NIAID

October 20, 2023

Bryan Shepherd’s research to validate EHR data receives MERIT Award from the NIH

Vanderbilt’s Bryan Shepherd, PhDhas received a MERIT Award, or Method to Extend Research in Time Award, from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

By Paul Govern
April 25, 2023

COVID alters respiratory microbiota

COVID-19 infection alters the microbes of the upper respiratory tract for at least several weeks, and such disturbances could impact disease severity and be targets for therapeutic interventions.

By Leigh MacMillan
From left, Xiang Ye, PhD, Suba Rajendren, PhD, Antiana Richardson, and John Karijolich, PhD, are studying how the cancer-causing virus KSHV commandeers host gene expression and regulatory machinery.
April 20, 2023

Study details RNA editing in virus-infected cancer cells

Vanderbilt researchers detail the landscape of RNA editing — a form of RNA modification — in primary effusion lymphoma cells during Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection and identify an edited viral microRNA that is critical for infection.

By Leigh MacMillan
March 23, 2023

E. coli uses serine to abide acidity

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered another acid resistance mechanism for UTI-causing E. coli, laying the foundation for targeted antibacterial therapies.

By Cherie Saffold
March 16, 2023

Study seeks to identify prenatal allergy risk markers

A Vanderbilt clinical trial is seeking to identify prenatal and early childhood markers of high risk for food allergy and atopic dermatitis, or eczema, as well as biological pathways that lead to these conditions.

By Jessica Pasley
February 21, 2023

Diabetes drug may improve asthma

New biomarker finding strengthens the case for using GLP-1R agonists to treat patients with Type 2 diabetes who also suffer from asthma.

By Sarah E. Glass
February 2, 2023

COVID-19 battle begins in the nose

A high upper airway concentration of the virus that causes COVID-19 was associated with changes in gene expression that could impact disease progression, Vanderbilt researchers discovered.
By Sarah E. Glass
January 13, 2023

Study identifies potential new approach for treating lupus

A Vanderbilt study found that targeting iron metabolism in immune system cells may offer a new approach for treating systemic lupus erythematosus — the most common form of the chronic autoimmune disease lupus.
By Leigh MacMillan
November 10, 2022

Clinical trial at VUMC tests novel treatment for asthma

VUMC has begun enrolling patients with asthma in a clinical trial of a novel treatment: a medication approved to treat diabetes and obesity.
By Leigh MacMillan
November 3, 2022

C. diff infections drop in children

The number of pediatric infections caused by Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) decreased from 2013 to 2019, likely due to an increase in antibiotic stewardship programs and improved hospital contact protocols, Vanderbilt researchers found.
By Sarah E. Glass
September 12, 2022

Enhancing innate immunity in the lung

Vanderbilt researchers show that a TLR4 agonist improves lung immune response and survival in a mouse model of bacterial pneumonia, supporting the development of this drug to protect against pneumonia in hospitalized patients.
By Leigh MacMillan
September 1, 2022

Study identifies key player in T cell “education”

New Vanderbilt research could inform therapeutic strategies for enhancing thymic function when desired — such as during aging, recovery from radiation therapy or chemotherapy, or other conditions that reduce T cell output.
By Leigh MacMillan
August 25, 2022

Vanderbilt researchers discover how gut inflammation leads to bone loss

Gastrointestinal inflammation, such as occurs in inflammatory bowel disease, triggers the expansion of a population of “bone-eating” cells, leading to bone loss.
By Leigh MacMillan