Infectious Diseases

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

The study team includes, from left, Maribeth Nicholson, MD, MPH, Ben Spiller, PhD, Buddy Creech, MD, MPH, Borden Lacy, PhD, Eric Skaar, PhD, MPH, Isaac Thomsen, MD, MSCI, Ivelin Georgiev, PhD, and Danyvid Olivares-Villagomez, PhD.

March 30, 2023

NIH grant launches C. diff vaccine research initiative

Vanderbilt has received an NIH grant to launch the Vanderbilt Antibody and Antigen Discovery for Clostridioides difficile Vaccines, or VANDy-CdV.

By Anthony Czelusniak

March 9, 2023

Study finds RSV may evade vaccines via rapid mutation

A Vanderbilt study concluded that RSV’s ability to mutate rapidly to escape detection by the body’s immune system makes it more challenging to design and develop vaccines that can stop it from spreading.

By Bill Snyder

March 2, 2023

Global study tracks brain infection in people with HIV

A Vanderbilt study is shedding new light on the incidence and mortality of cryptococcal meningitis among people with HIV

By Paul Govern

Andrew Wiese, MPH, PhD, left, Carlos Grijalva, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that the risk of a heart attack diagnosis was highest in the first week after onset of pneumococcal infection.

March 2, 2023

Serious pneumococcal infections increase the risk of heart attack

A Vanderbilt study found that patients with serious pneumococcal infections, including pneumonia and sepsis, are at a substantially increased risk of heart attack after the onset of infection.

By Jake Lowary

January 12, 2023

Antibody “fingerprinting” method potential advance to slow spread of dengue

Vanderbilt researchers have reported a major advance in understanding and potentially preventing dengue, a devastating, mosquito-borne tropical viral infection that is spreading across the globe.