Health and Medicine
Brain blood vessel response to hypoxia
Oct. 15, 2020—The brain’s response to low oxygen — growth and remodeling of blood vessels — involves certain cell types and molecular pathways, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.
COVID-19 long-acting antibodies discovered by Vanderbilt University Medical Center move to phase 3 clinical trials
Oct. 13, 2020—AstraZeneca is advancing into phase 3 clinical trials with an investigational COVID-19 therapy of two long-acting antibodies discovered by Vanderbilt University Medical Center and optimized by AstraZeneca.
Computer-based study reveals impact of race on health
Oct. 8, 2020—A computer-based method developed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center that scans electronic medical records (EMRs) for genetic contributors to disease has been used for the first time to reveal the impact of race on health.
Researchers create molecular ‘atlas’ of GI tract neurons
Oct. 8, 2020—Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have generated the first comprehensive molecular “atlas” of genes expressed by the neuronal cells within the intestine that coordinate the functions of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
Vanderbilt Prize winner Doudna awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Oct. 7, 2020—University of California, Berkeley, biochemist Jennifer Doudna, PhD, recipient of the 2020 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science, has been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Bick receives NIH Director’s Early Independence Award
Oct. 6, 2020—Alexander Bick, MD, PhD, a new faculty member in the Division of Genetic Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has received a 2020 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Early Independence Award.
Early steps in reovirus replication
Oct. 6, 2020—Conformational change in a reovirus surface protein modulate the virus’s attachment to host cells, Vanderbilt researchers have found.
Clue to diabetic kidney disease
Oct. 5, 2020—Vanderbilt researchers have identified a signaling pathway that promotes kidney fibrosis in patients with diabetes — and that could be targeted with an existing approved medication.
Pinpointing brain changes in psychosis
Oct. 1, 2020—Specific regions of the thalamus — a central brain region — are smaller in adults with psychotic disorders and youth at risk for psychotic disorders and are associated with cognitive impairment.
Genes spell penicillin allergy risk
Oct. 1, 2020—Studies using large DNA biobanks revealed genetic variants associated with penicillin allergy, the most common type of drug-induced allergic reaction.
Cohen Fund bolsters Siciliano’s memory research
Sep. 24, 2020—Cody Siciliano, PhD, assistant professor of Pharmacology in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, has been selected to receive a one-year, $100,000 research award from the Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund to support his studies of the neural substrates of memory.
Rational vaccine design
Sep. 22, 2020—Understanding immunity generated by smallpox vaccine may hold lessons for COVID-19 vaccine development.
