Qi Liu

Data haul improves immunotherapy response prediction

Vanderbilt biostatisticians have developed an immunotherapy response model that outperforms existing predictive models.

The extracellular RNA in colorectal cancer team includes, from left, Jeffrey Franklin, PhD, Yu Shyr, PhD, Qi Liu, PhD, Alissa Weaver, MD, PhD, James Higginbotham, PhD, and James Patton, PhD. Not pictured: Robert Coffey, MD, Kasey Vickers, PhD, and John Karijolich, PhD. (photo taken before social distancing)

Research team awarded $9 million to study extracellular RNA in colorectal cancer

The NCI program project grant is supporting multiple projects that aim to define fundamental biological principles about extracellular RNA signaling and the development and aggressiveness of colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States.

From left, Qi Liu, PhD, Lori Coburn, MD, Gregor Neuert, PhD, Keith Wilson, MD, Ken Lau, PhD, and Bennett Landman, PhD, are leading VUMC’s contribution to the “gut cell atlas” program funded by the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

Grant spurs effort to map biology of Crohn’s disease

VUMC has been awarded a three-year, $3 million grant to map — in unprecedented detail — the biology of Crohn’s disease.

Analyzing single-cell landscapes

Vanderbilt researchers have developed a new tool for quantifying data from single-cell studies.