Heather Pua

Heather Pua, MD, PhD, and Neil Sprenkle, PhD, have discovered a protective role for microRNAs in immune cell macrophages during obesity, potentially opening new therapeutic avenues.
September 5, 2023

MicroRNAs in immune cells help protect against metabolic defects in obesity: study

Vanderbilt researchers have demonstrated that a cluster of microRNAs — small pieces of RNA that regulate gene expression — work in a type of immune cells called macrophages to help protect against metabolic defects in obesity.

By Leigh MacMillan
March 12, 2020

Clinical investigation society lauds Vanderbilt scientists

Five faculty members of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine are among 80 physician-scientists who will be inducted this year into the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), an elite honor society of physician-scientists from the upper ranks of academic medicine and industry. They are:

By Bill Snyder
October 1, 2019

Pua lands NIH Director’s New Innovator Award

Heather Pua, MD, PhD, one of 60 investigators to receive the 2019 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, will explore a novel type of cell signaling by RNAs in allergic airway inflammation.

By Leigh MacMillan
array of test tubes with pipette dropping fluid into one
January 31, 2019

Destructive ‘telegrams’ in asthma

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered that certain microRNAs — “telegram”-like signals — increase after the induction of allergic airway inflammation.

By Bill Snyder