Research

February 2, 2017

New Physician Science Doctoral Program graduates first student

As a fellow in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Bradley Richmond, M.D., saw a lot of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an inflammatory lung disease caused most often by long-term exposure to cigarette smoke.

By Bill Snyder
Black and white photo of nurse and child in hospital from the 1960s
February 1, 2017

Early experience with federal health coverage suggests how future Medicaid reforms may work

Proposed Medicaid reforms are similar to the capped federal financing system in place during the ’50s and early ’60s, when states generally reimbursed a much smaller proportion of health care for the needy.

By VUMC News and Communications
Mid adult African American female pediatrician uses a tongue depressor to look at her young Filipino patient's throat.
January 26, 2017

Studies find tonsillectomies offer only modest benefits

Removing tonsils modestly reduced throat infections in the short term in children with moderate obstructive sleep-disordered breathing or recurrent throat infections, according to a systematic review conducted by the Vanderbilt Evidence-based Practice Center for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

By Matt Batcheldor
January 25, 2017

Flu vaccine response in older adults

High dose flu vaccine boosts the immune response in older adults by increasing activation of certain immune cells.

By Leigh MacMillan
January 24, 2017

Saliva test for obesity risk

“Epigenetic signatures” in DNA may present an opportunity for prevention of or early intervention in childhood obesity.

By Bill Snyder
January 20, 2017

Improving vaccine formulations

The compound MPLA is an attractive vaccine component, designed to elicit a robust immune response.

By Sanjay Mishra
January 19, 2017

Colorectal cancer clues

Although cancers arising from different areas of the large intestine are heterogeneous, they appear to use similar important tumorigenic pathways.
By Leigh MacMillan
January 19, 2017

Surprising finding by VU team sheds light on fibrotic disease

Integrins are membrane proteins made up of combinations of different “alpha” and “beta” subunits that enable cells throughout the body to interact with their surroundings.
By Bill Snyder
January 19, 2017

Metastatic pancreatic cancer ‘reprograms’ for malignancy

Metastatic pancreatic cancer — cancer that has spread from the pancreas to other tissues and is responsible for most patient deaths — changes its metabolism and is “reprogrammed” for optimal malignancy, according to new findings reported Jan. 16 in Nature Genetics.
By Leigh MacMillan
January 19, 2017

GRE may be poor predictor of science success: study

Since it was created in 1949, the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) has been one of the most widely used requirements for admission to U.S. graduate schools. As a predictor of performance and success in graduate school, however, the exam is not without its critics.
By Bill Snyder
January 19, 2017

Amount of daylight may impact serotonin programming

The duration of exposure to daylight, or the “photoperiod,” may affect development of seasonal affective disorder by programming serotonin neurons in the brain, according to Vanderbilt University researchers.
By Bill Snyder
January 17, 2017

A heart-brain connection

Cognitive and attention deficits observed in children following surgery before age 5 to repair congenital heart defects likely will persist into their teens and young adulthood.
By Bill Snyder
January 16, 2017

Softening tumor tissue could aid cancer treatments

Tumors cause the intracellular material surrounding them to stiffen. Softening this protective layer could make existing cancer treatments more effective, according to new research.
By VUMC News and Communications
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