Nancy Brown, M.D., Hugh J. Morgan Professor and chair of the Department of Medicine in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, delivered a mixture of accolades and challenges to the dozens of faculty members, residents and fellows who attended her annual State of the Department address last week in Langford Auditorium.

A five-year National Cancer Institute grant will fund an interdisciplinary research center for the study of small cell lung cancer, a highly aggressive, incurable form of the disease.

Common sequences of antibodies against HIV may be key to developing a successful vaccine strategy for the virus.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center, through the Institute for Medicine and Public Health (IMPH), Center for Health Services Research and the Department of Emergency Medicine, has established a new Center for Emergency Care Research and Innovation (CERI) to help determine the best care for patients who experience trauma or require emergency services — even before they get to the hospital.

A research-dedicated PET/CT scanner installed recently in the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science (VUIIS) will expand opportunities for Vanderbilt researchers to conduct studies of a wide range of disorders, from cancer to Alzheimer’s disease.

Thirty years ago when she was 16, Katie Niemeyer was prescribed carbamazepine for depression. Three weeks later she was in a St. Louis, Missouri, burn unit with second and third degree burns all over her body. “My parents were told the chances of me surviving were slim,” she said.