Variation in the gene for the beta-1 adrenergic receptor increases the risk that a patient will have an abnormal heart rhythm after cardiac surgery.

Targeting the production of molecules that promote tumor blood vessel development offers a new path for treating lung cancer.

Beginning with staff and faculty of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, VU Card Services will replace employee identification badges with a newly designed, contactless “smart” card.

A program launched by Schnelle in January 2013 aims to reduce readmissions for Medicare patients transferred from Vanderbilt University Hospital to any of 23 area skilled nursing facilities, or SNFs. The specific goal is 17 percent reduction, by 2015, in 30-day hospital readmissions directly from these SNFs.

Joey Barnett, Ph.D., has been named assistant dean and director of the Office for Medical Student Research.

Ron Vale, Ph.D., co-discoverer of the molecular “motor” kinesin, spent the first 10 minutes of his Flexner Discovery Lecture last week talking not about science, but about science communication.

Rob Naftel, M.D., traveled more than 8,000 miles to learn a new surgical technique to treat hydrocephalus, the buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain.