‘Smart cane’ could one day help flag gait problems, falling risks more quickly

Falling is no joke when you’re a senior citizen or have other balance issues. Vanderbilt engineers are working on a ‘smart cane’ that could help physical therapists spot and treat problems sooner.

Study explores alcohol use patterns in early pregnancy

The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention update recommending that women who are pregnant or could become pregnant abstain from alcohol use prompted a Vanderbilt professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and her team to explore the patterns of alcohol use in early pregnancy.

Early experience with federal health coverage suggests how future Medicaid reforms may work

Proposed Medicaid reforms are similar to the capped federal financing system in place during the ’50s and early ’60s, when states generally reimbursed a much smaller proportion of health care for the needy.

VU Inside: Dr. William Fissell’s Artificial Kidney

Vanderbilt University Medical Center nephrologist and Associate Professor of Medicine Dr. William Fissell IV is making major progress on a first-of-its kind device to free kidney patients from dialysis. He is building an artificial implantable kidney with microchip filters and living kidney cells that will be powered by a patient’s own heart.

Higher cigarette taxes linked to fewer infant deaths

Higher taxes and prices for cigarettes are strongly associated with lower infant mortality rates in the United States, according to a new study from Vanderbilt University and the University of Michigan released Dec. 1 in the journal Pediatrics.

Two Ebola Survivors’ Blood Could Help Vanderbilt Researchers Find A Treatment