pandemic

April 11, 2023

COVID on Twitter: town vs. country

A natural language processing analysis of 407 million tweets from May 2020 to January 2022 captures the rural-urban divide regarding COVID-19.

By Paul Govern
Crystal Wix, RN, foreground, and care partner Carolyn Forgac work with a patient in the COVID intensive care unit in September 2021.
March 3, 2022

COVID-19: two years of challenges, lessons, victories

Two years ago this week, the cataclysmic coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 arrived in Middle Tennessee.

By Bill Snyder
Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, spoke of the importance of VUMC’s workforce in this week’s Leadership Assembly video presentation.
November 4, 2021

Leadership Assembly takeaways: Speaking up makes a difference

The importance of supporting Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s workforce is highlighted in this quarter’s Leadership Assembly theme, “Speaking Up, Lifting Up,” which is focused on strategies to amplify well-being.

By Holly Fletcher
VUMC members of the Quality Improvement Collaborative for COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Middle Tennessee Nursing Homes are, from left, Monique George, RN, FNP, Carole Bartoo, MSN, AGNP-BC, Jacy Weems, Mattie Brady, MSN, Sunil Kripalani, MD, MSc, Sandra Simmons, PhD, Anna Gallion, DNP, APRN, Tara Horr, MD, and April Hanlotxomphou, MSN, FNP. Not pictured are Victor Legner, MD, MS, and Kristina Niehoff, PharmD. (Photo taken by Donn Jones prior to revised mask guidelines)
August 18, 2021

Collaborative helping Midstate nursing homes control COVID-19

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has received a two-year, $1.2 million award from the Tennessee Department of Health and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide tailored education and coaching to 75 Middle Tennessee nursing homes focused on infection control, quality improvement and other pandemic-related challenges.

By Bill Snyder
June 9, 2021

COVID-19 pandemic brought changes in cigarette smoking: study

Smokers who believed they were at increased risk of getting COVID-19 during the pandemic, or having a more severe case, were more likely to quit while those whoperceived more stress increased smoking, according to new research published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

By Craig Boerner
May 12, 2021

Fauci shares lessons learned during pandemic response with Vanderbilt MPH students

Anthony Fauci, MD, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden’s administration and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), recently met virtually with students of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program to answer questions about lessons learned during the pandemic and to share career advice.

By Jill Clendening
April 1, 2021

Novel way to neutralize Rift Valley Fever Virus

The discovery of monoclonal antibodies that neutralize Rift Valley Fever Virus — an emerging infection with pandemic potential — lays the foundation for future therapeutic antibody development.
By Bill Snyder
October 8, 2020

Undiagnosed Diseases Network continues to excel despite pandemic

Though the COVID-19 pandemic halted in-person patient visits at Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) sites, including Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s, since March, groundbreaking behind-the-scenes work continues.
By Nancy Humphrey
January 11, 2018

VUMC joins national effort to block global pandemics of potentially lethal viruses

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has signed a five-year cooperative agreement worth up to $28 million with Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) to develop methods for preventing the global spread of viruses like chikungunya and Zika.
By Bill Snyder