Aliquots - Research Briefs

May 2, 2024

The big sort 

A new interactive tool presents information on noncoding RNA in extracellular vesicles — agents of cell-cell communication that may have a future in medical diagnosis and therapeutics.

By Paul Govern
April 22, 2024

AI to doctors: Beat that! 

Artificial intelligence programs outperformed doctors at answering typical patient questions — suggesting they could be used to write first-draft responses and help speed doctors’ work.

By Paul Govern
March 28, 2024

VUMC team discovers antibodies that may prevent severe respiratory illness

Using a technique developed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, researchers identified antibodies that are excellent leads as potential therapies for human parainfluenza virus 3, a leading cause of acute and potentially fatal respiratory illness.

By Bill Snyder
February 1, 2024

A biomarker for early Type 2 diabetes

Genetic analyses suggest that branched chain amino acids may be a sensitive biomarker of early or subclinical Type 2 diabetes and could be used to identify risk and implement preventive measures.

By Bill Snyder
January 16, 2024

Data haul improves immunotherapy response prediction

Vanderbilt biostatisticians have developed an immunotherapy response model that outperforms existing predictive models.

By Paul Govern
January 2, 2024

Team uses COVID-19 to test automated acute disease profiling

An automated solution for creating phenotyping algorithms, PheNorm, worked well to identify symptomatic COVID-19 cases in electronic health records, suggesting that automation could speed high-throughput phenotyping of acute disease.

By Paul Govern
December 29, 2023

Glucose metabolism influences B cell function

Glucose metabolism influences the qualities of activated, mature B cells — white blood cells that are required for antibody-mediated immune responses, Vanderbilt researchers discovered.
By Leigh MacMillan
December 19, 2023

Melanoma, anyone?

Collegiate tennis and golf athletes aren’t using enough sunscreen according to a recent survey; meanwhile, the deadly skin cancer melanoma is on the rise.
By Paul Govern
December 8, 2023

You missed a few: a better way to count health care-associated influenza cases

The traditional definition of health care-associated influenza leads to gross undercounting, a Vanderbilt study suggests.
By Paul Govern
December 6, 2023

Pasteurization reduces bioactive component of breast milk

Pasteurization of breast milk affects the concentration of osteopontin, a bioactive protein with roles in intestinal, immunological and brain development — suggesting that osteopontin supplementation should be considered when donor milk is provided to preterm infants.
By Leigh MacMillan
December 5, 2023

Role of immunity in kidney injury hints at a potential therapy: study

Targeting the cytokine IL-22 could be a new therapeutic approach to prevent kidney injury caused by drugs or toxins, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.
By Bill Snyder
November 21, 2023

Commensal gut bacterium protects from severe intestinal infection

The commensal bacterium Turicibacter sanguinis could be used to protect against severe intestinal infections, Vanderbilt researchers discovered.
By Leigh MacMillan
November 16, 2023

Nasty microbe H. pylori has Achilles’ heel

Vanderbilt researchers found that an H. pylori enzyme is essential for colonization of the stomach, suggesting it as a promising therapeutic target for H. pylori infection.
By Paul Govern