Aaron Bowman

Pediatric health conditions, their treatments and the related stress hinder the prefrontal cortex, which is the region of the brain associated with learning, memory and behavior. (istock)

Goal of new tissue-chip research is to assess efficacy of novel epilepsy drugs

An interdisciplinary team of Vanderbilt University researchers has received a two-year, $2-million federal grant to develop an “organ-on-chip” model for two genetic forms of epilepsy.

Copper toxicity and Parkinson’s

A genetic predisposition to Parkinson’s disease makes neurons more vulnerable to the toxicity of heavy metals such as copper.

New tools to probe manganese biology

Vanderbilt researchers have developed tools to probe the role of the essential metal manganese in neurons, and which offer a started point for developing therapeutic agents for manganese-related neurological disorders.

Grant aids search for Restless Legs Syndrome treatment

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been selected as one of three sites to share a three-year, $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore the potential therapeutic properties of manganese, a chemical element and biologically essential trace mineral, in treating Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS).

Clinic helps patients cope with Huntington’s disease

Melissa Darnall could easily look around her family reunions and pick out who had Huntington’s disease (HD). The genetic disorder had affected four of her five aunts and uncles and her father, and the balance problems and shakiness typical of HD were readily apparent in those siblings.