Roger Colbran

Protein interactions and brain function

Roger Colbran and colleagues have discovered new molecular details about the function of an enzyme with a key role in shaping learning and memory.

Faculty meeting recognizes excellence in education, research and clinical service

During Wednesday’s Spring Faculty Meeting, Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and President and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, highlighted the medical school’s rising stature among the country’s top-tier institutions.

Nobel laureate Kobilka’s talk explores receptor activation

Brian Kobilka, MD, who received the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his studies of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), shared his team’s progress in understanding receptor activation — and how that might guide drug development — at last week’s Flexner Discovery Lecture.

Networked dots in the shape of a brain

Study helps map signaling system in brain linked to ASD

Researchers at Vanderbilt University have worked out part of the “wiring diagram” of a signaling system in the brain that has been linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Forming memories through CaMKII

Vanderbilt researchers have identified an interaction between two proteins that play a role in learning and memory.

Boy looking through blinds

Gene mutation discovery may hold autism clues: study

Researchers at Vanderbilt have identified what may be a genetic “smoking gun” for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) — a mutation in the gene for the critical neuronal protein CaMKII.