board will enter phase two of its launch on July 1, expanding the scope of studies it reviews and continuing the university’s transition away from the VUMC IRB for social, behavioral and education studies involving human participants. Read More

The trial, which is funded by a K23 Career Development Award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, is expected to begin this summer and will assign peer-parent coaches to families to determine whether their having support to navigate the medical system and other challenges means their children will be healthier.   Read More

Vanderbilt University School of Nursing will establish a nurse anesthesia program in summer 2026 that will draw on the strengths of the school’s expertise in nursing education and practice combined with extensive clinical education at nearby Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The three-year program of study will be part of the school’s doctor of nursing practice degree program. 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

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

Between 2019 and 2024, Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center made a $22.13 billion in economic impact on the city of Nashville and across the state of Tennessee. Read More

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center invites parents/caregivers and their infant (~6-12 months old) to participate in a music class/parent education opportunity. Read More

Vanderbilt scientists developed new dialysis membranes using ultra-thin graphene that automatically seal larger holes while keeping smaller ones open, making them more effective than current medical filters and potentially improving dialysis treatment. Read More