Patients with a form of congenital heart disease — having only one ventricle (pumping chamber) — are now living longer lives due to the successful surgical and medical treatments they receive as children.

Christine Seidman, MD, whose lab has identified the genetic causes of several human heart diseases including cardiomyopathy (potentially fatal enlargement of the heart) is the recipient of the 2019 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science, officials at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) announced today.

Vanderbilt scientists have discovered that a certain enzyme plays a crucial role in preventing obesity-related cardiac dysfunction.

Studies of alpha-B crystallin in zebrafish could ultimately lead to improved treatment for cataracts and heart disease.

The 3 million prostate cancer survivors in the United States are likely to die from something other than cancer, thanks to early detection, effective treatment and the disease’s slow progression.

Two vastly different causes of heart failure, both of which can devastate a patient’s life, are being studied at Vanderbilt University Medical Center thanks, in part, to the generosity of a grateful patient whose own damaged heart was repaired at Vanderbilt more than five years ago.

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.