Vanderbilt Center for Immunobiology

Potential AML therapy induces leukemic stem cell death

Vanderbilt researchers are studying a potential therapy for acute myeloid leukemia that targets the residual leukemic stem cells in bone marrow after treatment that are responsible for relapses and drug resistance.

Alyssa Hasty, PhD, left, Jeffrey Rathmell, PhD, and Kamran Idrees, MD, MSCI, are part of a multidisciplinary team that received a 2023 Endeavor Award from The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research to study the connection between obesity and cancer. Team members not pictured include Kathryn Wellen, PhD, Liza Makowski, PhD, and Kathryn Beckermann, MD, PhD.

Vanderbilt-led team receives 2023 Endeavor Award from The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research

A multidisciplinary team of investigators has received a 2023 Endeavor Award from The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research to support four closely linked projects exploring the fundamental mechanisms that drive the obesity-cancer connection,

Jeffrey Rathmell, PhD, left, and Kelsey Voss, PhD, led a multidisciplinary team that identified iron metabolism in T cells as a potential target for treating lupus.

Study identifies potential new approach for treating lupus

A Vanderbilt study found that targeting iron metabolism in immune system cells may offer a new approach for treating systemic lupus erythematosus — the most common form of the chronic autoimmune disease lupus.

The study team included (front row, from left) Kelsey Voss, PhD, Rachel Bonami, PhD, Erin Wilfong, MD, PhD, (back row, from left) Jonathan Irish, PhD, Jeff Rathmell, PhD, and Ivelin Georgiev, PhD.

Vanderbilt team tracks cellular and antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccine

In a technical tour de force, a collaborative team of Vanderbilt researchers has characterized the antigen-specific immune response to the Pfizer SARS-CoV-2 RNA vaccine.

Ayaka Sugiura and Jeff Rathmell, PhD, are studying a metabolic enzyme involved in T cell function that may offer a new target for anti-inflammatory therapeutics.

CRISPR screen identifies new anti-inflammatory drug target

A novel CRISPR screen developed by Vanderbilt researchers identified a promising new target for anti-inflammatory therapeutics.

From left, Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, Bradley Reinfeld, Matthew Madden and Jeffrey Rathmell, PhD, have discovered that immune cells — not cancer cells — are the major glucose consumers in the tumor microenvironment, upending a century-old observation.

Study revises understanding of cancer metabolism

Tumors consume glucose at high rates, but a team of Vanderbilt researchers has discovered that cancer cells themselves are not the culprit, upending models of cancer metabolism that have been developed and refined over the last 100 years.