Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Harry R. Jacobson will retire as vice chancellor for health affairs at Vanderbilt University June 1, and Dr. Jeffrey Balser, dean of the School of Medicine, will succeed him, Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos announced today. Read More

Hundreds of Vanderbilt students will hit the dance floor Feb. 13-14 during Dance Marathon, a 14-hour student-run event to raise money for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt and the Children's Miracle Network. Dance Marathon will be held from 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, until 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, at the Student Recreation Center on Vanderbilt's campus. The event is open to the public and all proceeds from Dance Marathon will go to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Read More

Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for Research for Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has been named dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Balser, who has served as interim dean since July 2008, becomes only the 11th dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine since its founding in 1875. In addition to his responsibilities as dean, Balser will be associate vice chancellor for Health Affairs, with continued oversight for medical center research. Read More

Three generations of the family of the late Monroe Carell Jr. have pledged a gift of $20 million to the fundraising effort for a new facility to care for children and mothers. The Campaign for Children and Mothers, with a goal of $45 million, will support the building of a 400,000-square-foot facility, slated to open in 2012, adjacent to and connected with the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Read More

Vanderbilt's emergency physicians are urging the public to take precautions in the extreme heat. Corey Slovis, M.D., chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and medical director for Metro-Nashville Fire Department EMS and Nashville International Airport, said prolonged heat day after day can lead to dehydration. "Having several days of high temperatures can lead to dehydration," Slovis said. Read More

The South is known for many things: hot, steamy summers, iced tea laced with sugar and friendly people with a tendency to welcome strangers. But beneath the veneer of Southern hospitality and gracious living lurks a silent killer: cancer. Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers have their own name for the southern region of the United States: the "cancer belt." Read More

Summertime activities can be fun but they can also place your eyes at an increased risk for long-term damage from the sun, or perhaps worse. Read More

Vanderbilt Medical Center\'s technological savvy continues to garner national acclaim, as evidenced by the institution once again being named among the nation\'s 100 "most wired" hospitals and health systems. Read More

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Behavior Analysis Clinic, which serves families who have a child with an intellectual or other developmental disability and who also engage in challenging behaviors, is now working with children as young as 3 years old. Read More

Pediatricians can help prevent future violent behaviors in their patients with a brief, one-time office intervention during a routine exam, according to a new study published in the July issue of Pediatrics. Read More

U.S. News & World Report is listing Vanderbilt Medical Center on its "Honor Roll" of hospitals – an honor reserved for a select group of institutions labeled by the magazine as the "best of the best." Read More

National statistics show 10 percent of firework injuries are sustained by toddlers, and injuries are most likely to occur when children have fireworks without adequate supervision. Read More

Joseline Elizabeth Vasquez Santay will undergo preliminary procedures to help doctors at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children\'s Hospital at Vanderbilt determine how to safely remove a neck tumor which is as large as the toddler\'s head. Read More

Fifteen percent to 20 percent of people worldwide suffer from migraines – excruciating headaches often presaged by dramatic sensations, or "auras." By studying a rare, inherited form of migraine, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have found clues to the biological basis of the painful, debilitating disorder. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Alfred George Jr., M.D., and colleagues report that genetic mutations linked to this rare form of familial migraine alter the function of sodium channels – protein "tunnels" through brain cell membranes involved in the electrical conduction of nerve impulses. Read More

Vanderbilt University is making it easy for families and professionals to find autism services by introducing the Vanderbilt Autism Clinic – a single helpline staffed by an autism expert who can make referrals for what\'s needed. Vanderbilt recruited Sarah Zombek to serve as family services coordinator. She held a similar position at Massachusetts General Hospital in an autism clinic with a national reputation for family-centered care. Read More

The Nashville Collaborative, a partnership between the Monroe Carell Jr. Children\'s Hospital at Vanderbilt and Metro Nashville Parks and Recreation to improve child health, will launch Saturday, June 28. Read More

Rally Across America, a non-profit charity bicycle race which raises money for childhood cancer research, will visit the Hematology and Oncology Clinic at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt on Friday, June 27. Read More

After recent efforts to develop a vaccine to protect against AIDS proved ineffective, the National Institutes of Health announced a change in research direction; and it\'s one that will involve the lab of James Crowe, M.D., professor of Pediatrics, Microbiology and Immunology at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children\'s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Read More

With temperatures already hitting the mid-90s, it\'s important to keep a close eye on children, especially those who are active outside. "This is the time that we tend to see more heat-induced illnesses because kids are out of school and more active outdoors,"said Rebecca Swan, M.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children\'s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Read More

President George W. Bush has appointed Jennifer A. Pietenpol, director of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, to the National Cancer Advisory Board. Pietenpol, the B.F. Byrd Jr. Professor of Oncology at Vanderbilt-Ingram, will serve a six-year term through March 9, 2014. Read More