A technique called whole-exome sequencing (WES) has been used for the first time at Vanderbilt University to identify new genetic variations associated with a common disease — a heart rhythm abnormality called atrial fibrillation (AF).

Science and beauty are linked, for when a scientist makes a discovery, “she sees something truly beautiful for the first time and reveals that beauty to the world.”

Vanderbilt University’s Richard Armstrong, Ph.D., is part of a multi-institutional research team that has found a new way to interrogate a “super family” of enzymes involved in detoxification, cellular metabolism and antibiotic resistance, which have many other as-yet-undiscovered functions.

Laurie Glimcher, M.D., recipient of the 2013 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science, will deliver her Vanderbilt Prize Lecture on Thursday, May 1.