National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

An array of ultrasound transducers covering the head focuses an ultrasound beam to a location deep in the brain associated with pain perception (bright spot). (illustration by Thomas Manuel, PhD)

Nonaddictive pain relief system nears clinical trials

Researchers in the Vanderbilt are nearing completion of an ingenious undertaking that may be a highpoint of their careers — a non-addictive alternative for relieving chronic pain.

Mohammed Umar, chief EEG tech for the SEED project, supervises Community Health Workers training in EEG. Here, he looks on as Hauwa Yusuf Nuhu places EEG electrodes on Musa Sanusi Muhammad.

NIH grant bolsters childhood status epilepticus and epilepsy research in Nigeria

The Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) has received a new research grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Fogarty International Center of the NIH to establish a large childhood status epilepticus (SE) cohort in northern Nigeria with key partners Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) and Bayero University, and with the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa.

epilepsy image

VIGH study seeks to expand epilepsy care efforts in Africa

The Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH), with Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), will conduct a clinical trial in three cities in northern Nigeria to determine the efficacy of shifting childhood epilepsy care to epilepsy-trained community health extension workers.

Study links aortic stiffness with lower cerebral blood flow

Greater aortic stiffness is related to lower cerebral blood flow, especially among individuals with increased genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease, according to research from Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Conn lands Javits Neuroscience Investigator award

Vanderbilt University’s P. Jeffrey Conn, Ph.D., has won a Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for discoveries that could lead to new treatments for anxiety, schizophrenia and other brain disorders.