Department of Medicine

Brooke Emerling, PhD, and Raymond Blind, PhD (seated, in foreground) at a 2023 scientific symposium they organized. Standing next to Blind is Hua Ya, PhD, from the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center. Behind him in the light blue shirt is Emilio Hirsch, PhD, from the University of Torino, Italy.
June 7, 2024

Discovery raises hopes for new cancer therapy

The study connected the Hippo signaling pathway to phosphoinositides, a particular type of lipid, or fat molecule, which regulates cell functions that are critical in cancer, obesity and diabetes.

By Bill Snyder
Fei Ye, PhD, MSPH
June 6, 2024

Fei Ye selected as a fellow of the American Statistical Association

Fei Ye is the first woman among VUMC’s Biostatistics faculty to be selected as an ASA fellow. She’ll be among 47 new ASA fellows inducted in August at the Joint Statistical Meetings.

By Paul Govern
Graduate student Taralynn Mack, left, pipettes a sample while Alexander Bick, MD, graduate student Hannah Poisner, and Celestine Wanjalla, MD, PhD, look on.
June 4, 2024

Research raises hope for treating potentially lethal blood condition

Roughly 1 in 10 people over age 70 will develop CHIP, an explosive, clonal growth of abnormal blood cells that increases risk of blood cancers and death from cardiovascular, lung and liver disease.

By Bill Snyder
Photo caption: Jonathan Mosley, MD, PhD, left, Scott Borinstein, MD, PhD, John Shelley, and Vivian Kawai, MD, MPH, are studying how genetic variation not related to disease affects clinical decisions. (photo by Susan Urmy)
June 3, 2024

Genetic variation associated with low white blood cell count impacts clinical decisions

People whose white blood cell levels are near the edge of the “healthy” reference range will hit a clinical decision point that has consequences such as diagnostic procedures and altered treatments.

By Leigh MacMillan
May 31, 2024

VUMC-led team reports potential new way to stimulate weight loss

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System have demonstrated in a small clinical study that “turning up the heat” on fat may help people lose weight and reduce their risk of obesity-related cardiovascular and metabolic disease.

By Bill Snyder
(iStock)
May 21, 2024

NIH grant supports effort to build expertise in genetic epidemiology research in Vietnam

V2-GENE, the Vanderbilt-Vietnam Genetic Epidemiology Training Program, will develop a team of researchers and educators to lead genetic epidemiology research of noncommunicable diseases across the lifespan in Vietnam.

By Leigh MacMillan
May 21, 2024

Acetaminophen shows promise in warding off acute respiratory distress syndrome, organ injury in patients with sepsis

Findings from NIH-supported clinical trial suggest that intravenous acetaminophen has the greatest benefit in the sickest patients.
By Nancy Humphrey
May 17, 2024

Six Vanderbilt Faculty Research Scholars named

Six junior faculty and postdoctoral fellows have been appointed this year to the Vanderbilt Faculty Research Scholars (VFRS) program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
By Bill Snyder
May 17, 2024

VUMC team travels to Alaska to recover a donor heart

The 5,704 nautical-mile trip is the farthest VUMC has traveled for an organ. The remarkable journey illustrates how new technologies make it possible to preserve organs longer, allowing Vanderbilt to look farther for a match.
By Matt Batcheldor
May 16, 2024

Smith, Tuchman join WPLN to talk about preventive health for adults and children

WPLN-FM 90.3 host Khalil Ekulona explores preventive health initiatives with Drs. Carlenda Smith and Carmen Tuchman. Listen in!
May 15, 2024

Ely’s rehabilitation research honored by the US Department of Veterans Affairs

E. Wesley Ely, MD, MPH, has received the Paul B. Magnuson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Rehabilitation Research and Development from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
By Nancy Humphrey
May 15, 2024

Treatment-resistant depression linked to body mass index: study

Genetic factors are a small but significant contributor to severe depression that does not respond to standard therapy, according to researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital.
By Bill Snyder
May 14, 2024

Breast cancer risk variants identified for women of African ancestry

A study led by researchers from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center sheds light on some of the genetic variants that make breast cancer more deadly for women of African ancestry and significantly reduces the disparity in knowledge for assessing their genomic risk factors.
By Tom Wilemon