Department of Medicine

Pierre Massion, MD, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair and Professor of Medicine, an internationally known expert on early detection and prevention strategies for lung cancer, died April 4 of an apparent heart attack. He was 58.

Robert Ramirez, DO, a thoracic and neuroendocrine oncologist, has joined Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center after practicing at Ochsner Medical Center and Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Science Center in New Orleans.

Triple-negative breast cancer cells engage in a “glutamine steal” — outcompeting T cells for the nutrient glutamine and impairing their ability to kill tumor cells, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.

The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Foundation has awarded a three-year, $240,000 Faculty Development Award to Cosby Stone Jr., MD, MPH, instructor in Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Vanderbilt’s Muktar Aliyu, MBBS, MPH, DrPH, and Hilary Tindle, MD, MPH, will be inducted this year into the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), an elite honor society of physician-scientists from the upper ranks of academic medicine and industry.

Researchers from Vanderbilt’s Division of Nephrology and Hypertension have identified an under-studied characteristic that may have a protective effect on end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) risk among vulnerable populations.

An FDA-approved medication enhances the function of T regulatory cells (Treg), a class of immune cells that restrains the immune response, Vanderbilt investigators have discovered.