The following is a roundup of the news that made headlines at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2018.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is participating in an international study to determine the effectiveness of a new therapeutic vaccine for treating women with precancerous changes on the cervix.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and colleagues have isolated a human monoclonal antibody that can “neutralize” the West Nile virus and potentially prevent a leading cause of viral encephalitis (brain inflammation) in the United States.

Internationally known vaccine experts including Vanderbilt University’s James Crowe Jr., MD, will speak next month at a symposium in Nashville on prospects for a universal flu vaccine.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have isolated the first human monoclonal antibodies that can neutralize norovirus, the leading cause of acute gastrointestinal illness in the world.

The Flexner Discovery Lecture series kicks off the academic year next week with presentations by two Vanderbilt faculty members. The Cutting-Edge Discovery Lectures by Meena Madhur, MD, PhD, and Scott Smith, MD, PhD, begin at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 30 in 208 Light Hall.

Targeting the protein that mosquito-borne viruses use to enter cells could be a strategy for preventing infection by multiple emerging viruses.