Health and Medicine

June 21, 2021

Dexmedetomidine and delirium

The sedative dexmedetomidine, when administered during or after heart surgery, is associated with postoperative delirium and adverse outcomes.

By Paul Govern
June 17, 2021

COVID-19 complication underdiagnosed

A mysterious inflammatory syndrome linked to COVID-19 infection and first identified in children also occurs in adults, Vanderbilt researchers report.

By VUMC News and Communications
June 17, 2021

Drug allergy labels in medical records power searches for gene-drug associations

By Paul Govern
June 17, 2021

New neurodegeneration culprit

A young woman with a puzzling neurological illness and novel genetic variant pointed investigators to a role for dysregulated protein kinase D1 in neurodegeneration.

By Paul Govern
June 3, 2021

VUMC team discovers new genetic disease

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have discovered a new genetic disease that causes a severe form of neurogenic orthostatic hypotension, a rapid drop in blood pressure upon standing that can cause fainting.

By Bill Snyder
June 3, 2021

Predictive model identifies patients for genetic testing

Patients who, perhaps unbeknownst to their health care providers, are in need of genetic testing for rare undiagnosed diseases can be identified en masse based on routine information in electronic health records (EHRs), a research team reported June 3 in the journal Nature Medicine.

By Paul Govern
May 25, 2021

Heat for hypertension in autonomic failure

Heat therapy could offer a novel nonpharmacologic approach for treating the overnight hypertension that affects patients with autonomic failure.
By Leigh MacMillan
May 20, 2021

New clue to lung scarring

Vanderbilt neonatology team pinpoints signaling pathways involved in the progressive lung fibrosis that occurs in rare genetic diseases.
By Bill Snyder
May 20, 2021

Beta cell regeneration

Vanderbilt researchers dissected the complex microenvironment of the pancreatic islet to discover the signals that drive beta cell regeneration — as a possible treatment for diabetes.
By Leigh MacMillan
May 13, 2021

People at high genetic risk for colorectal cancer benefit more from lifestyle changes

People with a high polygenic risk score for colorectal cancer could benefit more at preventing the disease by leading healthy lifestyles than those at lower genetic risk, according to a study by Vanderbilt researchers published in the April issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
By Tom Wilemon
May 12, 2021

Nominations sought for Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar

Nominations for the 2021 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar are now open. The deadline is June 1.
By Bill Snyder
May 6, 2021

VUMC to lead national study to treat severe COVID complications

The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) has been awarded a major federal grant to lead a national trial of treatments targeting the Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System (RAAS) in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
By Bill Snyder
May 6, 2021

Study finds that regulatory protein prevents signaling that triggers cell death

A protein implicated in neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis prevents the activation of an innate immune response that leads to cell death, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.
By Leigh MacMillan