Healthcare Solutions
Autism study links sensory difficulties, serotonin system
Jan. 28, 2016—Vanderbilt researchers have established a link between the neurotransmitter serotonin and certain behaviors of some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a link that may lead to new treatments for ASD.
Using MRI to assess myelin health
Jan. 25, 2016—Vanderbilt investigators report an improved model for estimating brain health, using MRI.
Faulty building blocks in DNA
Jan. 22, 2016—An enzyme that builds DNA is able to insert the wrong building blocks, which could generate mutations.
Antibodies may be ‘silver bullet’ for Ebola viruses
Jan. 21, 2016—There may be a “silver bullet” for Ebola, a family of hemorrhagic viruses, one of which has killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa in the past two years.
New targets for diabetic retinopathy
Jan. 21, 2016—Certain protein factors have been identified as attractive targets for treating diabetic retinopathy, a major cause of blindness in adults.
Study shows brain function differs in obese children
Jan. 21, 2016—The brains of children who are obese function differently from those of children of healthy weight, and exhibit an “imbalance” between food-seeking and food-avoiding behaviors, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have found.
Lovly lands cancer research grant from V Foundation
Jan. 21, 2016—Christine Lovly, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology, has been awarded a V Scholar Grant from the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
VU investigators use magnetism to help isolate malaria biomarker
Jan. 21, 2016—Vanderbilt investigators have developed a way to detect malaria that is faster and more sensitive than current clinical methods — a development that has the potential to make malaria detection significantly less expensive and more stable.
Psychotherapies have long-term benefit for those suffering from irritable bowel syndrome
Dec. 28, 2015—A new meta-analysis has found that the beneficial effects of using psychological therapy to treat the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome are not only short term but are also long lasting.
Personalized medicine is topic of new Vanderbilt massive open online course
Dec. 13, 2015—Enrollment has opened for Case Studies in Personalized Medicine, Vanderbilt's latest free massive open online course, or MOOC. The six-week course starts Jan. 15.
Study to explore spinal cord stimulation to ease paralysis
Dec. 3, 2015—A Vanderbilt neurosurgeon is looking to recruit patients with paraplegia to investigate whether intraspinal microstimulation technology can restore complex body movements.
Microtubules act as cellular ‘rheostat’ to control insulin secretion
Dec. 3, 2015—Microtubules — cellular “highways” that deliver cargo to the cell membrane for secretion — have a surprising role in pancreatic beta cells. Instead of facilitating glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, they limit it, a team of Vanderbilt investigators reported recently in Developmental Cell.
