Since the Aspirnaut high school summer research internship program was launched in 2009, 334 students from 34 states have participated. To date, nearly 90 of them have gone to earn MD degrees, PhDs, or both.

A chemical biology research lab fit for an academic medical center is being installed at Wynne High School (WHS) in Wynne, Arkansas, as part of a pilot project of Aspirnaut STEM pipeline at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

A link to the video story and an inside look at the taping and some of this year's participants

Vanderbilt's Aspirnaut STEM pipeline for diversity and wellness recently celebrated its 15th anniversary with a daylong scientific symposium, followed by a feature on the program broadcast Aug. 2 on NBC Nightly News.

Ten years on, a unique summer research program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center designed primarily for rural high school students with limited resources is achieving its goal of increasing the number of the nation’s scientists and engineers.

Pulmonary-renal syndrome (PRS) refers to a group of rare but potentially fatal conditions that nearly always are caused by a misguided attack by the body’s immune system on the lungs and kidneys. Coughing up blood and blood in the urine are telltale signs.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) biochemist Billy Hudson, PhD, has been awarded the 2018 Distinguished Investigator Prize by the International Society for Matrix Biology for his contributions to the field of matrix biology.