Health and Medicine

January 14, 2014

Vanderbilt study reveals senses of sight and sound separated in children with autism

Children with autism spectrum disorders have trouble integrating simultaneous information from their eyes and their ears–as if they experience the world like a badly-dubbed movie.

By Craig Boerner
cells
January 13, 2014

Searching for beta cell stimulators

Vanderbilt researchers describe a new technique for identifying factors that stimulate the proliferation of pancreatic beta cells – factors that might offer therapeutic options for diabetes.

By Leigh MacMillan
January 10, 2014

A pain in the … genes

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered that variation in the gene encoding the potassium channel GIRK1 plays a role in modulating human pain perception.

By Leigh MacMillan
January 9, 2014

Employment may lead to improvement in autism symptoms

More independent work environments may lead to reductions in autism symptoms and improve daily living in adults with the disorder, according to a Vanderbilt study released in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

By VUMC News and Communications
January 9, 2014

Brain-gut connection in autism

An association between rigid-compulsive behaviors and gastrointestinal symptoms in autism spectrum disorder may point to a common biological pathway that impacts both the brain and the gut.

By Leigh MacMillan
January 9, 2014

Pioneers of Discovery: Investigator seeks to debug cancer’s ‘bad software’

Beyond genetics — that’s the call Oliver McDonald, M.D., Ph.D., heard during the year between college and medical school he spent in a lab at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.

By Bill Snyder
January 8, 2014

Young children engage in physical activity in short spurts; preschoolers take 11 hours to attain daily exercise levels

Preschool-aged children require the majority of their waking day to achieve their recommended daily physical activity, a Vanderbilt study published in Obesity found.
By VUMC News and Communications
January 7, 2014

Vanderbilt study shows suicide risk doesn’t differ in children taking two types of commonly prescribed antidepressants

A new Vanderbilt University Medical Center study shows there is no evidence that the risk of suicide differs with two commonly prescribed antidepressants prescribed to children and adolescents.
By Nancy Humphrey
December 19, 2013

Ancient chemical bond may aid cancer therapy: study

A chemical bond discovered by Vanderbilt University scientists that is essential for animal life and which hastened the “dawn of the animal kingdom” could lead to new therapies for cancer and other diseases.
By Bill Snyder
December 19, 2013

Bariatric surgery’s metabolic impact to be explored

Vanderbilt University researchers have received a two-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study a mouse model of the metabolic and hormonal changes caused by bariatric surgery.
By VUMC News and Communications
December 19, 2013

VU study identifies new gene fusions in melanoma

Cancer researchers, led by investigators at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, have identified two novel gene fusions in melanoma that may be responsive to existing cancer therapies. Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer.
By VUMC News and Communications
December 18, 2013

Targeting tumor “supply lines”

A metabolic enzyme plays a crucial role in vascular development and may be a good target for cancer therapies.
By Leigh MacMillan
December 16, 2013

Cancer drug enhances cognition

The breast cancer drug tamoxifen improves cognitive performance in post-menopausal women.
By Leigh MacMillan