Research

Jeffrey Rathmell, PhD, left, and Kelsey Voss, PhD, led a multidisciplinary team that identified iron metabolism in T cells as a potential target for treating lupus.

Study identifies potential new approach for treating lupus

Jan. 13, 2023—A Vanderbilt study found that targeting iron metabolism in immune system cells may offer a new approach for treating systemic lupus erythematosus — the most common form of the chronic autoimmune disease lupus.

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

Jan. 12, 2023—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.

Alexander Bick, MD, PhD, and colleagues are studying inflammation at the single-cell level in the rare disease RUNX1-FPD.

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative grant supports single-cell study of rare inherited disease

Jan. 12, 2023—A multidisciplinary team led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigator Alexander Bick, MD, PhD, has been awarded a $2 million, four-year grant to study inflammation at the single-cell level in the rare disease RUNX1-FPD.

Study may lead to new diabetes, heart disease treatments

Jan. 12, 2023—Vanderbilt research found that deletion of an autophagy-participating factor named PIK3C3 from the fat cells of mice led to compromised body temperature control, abnormal blood lipid levels, fatty liver and diabetes.

Roden honored for his leadership in precision medicine

Jan. 12, 2023—Vanderbilt's Dan Roden, MD, will receive the PMWC 2023 Pioneer Award Jan. 27 during this year’s Precision Medicine World Conference.

Anti-nausea drug response in children

Jan. 10, 2023—Genetic variation in a metabolic enzyme was not associated with response to the anti-nausea drug odansetron in children, Vanderbilt researchers report.

Novel lung cancer biomarker

Jan. 9, 2023—Autoantibodies against the p53 tumor suppressor protein may be a novel biomarker for identifying people, especially African Americans, at high risk for lung cancer.

Early effects of Huntington disease

Jan. 6, 2023—Impairments in brain executive function happen earlier than motor symptoms in people with the gene mutation that causes Huntington disease, suggesting younger ages and cognitive symptoms be considered for any future clinical trials.

MicroRNAs linked to lipid damage

Jan. 6, 2023—VUMC researchers have linked microRNAs with systemic lipid peroxidation, a discovery that could point to new therapeutic targets for a variety of diseases.

The study team included, from left, Raymond Harris, MD, J.P. Arroyo, MD, PhD, and Gautam Bhave, MD, PhD.

VUMC researchers upend dogma about vasopressin production

Jan. 5, 2023—Vanderbilt investigators have discovered that vasopressin, which has long been thought to be produced only in the brain, is also produced in the kidney.

Vanderbilt mourns loss of renowned scientist Exton

Dec. 28, 2022—John H. Exton, MBChB, MD, PhD, professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, emeritus at Vanderbilt University, whose research provided fundamental insights into how many biologically active compounds control cellular physiology, died Dec. 18. He was 89.

Gordon Bernard, MD, is stepping down from his institutional leadership roles next summer to focus on his research interests.

VUMC Announces VICTR Leadership Transition

Dec. 16, 2022—by Bill Snyder Gordon Bernard, MD, a leader in clinical and translational medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center for more than 40 years, will step aside from his institutional leadership roles in July 2023 to focus more on his research interests and allow a new generation of leaders to take center stage. Bernard, the Melinda...