Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) patient William Ostman smiled while gazing into a camera lens and declared, “I am a prostate cancer survivor.”

Two longtime Vanderbilt nurses are starting the year in new leadership positions with greater responsibilities for nursing education and advanced practice, respectively.

Cancer is bad enough. But cancer patients who receive surgery, radiation and chemotherapy may suffer from side effects that run from irritating to crippling — problems that are postural, musculoskeletal and respiratory, along with lowered self-esteem.

The Lustgarten Foundation has awarded a $1.5 million Research Investigator Grant to Stephen Fesik, Ph.D., professor of Biochemistry, Pharmacology and Chemistry, for research designed to discover new drugs for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Newly discovered genetic variations linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) disrupt the function of the dopamine transporter, suggesting that altered dopamine signaling contributes to this common developmental condition, according to a Vanderbilt University-led research team.

New findings suggest a previously unrecognized role for the Sox10 transcription factor in Hirschsprung’s disease, and may lead to improved diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for this disease.