Health and Medicine

March 22, 2016

New treatment for Crohn’s disease

A new biological therapy, ustekinumab, improves markers of disease activity in patients with severe Crohn’s disease.

By Leigh MacMillan
March 21, 2016

Putting schizophrenia to bed

A new compound developed at Vanderbilt treats multiple symptoms of schizophrenia in an animal model, without causing sedation.

By VUMC News and Communications
March 17, 2016

ROCKs and cancer invasion

The rigidity of the microenvironment around cancer cells drives invasive behavior through distinct ROCK signaling pathways, which could guide the development of specific anti-invasive therapies.

By Sanjay Mishra
alarm clock
March 17, 2016

Study suggests cancer’s ‘clock’ can be rewound

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have “turned back the clock” in a mouse model of metaplasia — precancerous stomach lesions — raising hopes that gastric cancer, a worldwide scourge that’s rising in the United States, can be prevented.

By Bill Snyder
March 17, 2016

Study explores gene’s role in protecting HIV patients from TB

An international research team led by scientists from Vanderbilt University Medical Center has identified a genetic variant that protects people with HIV from developing active tuberculosis. The variant is near the gene encoding the infection-fighting cytokine IL-12.

By Bill Snyder
March 17, 2016

Study explores carb-loading’s effect on heart

Drinking a high carbohydrate shake can have an acute and detrimental effect on heart function, a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) has found.

By Kathy Whitney
March 10, 2016

IOM study calls for better evidence for biomarker tests

Biomarker tests that help determine which patients may benefit from molecularly targeted therapies need better evidence and oversight to improve their effectiveness and availability, according to a study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
By VUMC News and Communications
March 10, 2016

Pioneering diabetes researcher Park celebrates 100th birthday

Pioneering Vanderbilt diabetes researcher Charles R. “Rollo” Park, M.D., celebrated his 100th birthday on March 2 at the Heritage of Brentwood with his wife of more than 70 years, Jane Park, Ph.D., professor emerita of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics.
By Bill Snyder
March 9, 2016

Eye of a cytokine storm

A new animal model can be used to “dissect” the inflammatory response to infection.
By Bill Snyder
March 8, 2016

Fat hormone’s role in zebrafish

The hormone leptin regulates glucose balance, but not fat stores, in zebrafish.
By Leigh MacMillan
March 7, 2016

Vanderbilt researchers identify potential antibody treatment for H7 avian flu

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have isolated human antibodies against a type of bird flu that has killed more than 200 people in China since 2012 and which may pose a worldwide pandemic threat.
By Bill Snyder
March 7, 2016

A clue to cell cleavage

Actin and microtubule cytoskeletons are coordinated during cytokinesis – the process that separates one cell into two and is linked to events underlying cancer.
By Sanjay Mishra
March 3, 2016

Melanoma response to immune therapy

Melanoma-specific expression of a certain protein identifies tumors that are more responsive to an immune therapy.
By Leigh MacMillan