Meds’ benefits differ in dialysis patients

Clues to skeletal form in ‘feelgood’ fish

Ela Knapik, associate professor of medicine, and colleagues are using zebrafish to explore the molecular and cellular mechanisms that cause birth defects of the face and skeleton.

Study points to personal treatment for atrial fibrillation

Individuals with atrial fibrillation who have a particular genetic variant respond better to rate control therapy.

Vanderbilt doctors to screen patients taking statins for genetic risk factors

Vanderbilt University Medical Center doctors announced today they will begin screening patients who take commonly prescribed statin drugs for a rare genetic variation that can increase risks for side effects from these drugs such as muscle aches, kidney damage and even death.

Growth factor boosts beta cells

A growth factor may help grow transplantation-quality pancreas cells for treating diabetes.

Predicting hospital readmission is risky business: study

Each year millions of Americans return to the hospital within 30 days of their previous discharge. Although many readmissions could be preventable, most statistical models for predicting them “perform poorly,” according to researchers at Vanderbilt and the Oregon Health and Science University and their affiliated VA medical centers.