Certain protein factors have been identified as attractive targets for treating diabetic retinopathy, a major cause of blindness in adults.

Mechanical stress appears to be a critical factor in activating normal tissue-associated fibroblasts to generate cancer-associated fibroblasts.

Vanderbilt researchers have developed tools to probe the role of the essential metal manganese in neurons, and which offer a started point for developing therapeutic agents for manganese-related neurological disorders.