Tech & Health

November 20, 2014

Team finds drug repurposing signal in e-health records

With research and development costs for many drugs reaching well into the billions, pharmaceutical companies want more than ever to determine whether their drugs already at market have any hidden therapeutic benefits that could warrant putting additional indications on the label and increasing production.

By Paul Govern
hamburger and fries
June 2, 2014

Vanderbilt study supports notion ‘You are what you eat’

An international research group led by Vanderbilt University scientists has shown for the first time that a lipid, or fat molecule, can regulate “psychostimulant” behaviors by interacting with a brain protein.

By Bill Snyder
February 13, 2014

Informatics tools link protein structure, drug action: speaker

Russ Altman, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Bioengineering, Genetics and Medicine at Stanford University, posed an intriguing question at last week’s Discovery Lecture: is it possible to predict drug side effects from the 3D-structure of proteins?

By Leigh MacMillan
December 12, 2013

Proton transfer powers multidrug resistance: study

Vanderbilt University researchers and their Belgian colleagues have discovered the mechanism behind a multidrug transporter. Their findings, posted this week by Nature Chemical Biology, could lead to new treatments for multidrug resistant bacterial infections.

By VUMC News and Communications
April 25, 2013

New computer speeds clinical data collection

Tucked in a data center in the basement of Vanderbilt University Hospital, a new computer the size of a large armoire, called a data warehouse appliance, is delivering a new order of speed to Vanderbilt clinical scientists as they search, filter, analyze and annotate the de-identified medical records of approximately 2 million patients.

By Paul Govern
March 15, 2013

Diagnostic codes identify smoking status

Diagnostic codes used for billing purposes effectively identify smokers in a general clinic population and can be used to adjust smoking status in genetic and epidemiologic studies.

By Leigh MacMillan
February 21, 2013

Middleton named VU Health System informatics chief

Blackford Middleton, M.D., MPH, M.Sc., corporate director of clinical informatics research and development at Partners Healthcare in Boston, will join Vanderbilt later this month in the role of assistant vice chancellor for Health Affairs and chief informatics officer for Vanderbilt University Health System. He succeeds John Doulis, M.D.
By Paul Govern
February 14, 2013

Two from VUMC help lead national informatics group

Vanderbilt’s Department of Biomedical Informatics remains exceptionally well represented on the nine-member executive committee of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI).
By Paul Govern
November 15, 2012

Lorenzi lands biomedical informatics excellence award

Nancy Lorenzi, Ph.D., assistant vice chancellor for Health Affairs and professor of Biomedical Informatics, has received the Morris F. Collen Award of Excellence, internationally recognized as the capstone award in biomedical informatics.
By Paul Govern
November 8, 2012

Study seeks new ways to help teens manage type 1 diabetes

Shelagh Mulvaney, Ph.D., assistant professor of Nursing, leads a national team of researchers, engineers and designers that recently landed a $1.8 million federal grant to identify new ways to teach critical problem-solving skills to teenagers with type 1 diabetes using an Internet and mobile phone-based system.
By VUMC News and Communications
October 17, 2012

Beauchamp, Vermund elected to Institute of Medicine

R. Daniel Beauchamp, M.D., chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences, and Sten Vermund, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, have been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the organization announced this week.
By Bill Snyder
August 24, 2012

Tool helps plumb electronic records

A tool developed for one institution’s electronic health records can work at other institutions, potentially facilitating the use of these records in research studies.
By VUMC News and Communications
August 14, 2012

Flu Tool guides patient decision-making

Studies of Flu Tool, a computer application that guides health care decision-making, suggests that patients are willing to use these types of resources.
By Leigh MacMillan