Aliquots - Research Briefs

An initiative at VUMC is helping patients recover more quickly from major surgery, leave the hospital earlier and have fewer side effects from their pain management. (photo by Joe Howell)
December 2, 2025

Ketamine fails surgical recovery trial

In a large, placebo-controlled, randomized trial, the pain reliever ketamine posed side effects while failing to aid patient recovery after major surgery.

By Paul Govern
November 6, 2025

Inflammatory marker could predict response to therapy in bladder pain syndrome

Patients with chronic bladder pain syndrome who had higher baseline levels of the inflammatory molecule IL-1beta had greater overall improvement following cognitive behavioral therapy.

By Georgia Caso
November 3, 2025

Prescribing with purpose

A Vanderbilt University Medical Center study finds unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions in hospitalized children and highlights opportunity for antibiotic stewardship.

By Chelsea N. Campbell
October 7, 2025

Human milk pasteurization method impacts preterm infant microbiome

Researchers used whole-metagenome sequencing to assess the composition, diversity and functional enrichment of the preterm infant gut microbiome — the microorganisms that aid digestion, immune function and metabolism.

By Leigh MacMillan
September 10, 2025

Death on the web

Cause of death often lies buried amid content on crowdfunding platforms, web-based obituaries and memorial websites. With AI assistance, gathering and combining this mortality data with medical records could help power research and public health.

By Paul Govern
September 9, 2025

Cheating Alzheimer’s

Most people whose brains exhibit Alzheimer’s pathology don’t have the disease; they reach the end of their lives never having exhibited cognitive impairment. A new study examines the genetics of this resilience.

By Paul Govern
August 7, 2025

Healthy plant-based diets reduce risk of death in long-term VUMC study

The findings published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggest that efforts to promote diets high in healthy plant foods and low in animal foods could improve health outcomes.
By Guillermo Sanchez, PhD
June 4, 2025

VUMC team finds potential target to slow atherosclerosis

The research findings suggest that regulating the immune response to high cholesterol through the protein CaMK4 could enhance blood vessel repair and slow atherosclerosis progression.
By Guillermo Sanchez, PhD
April 8, 2025

A link between bacterial infection and colorectal cancer: study

Understanding factors that contribute to the development of colorectal cancer could point to new targets for treating the disease at earlier stages, when survival rates are highest.
By Leigh MacMillan
March 5, 2025

Team finds a better way to identify newborns at risk for opioid withdrawal

By 2017, on the back of the opioid crisis, the rate of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome in the U.S. was estimated to have reached 7.3 per 1000 deliveries. Meanwhile, many newborns exposed to opioids in utero never develop the syndrome and must undergo needless monitoring in the hospital after birth.
By Paul Govern
March 4, 2025

Skin tone may affect accuracy of blood oxygen measurement in children: study

One of two commonly used oximetry devices failed to detect low oxygen levels in 7% of patients with the darkest skin tone.
By Bill Snyder
February 17, 2025

Weight-loss surgery associated with reduced dementia

An observational study found that bariatric surgery was associated with 63% reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
By Paul Govern
December 16, 2024

There goes the sun

Too much screen time might leave little darling deficient in vitamin D.
By Paul Govern
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