Additional booster doses of vaccine against COVID-19 are particularly important for those who are immunosuppressed, namely those who have had solid organ transplants, a new study shows.

April is National Donate Life Month. A total of 109 people gave the gift of life as deceased organ donors at VUMC in 2021, resulting in saving 280 lives, more than any other year, according to Tennessee Donor Services (TDS). A total of 203 people were tissue donors, enhancing the lives of 3,165 people, reported TDS, the federally designated donor network that facilitates organ and tissue donation in the region.

Juan Pablo Arroyo, MD, PhD, instructor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, and Andrew Terker, MD, PhD, research fellow in Nephrology, each received an inaugural 2022 Emerging Generation Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

Matthew Clark, MD, clinical fellow in Pediatric Rheumatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, won the Elliott V. Newman Prize for best abstract during the 40th annual Research Forum hosted April 5 by the VUMC Office of Graduate Medical Education and House Staff Advisory Council. VUMC House Staff presented Dario Englot, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Neurological Surgery and Surgical Director of Epilepsy, with the Grant W. Liddle Award for his “commitment and leadership in promoting an interest in research among young physicians.”

The Vanderbilt Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences is celebrating 70 years of serving people with hearing, speech, language and related disorders.

Eric Nestler, MD, PhD, renowned for his studies of the molecular basis of drug addiction and depression, will deliver the next Discovery Lecture on Thursday, April 21.