Health and Medicine

Study applies random genotype sets to new disease

Jan. 5, 2012—A new study in the American Journal of Human Genetics, led by Vanderbilt researchers Josh Denny, M.D., M.S., and Dana Crawford, Ph.D., takes random volumes of human genotypes and matches them with data siphoned from de-identified medical records and sheds new light on the genetic basis of the common disease hypothyroidism. In a research lab,...

Melatonin found to ease sleep woes in children with autism

Jan. 5, 2012—A new Vanderbilt study shows that the over-the-counter supplement melatonin is promising in helping children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and their families, sleep better. The study, published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, contributes to the growing literature on supplemental melatonin for insomnia in ASD, according to lead author Beth Malow, M.D.,...

VUMC researchers reveal darker side of common cold

Jan. 5, 2012—Human rhinovirus (HRV), also known as the common cold, can be uncommonly serious for certain children, a study led by a Vanderbilt University Medical Center pediatrician shows. The study, published in the Dec. 28, 2011 online issue of the journal Pediatrics, shows that not only can HRV lead to hospitalization in very low birth weight...

Diabetes trial sets bar high for retaining research subjects

Jan. 5, 2012—Loren Kirkpatrick has been enrolled in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) at Vanderbilt’s Diabetes Center for nearly half of her adult life. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1982 at age 34, Kirkpatrick enrolled as the study’s first patient in 1983. Now Kirkpatrick has become the symbol of what Vanderbilt researchers hope is...

Fishing for heart attack repair tools

Jan. 5, 2012—Managing myocardial infarction – and the resulting heart failure – remains a clinical challenge. To search for chemicals that can stimulate cardiac muscle cell production, Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology investigators led by Tao Zhong, Ph.D., Terri Ni, Ph.D., and Eric Rellinger, M.D., turned to a novel drug discovery tool: zebrafish. The researchers visually screened...

Images of individuals with Alagille syndrome (National Institutes of Health)

Clues to flattened faces

Jan. 5, 2012—Mutations in the Jagged1 gene cause Alagille syndrome, an inherited disorder that affects the liver, heart, kidneys and facial structure. Patients with Alagille syndrome often have a prominent forehead, a flattened midface and a prominent chin; some have a cleft palate. To investigate how mutations in Jagged1 cause facial anomalies, Steven Goudy, M.D., and colleagues...

Study uses art to spur patients to walk after surgery

Jan. 5, 2012—Following cardiac surgery, patients are encouraged to get out of bed and walk as soon as possible, a daunting task to many who may be experiencing pain or a reluctance to exert themselves. Protocol has cardiac surgery patients walk three laps around the halls of 5 South and 6 South of Vanderbilt University Hospital three...

Training addresses returning service members’ mental health needs

Dec. 21, 2011—A Vanderbilt-led workshop for military health care providers could lead to more post-deployment mental health referrals.

Clues to skeletal form in ‘feelgood’ fish

Dec. 16, 2011—Ela Knapik, associate professor of medicine, and colleagues are using zebrafish to explore the molecular and cellular mechanisms that cause birth defects of the face and skeleton.

Divvying up chromosomes

Dec. 16, 2011—Mitosis, or the separation of chromosomes during cell division, is driven by dynamic interactions between the kinetochore region on chromosomes and string-like structures called microtubules. A number of proteins, including the enzyme Cdk1, regulate these interactions, but it is unclear what kinetochore components such enzymes work upon. Kathy Gould, professor of cell and developmental biology,...