Trans-institutional Programs
Organ-on-a-chip mimics heart’s biomechanical properties
Feb. 22, 2017—Scientists at Vanderbilt University have created a three-dimensional organ-on-a-chip that can mimic the heart’s amazing biomechanical properties in order to study cardiac disease, develop heart drugs.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funds study of health, economic effects of LGBT-related laws
Dec. 19, 2016—A trans-institutional team of Vanderbilt social scientists and medical professionals will look at how laws affecting LGBT individuals and families affect their health and the economy.
Bioluminescent sensor causes brain cells to glow in the dark
Oct. 27, 2016—A team of Vanderbilt scientists have genetically modified luciferase, the enzyme that produces bioluminescence, so that it acts as an optical sensor that records activity in brain cells.
Basic science, extraordinary impact
Oct. 6, 2016—The discoveries that can change the course of human health forever often begin in the tiniest places: in molecules and cells, at the most fundamental intersection of physics, chemistry and biology. Understanding how these cellular and molecular processes work is the focus of basic biomedical research at Vanderbilt.
Open-source instructions for focused ultrasound provide cancer research boost
Jun. 30, 2016—Vanderbilt University’s William Grissom and Charles Caskey are throwing open doors with a do-it-yourself, open-source software and hardware guide to enabling existing imaging machines with focused ultrasound technology.
Blake, Winder to lead national search committee for Vanderbilt Brain Institute director
Jun. 22, 2016—Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan R. Wente has appointed an 18-member committee of faculty and students to conduct the national search for the Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute chaired by Randolph Blake, Centennial Professor of Psychology, and Danny Winder, director for the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research.
13 cross-college collaborative projects win TIPs funding
Jun. 2, 2016—Thirteen interdisciplinary projects, ranging from cellular processes and smart cities to global health care issues, have been selected as the 2016 awardees of the Trans-Institutional Program (TIPs) initiative.
Search launched for director of Vanderbilt Brain Institute; Emeson to serve as interim
May. 9, 2016—A national search will be launched this fall for the Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan R. Wente announced today. Current VBI Associate Director Ron Emeson will begin a term as interim director effective July 1.
Trans-institutional team competes in regionals of global student competition for social good
Apr. 28, 2016—A proposal to help poor families produce food in crowded urban spaces put a Vanderbilt University trans-institutional team on the road to the regional finals of the Hult Prize, an international case competition that seeks innovative solutions to social issues worldwide.
Marnett named dean of basic sciences for School of Medicine
Apr. 14, 2016—Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan R. Wente announced today that Lawrence J. Marnett will be named dean of basic sciences in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine at the time of the legal separation of the university and Medical Center.
Mellon Foundation awards $1.5 million to Vanderbilt for new Center for Digital Humanities
Mar. 28, 2016—Vanderbilt University has received a $1.5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to establish a new Center for Digital Humanities. The trans-institutional initiative will further Vanderbilt’s commitment to becoming a national hub of innovative digital humanities scholarship.
Study suggests cancer’s ‘clock’ can be rewound
Mar. 17, 2016—Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have “turned back the clock” in a mouse model of metaplasia — precancerous stomach lesions — raising hopes that gastric cancer, a worldwide scourge that’s rising in the United States, can be prevented.