Boston University biomedical engineer and MacArthur Fellow James Collins, Ph.D., will lecture at 3:10 p.m. Oct. 23 in the Jacobs Believed in Me Auditorium, part of the Vanderbilt School of Engineering’s Featheringill Hall.

Importin alpha 5, a member of a family of proteins that “shuttle” other proteins into the nucleus, is a potential new target for drugs to treat inflammatory diseases.

Kathleen Neuzil, M.D., MPH, known internationally for her efforts to expand vaccine access and delivery around the world, credited her Vanderbilt University mentors last week for guiding her to a career path that allowed her to “make a difference.”

The occasional failings of science tend to draw big headlines — findings that can’t be replicated or increasing numbers of papers that are retracted because studies were improperly or even fraudulently conducted.

While the national economy appears to be getting stronger, health care has entered a national recession, Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told a packed audience of approximately 1,100 Vanderbilt faculty, staff and students in Langford Auditorium on Wednesday afternoon while making his annual State of the Medical Center address.

Over the past three years, Vanderbilt University more than quadrupled earnings from its technology commercialization efforts — to more than $24.5 million in the 2013 fiscal year that ended June 30, officials have announced.