Bill Snyder

June 23, 2021

Common mechanism found for diverse brain disorders: study

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have identified a common mechanism underlying a spectrum of epilepsy syndromes and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, that are caused by variations in a gene encoding a vital transporter protein in the brain.

By Bill Snyder
June 22, 2021

Combination antibody therapies should retain effectiveness against emerging COVID-19 variants: study

Five monoclonal antibody “cocktails,” including one developed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), are protective in animal studies against several variant strains of COVID-19, according to a report this week in the journal Nature.

By Bill Snyder
June 21, 2021

Two VUMC physician-scientists win Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Awards

Two physician-scientist Instructors in Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) — Jeeyeon Cha, MD, PhD, and Celestine Wanjalla, MD, PhD — are among 12 recipients of the 2021 Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) Career Award for Medical Scientists.

By Bill Snyder
June 16, 2021

VUMC joins national effort to improve disease prediction in diverse populations

Vanderbilt University Medical Center will participate in a new federal initiative aimed at improving the use of polygenic risk scores (PRS) to predict complex diseases in diverse populations.

By Bill Snyder
June 8, 2021

VUMC team develops potential treatment for life-threatening microbial inflammation

A cell-penetrating peptide developed by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center can prevent, in an animal model, the often-fatal septic shock that can result from bacterial and viral infections.

By Bill Snyder
June 3, 2021

VUMC team discovers new genetic disease

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have discovered a new genetic disease that causes a severe form of neurogenic orthostatic hypotension, a rapid drop in blood pressure upon standing that can cause fainting.

By Bill Snyder
May 26, 2021

VUMC researchers receive grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to develop biomarkers to improve the diagnosis of acute heart failure

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have received a four-year, $6.2-million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to develop a novel panel of biomarkers to improve the diagnosis of acute heart failure (AHF).
By Bill Snyder
May 20, 2021

New clue to lung scarring

Vanderbilt neonatology team pinpoints signaling pathways involved in the progressive lung fibrosis that occurs in rare genetic diseases.
By Bill Snyder
May 12, 2021

Nominations sought for Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar

Nominations for the 2021 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar are now open. The deadline is June 1.
By Bill Snyder
May 6, 2021

VUMC to lead national study to treat severe COVID complications

The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) has been awarded a major federal grant to lead a national trial of treatments targeting the Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System (RAAS) in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
By Bill Snyder
May 5, 2021

Dire need to reform organ procurement rules: Karp

A rule requiring greater accountability from organ procurement organizations (OPOs) will increase the nation’s supply of organs donated for transplantation, but it must be implemented quickly and effectively, Seth Karp, MD, director of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center, testified before Congress on Tuesday, May 4.
By Bill Snyder
April 29, 2021

Genetic ancestry and hypertension risk

Racial disparities in hypertension risk are due in part to genetic differences between ancestries, Vanderbilt investigators find in a study of participants in the Million Veteran Program.
By Bill Snyder