Department of Biochemistry

May 19, 2016

VICC investigators in spotlight at AACR conference

A top Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) investigator recently met with Vice President Joe Biden regarding the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, a major national program to identify, fund and accelerate the most promising research leading to cancer cures.

By VUMC News and Communications
April 20, 2016

How strep grabs on to platelets

New structural details of the binding of the bacterium Streptococcus sanguinis to platelets may offer new therapeutics for life-threatening cardiovascular infections.

By VUMC News and Communications
April 15, 2016

Mechanism of a DNA repair protein

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered details about the mechanism of an important DNA repair protein that maintains genome stability.

By Sanjay Mishra
April 14, 2016

Pietenpol named Executive Vice President for Research

Jennifer Pietenpol, Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, B.F. Byrd Jr. Professor of Molecular Oncology and Professor of Biochemistry, Cancer Biology and Otolaryngology, has been named Executive Vice President for Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). Her appointment is effective May 1.

By John Howser
DNA sequence visualization
April 1, 2016

New role identified for p73 gene

The p73 gene is required for the generation of cilia – hair-like projections on cells – findings that could have implications for the study of lung diseases and sterility.

By VUMC News and Communications
March 17, 2016

T.J. Martell Foundation lauds Pietenpol’s research

Jennifer Pietenpol, Ph.D., B.F. Byrd Jr. Professor of Oncology and director of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), was honored with the Medical Research Advancement Award during the 8th Annual T.J. Martell Foundation Nashville Honors Gala held recently at the Omni Nashville Hotel.

By VUMC News and Communications
March 17, 2016

Cunningham Award winner

Lisa Poole, a graduate student in the lab of David Cortez, Ph.D., received the 2016 Leon W. Cunningham Award for Excellence in Biochemistry last week during the Biochemistry Department’s annual retreat at the Student Life Center.
By Bill Snyder
February 11, 2016

Slight chemical change may improve TB treatments: study

One small chemical change to an existing antibacterial drug results in a compound that is more effective against its target enzyme in tuberculosis, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.
By Leigh MacMillan
January 28, 2016

Nobel laureate’s lecture highlights impact of science

“Stay with science,” Nobel laureate Peter Agre, M.D., advised dozens of medical and graduate students who attended his lecture at Vanderbilt University Medical Center last week. “It will take you to fascinating places.”
By VUMC News and Communications
January 22, 2016

Faulty building blocks in DNA

An enzyme that builds DNA is able to insert the wrong building blocks, which could generate mutations.
By Bill Snyder
January 8, 2016

Copying chromosome caps

Telomeres – the caps on the end of chromosomes – are a source of stress for a particular protein involved in copying DNA, a new study reports.
By Leigh MacMillan
November 12, 2015

Study helps clarify components of DNA ‘copy machine’

Vanderbilt investigators have generated a “parts list” for the molecular machinery that duplicates DNA each time a cell divides. The research has implications for cancer therapies that target components of this machinery.
By Leigh MacMillan
October 22, 2015

Chazin honored with international biophysics award

Walter Chazin, Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt Center for Structural Biology, is a recipient of a 2016 Fellow of the Biophysical Society award.
By Bill Snyder