The brains of children who are obese function differently from those of children of healthy weight, and exhibit an “imbalance” between food-seeking and food-avoiding behaviors, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have found.

A team of Vanderbilt investigators developed a new method for rapidly generating heart muscle cells from stem cells.

Scott Baldwin, M.D., director of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology, recently was awarded the American Heart Association’s Helen B. Taussig Memorial Lecture, considered one of the most renowned invited lectures in the United States.

Microtubules — cellular “highways” that deliver cargo to the cell membrane for secretion — have a surprising role in pancreatic beta cells. Instead of facilitating glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, they limit it, a team of Vanderbilt investigators reported recently in Developmental Cell.

Understanding how macrophage immune cells accumulate in fat tissue and contribute to the pathology of obesity could lead to the development of novel therapeutics for metabolic disorders.

A system to ensure that children with stroke-like symptoms receive emergency evaluations results in faster diagnosis and treatment for patients with the condition, a team of physicians and researchers at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt has shown.

A metabolic change in adult stem cells makes them less “fit” for regenerative heart therapies, suggesting that strategies to prevent this response may boost the therapeutic usefulness of the cells.