Department of Pharmacology

August 25, 2016

Study suggests new way to treat rare autism disorder

A protein that plays a powerful role in learning and memory may be a key to improving treatment of a rare autism spectrum disorder called Pitt-Hopkins syndrome (PTHS), a new study suggests.

By Bill Snyder
August 11, 2016

Transcription factor evolution

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a novel model of evolution for factors that control gene expression.

By Sanjay Mishra
hamburger and fries
August 1, 2016

Possible overeating antidote

The 2C-subtype of the serotonin receptor (5HT2C), which binds the neurotransmitter serotonin, plays an important role in regulating food intake and metabolism.

By Bill Snyder
May 3, 2016

Drug combos for glioblastoma

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered that activation of a certain signaling pathway protects brain cancers from targeted therapies, suggesting that using therapeutics that block both pathways may be a promising treatment.

By Leigh MacMillan
April 21, 2016

Honoring Blakely

Meagan Quinlan, a Pharmacology graduate student in the laboratory of Randy Blakely, Ph.D., honored her mentor Tuesday during the 25th Annual Joel G. Hardman Student-Invited Pharmacology Forum in Light Hall.

By VUMC News and Communications
April 20, 2016

How strep grabs on to platelets

New structural details of the binding of the bacterium Streptococcus sanguinis to platelets may offer new therapeutics for life-threatening cardiovascular infections.

By VUMC News and Communications
March 9, 2016

Eye of a cytokine storm

A new animal model can be used to “dissect” the inflammatory response to infection.
By Bill Snyder
March 3, 2016

Schizophrenia expert Coyle set for next Flexner Discovery Lecture

Joseph Coyle, M.D., an expert in the neurobiology of serious mental illness, will deliver the next Flexner Discovery Lecture on Thursday, March 10.
By Leigh MacMillan
February 25, 2016

Grant bolsters rheumatoid arthritis research

C. Michael Stein, MBChB., and his colleagues at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have received a five-year, $1.35 million award from the Arthritis Foundation to develop new biomarkers for rheumatoid arthritis that also may revolutionize treatment.
By Bill Snyder
January 21, 2016

McLaughlin named a reviewing editor for neuroscience journal

BethAnn McLaughlin, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has been invited to serve as a reviewing editor for the Journal of Neuroscience, the flagship publication of the Society of Neuroscience, one of the world’s largest scientific societies.
By Bill Snyder
January 14, 2016

New method aids heart disease studies, drug discovery efforts

A team of Vanderbilt investigators developed a new method for rapidly generating heart muscle cells from stem cells.
By Leigh MacMillan
November 12, 2015

VUMC’s Baganz honored by Society for Neuroscience

For her contributions to public communication, outreach and education about neuroscience, Nicole Baganz, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in Pharmacology, received the 2015 Next Generation Award from the Society for Neuroscience.
By Leigh MacMillan
November 5, 2015

Study further links immune response, serotonin signaling

Vanderbilt University scientists are a step closer to understanding how inflammation in the body can affect mood and behavior.
By Bill Snyder