Life, Earth and Space

December 17, 2009

Astronomer receives NSF award to study black holes’ evolution and to support Fisk-Vanderbilt minority Ph.D. program

Vanderbilt University Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Kelly Holley-Bockelmann has been awarded the National Science Foundation’s largest ever Faculty Early Career Development grant in the field of astronomy. She will use the prestigious award to continue her studies of black holes while supporting the university’s innovative program designed to make the university the top producer of underrepresented minorities with Ph.D.s in physics and astronomy.

By VUMC News and Communications
November 17, 2009

New study confirms exotic electric properties of graphene

First, it was the soccer-ball-shaped molecules dubbed buckyballs. Then it was the cylindrically shaped nanotubes. Now, the hottest new material in physics and nanotechnology is graphene: a remarkably flat molecule made of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal rings much like molecular chicken wire.

By VUMC News and Communications
November 9, 2009

Interdisciplinary research team to develop novel drug detection technology using software that acts like a robotic scientist

With the support of a $2.7 million Recovery Act grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), an interdisciplinary team headed by Vanderbilt chemist John McLean and physicist John Wikswo will attempt to determine whether an individual’s white blood cells retain chemical memories of exposure to drugs like cocaine and alcohol that can be read reliably and unambiguously.

By VUMC News and Communications
October 30, 2009

Inconspicuous leaf beetles reveal environment’s role in formation of new species

Unnoticed by the nearby residents of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, tiny leaf beetles that flit among the maple and willow trees in the area have just provided some of the clearest evidence yet that environmental factors play a major role in the formation of new species.

By VUMC News and Communications
October 8, 2009

Vanderbilt biologist receives early career development award to study tree of life

Antonis Rokas is a member of a small cadre of scientists who are applying the growing power of genomics to untangle and correctly arrange the branches of the tree of life.
October 5, 2009

First direct information about the prion’s molecular structure reported

A collaboration between scientists at Vanderbilt University and the University of California, San Francisco has led to the first direct information about the molecular structure of prions. In addition, the study has revealed surprisingly large structural differences between natural prions and the closest synthetic analogs that scientists have created in the lab.

By VUMC News and Communications
October 1, 2009

Vanderbilt astronomers participate in new search for dark energy

The most ambitious attempt yet to trace the history of the universe has seen "first light." The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III), took its first astronomical data on the night of Sept. 14-15 at the Sloan Foundation telescope in New Mexico.
By VUMC News and Communications
August 13, 2009

Vanderbilt chemist receives grant to develop animal testing alternative

Vanderbilt chemist David Cliffel has received a grant from the Alternatives Research & Development Foundation to assess the potential of an advanced cell monitoring system for reducing the use of animals in toxicity testing.
By VUMC News and Communications
June 15, 2009

Vanderbilt doctors and software engineers pioneer an advanced sepsis detection and management system

Jason Martin, a fellow in allergy, pulmonary and critical care medicine, is part of an interdisciplinary team at Vanderbilt University that has come up with a high-tech approach to combat this deadly illness, which is one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States and kills more than half a million people worldwide every year.
By VUMC News and Communications
April 15, 2009

Chemists synthesize herbal alkaloid

A team of synthetic chemists at Vanderbilt University report in the March 18 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society that they have created an efficient way to make a naturally occurring alkaloid that could have anti-cancer properties and may combat memory loss from scratch.
By VUMC News and Communications
February 27, 2009

Molecular biologist receives Humboldt Research Award

Ellen H. Fanning, Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University, has received a 2009 Humboldt Research Award.
By VUMC News and Communications
January 29, 2009

Vanderbilt biochemist receives 2009 Sigma Xi award

Brandt F. Eichman, assistant professor of biological sciences and biochemistry at Vanderbilt University, has received Sigma Xi's Young Investigator Award.
By VUMC News and Communications
September 3, 2008

New nano device detects immune system cell signaling

Scientists have detected previously unnoticed chemical signals that individual cells in the immune system use to communicate with each other over short distances.
By VUMC News and Communications
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