Author: Bill Snyder

Nanoparticles boost anti-cancer immunity

Aug. 16, 2022—An ingenious targeted nanoparticle approach developed by Vanderbilt researchers reduced tumor burden in a model of ovarian cancer.

Eighteen high school students and 16 college undergraduates participated in the Aspirnaut program this summer. Program co-founders Billy Hudson, PhD, and Julie Hudson, MD, MA, are at far left and right. Fourth from right, back row, is Aspirnaut alumna Lauren Taylor, from Grapevine, Arkansas, who participated in the inaugural Aspirnaut program 15 years ago — a broadband internet-equipped school bus the Hudsons dubbed their “mobile one-room schoolhouse,” which enabled students to log into science and math lessons during their long bus rides to and from school.

Science career “pipeline” garners national attention

Aug. 3, 2022—Vanderbilt's Aspirnaut STEM pipeline for diversity and wellness recently celebrated its 15th anniversary with a daylong scientific symposium, followed by a feature on the program broadcast Aug. 2 on NBC Nightly News.

Embryo screening for mental illness questioned

Aug. 3, 2022—Report finds polygenic embryo screening (PES) does not provide an accurate measure of the risk of developing psychiatric disorders later in life.

Video vital for telehealth visits

Jul. 28, 2022—Vanderbilt study of 18,130 telehealth visits at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic defines risk factors associated with telehealth access and suggests how health systems can improve access.

C. difficile may contribute to colorectal cancer: study

Jul. 28, 2022—A Vanderbilt study found that the bacterium Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) may be a previously unrecognized contributor to colorectal cancer.

Difficulty swallowing linked to chronic opioid use: study

Jul. 21, 2022—Vanderbilt researchers found that chronic use of opioid painkillers like hydrocodone and oxycodone significantly increases the risk of dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing.

Longtime division leader earns degree, accolades

Jul. 21, 2022—Vanderbilt's Amy Shelton, MS, has been awarded a Master of Science Degree in Research Administration with Honors from the Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

Vanderbilt MSTP students receive P.E.O. Scholar Awards

Jul. 14, 2022—Three aspiring physician-scientists in Vanderbilt University’s Medical Scientist Training Program are among this year’s recipients of highly competitive P.E.O. Scholar Awards.

Darling honored by Society of Research Administrators

Jul. 14, 2022—Vanderbilt's Heather Darling, PMP, has been selected as a Future of the Field honoree by the Society of Research Administrators International.

Catherine Shelton was selected as the 2022 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar.

Grad student Shelton selected as Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar

Jul. 13, 2022—Catherine Shelton has been selected as the 2022 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar.

Preempting sudden cardiac death

Jul. 7, 2022—A technique to characterize all variants in genes associated with arrhythmia could improve the ability to identify and preemptively treat individuals at risk for sudden cardiac death.

Stephen Raffanti, MD, MPH, with longtime colleague Quentella Carpenter, patient care programs coordinator at the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Clinic.

Breaking the stigma of AIDS part of Raffanti’s long legacy

Jul. 7, 2022—On June 29 Stephen Raffanti, MD, MPH, hung up his scrubs at the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Clinic for the last time. It was a bittersweet moment for the man who helped lead Nashville out of the darkest days of the AIDS epidemic 30 years ago.