Department of Medicine

December 20, 2017

Sorting patient messages automatically

Automated techniques can assist in understanding and managing growing volumes of messages sent through secure patient portals, Vanderbilt researchers found.

By Paul Govern
gloved hand placing test tube on rack full of other test tubes
December 7, 2017

Searching out pancreatic cancer risk

Vanderbilt researchers have identified a biomarker that could be used to predict pancreatic cancer risk.

By Paul Govern
December 1, 2017

Vitamin C deficiency and mitochondrial dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease

Recent findings suggest that vitamin C deficiency could contribute to Alzheimer’s disease, suggesting that avoiding deficiency through diet and supplementation could protect against disease onset.

By VUMC News and Communications
gloved hand placing test tube on rack full of other test tubes
November 30, 2017

Study uses decision support to reduce unneeded lab tests

Diarrhea has many causes, and when there are prolonged or severe symptoms clinicians sometimes consider lab testing to help guide treatment. But sometimes they stray from published guidelines in the direction of overtesting.

By Paul Govern
November 28, 2017

Research finds midlife women twice as likely as men to have asthma

In childhood, asthma is more common in boys than girls. But around the time of puberty, that picture reverses. By mid-life women are twice as likely as men to have asthma.

By Bill Snyder
November 16, 2017

Team’s mobile app helping health care workers in Africa

A smartphone application called mUzima, developed for healthcare workers by Vanderbilt’s Martin Were, MD, MS, and his team, is catching on in eastern Africa.

By Paul Govern
November 13, 2017

Salt, inflammation and hypertension

Vanderbilt researchers have identified a pathway that links excess sodium, inflammation and hypertension.
By Leigh MacMillan
November 9, 2017

HIV outreach and return to care

When chronic disease patients let their care lapse and fail to show for clinic appointments, it may behoove clinics to reach out and encourage a return to care.
By Paul Govern
November 1, 2017

Bioactive lipids and rheumatoid arthritis

An enzyme that produces bioactive fatty acids has elevated activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, supporting further studies to understand its biologic roles in the disease.
By Leigh MacMillan
October 26, 2017

Team to develop steerable robotic needle for biopsies

Collaboration between a mechanical engineer at Vanderbilt University and a pulmonologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has resulted in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 grant that will be used to develop a steerable robotic needle to safely biopsy hard-to-reach lung nodules.
By Kathy Whitney
October 19, 2017

McGill University honors Roden’s research career

Dan Roden, M.D., Senior Vice President for Personalized Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), was named to receive the 2017 Medicine Alumni Global Lifetime Achievement Award by the Faculty of Medicine of his alma mater, McGill University.
By Doug Campbell
October 18, 2017

Calcium intake and colorectal cancer

Calcium intake appears to protect against colorectal cancer in individuals with certain gene variants, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.
By Leigh MacMillan
October 17, 2017

Researchers find novel mechanism of resistance to anti-cancer drugs

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered a novel non-genetic cause of resistance to the targeted anti-cancer therapy cetuximab. Their findings, reported this week in Nature Medicine, suggest a strategy for overcoming this resistance.
By Leigh MacMillan