featured-Reporter

June 8, 2020

Vanderbilt Transplant Center sets monthly record

The Vanderbilt Transplant Center performed 73 transplants in May, setting a Medical Center record for the most transplants in a month. Sixteen of those were heart transplants — also a monthly record — cementing VUMC’s status as the busiest heart transplant center in the country.

By Matt Batcheldor
June 4, 2020

Employees working from home bring value, safety to VUMC

As of early May, an average of 8,000 VUMC employees were working remotely each day, equaling more than 25% of VUMC’s total workforce.

By Kelsey Herbers
Geoffrey Fleming, MD, holds his wife, Amy, surrounded by their three daughters, L-R, Hannah, Virginia and Delaney. Fleming died of cancer Dec. 8.
June 4, 2020

Fleming reflects on a life of love, purpose after terminal cancer diagnosis

A month before his 49th birthday, Geoffrey Fleming, MD, had a biopsy of his liver to diagnose an unidentified metastatic disease that he already knew was “something bad.”

By Kelsey Herbers
June 4, 2020

Bereavement calls helping to aid grieving families

There has been nothing normal about the COVID-19 pandemic, and grieving the loss of a life at a time when families have been unable to gather beside a bedside to say goodbye, or to even hold a traditional funeral, has been one of the worst consequences of this health crisis’s uncharted territory.

By Jill Clendening
Jim Cassat, MD, PhD, and colleagues are studying enzymes involved in metabolism that are particularly important for Staphylococcus aureus to survive in host tissues.
June 3, 2020

Study explores how staph bacteria can survive in bone

A comprehensive evaluation of the metabolic pathways that support Staphylococcus aureus (“staph”) growth during invasive bone infections could offer new targets for treatment.

By Leigh MacMillan
May 27, 2020

Collaborative project from VU and VUMC improves intubation box safety for COVID-19 caregivers

As hospital and health care staff across the country continue learning more about the transmission and spread of COVID-19, caregivers for coronavirus patients continue adapting to the changing needs and best practices for personal protective equipment (PPE).

By Spencer Turney