Department of Medicine

Amanda Mixon, MD, MS
November 17, 2020

Statins to be studied for prevention of dementia, disability and heart disease 

Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers are enrolling adults aged 75 and over to study whether taking atorvastatin, a drug commonly used to lower cholesterol also called Lipitor®, can help maintain health by preventing dementia, disability, and heart disease.

By Craig Boerner
November 12, 2020

New therapeutic target for lung cancer

Vanderbilt researchers have identified a new molecular partner — and potential therapeutic target — in a signaling axis that drives lung cancer.

By Sarah E. Glass
November 12, 2020

Breast cancer treatment in older women

A new study from Vanderbilt epidemiologists suggests that it’s time to reconsider clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of early-stage breast cancer in older women.

By Leigh MacMillan
November 10, 2020

Study underscores importance of personalized medicine in kidney cancer

A new study sheds light on how molecular subsets within the tumors of kidney cancer patients determine treatment outcomes and underscores the importance of personalized medicine in making therapy decisions.

By Tom Wilemon
October 30, 2020

VUMC study finds faster, wider spread of COVID-19 in U.S. households

COVID-19 spreads faster and more widely throughout U.S. households than previously reported, according to new preliminary research from a multicenter study led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers and published in, a weekly report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

By Jake Lowary
October 29, 2020

Rini to lead NCI study of COVID-19 in cancer patients

Brian Rini, MD, is leading a study launched by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) that will closely monitor cancer patients who acquire COVID-19 with the goal of providing highly detailed data to guide future care.

By Tom Wilemon
October 29, 2020

Lovly to chair foundation’s scientific leadership board

Christine Lovly, MD, PhD, Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research, has been named incoming chair of GO2 Foundation's Scientific Leadership Board (SLB).
By Tom Wilemon
October 29, 2020

New markers of colorectal cancer risk

Vanderbilt epidemiologists identified new markers for colorectal cancer risk and characterized a previously unidentified tumor suppressor that regulates overall tumor volume in vivo.
By Sarah E. Glass
October 22, 2020

New tool to probe genetic mechanisms of disease

Vanderbilt Genetics Institute investigators have added a new method to the computational genetics toolbox. Their approach, described in the journal Nature Genetics, integrates vast genomics datasets to predict gene expression and facilitate discovery of genetic mechanisms underlying human diseases.
By Leigh MacMillan
October 21, 2020

Park named director of Hematology and Oncology at VICC

After serving as interim director since Jan. 1, Ben Ho Park, MD, PhD, Donna S. Hall Professor of Breast Cancer Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has been named director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology.
By Tom Wilemon
October 16, 2020

Clinical trial to test HIV drugs to treat COVID-19

Vanderbilt University Medical Center, in collaboration with the University of Colorado and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, is leading one of the first “telemedicine” clinical trials to test a potential treatment for COVID-19.
By Bill Snyder
October 15, 2020

Possible COVID-19 “decoy”

It might be possible to use vesicles carrying the receptor for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to bind the virus and prevent infection.
By Bill Snyder
October 15, 2020

Brain blood vessel response to hypoxia

The brain’s response to low oxygen — growth and remodeling of blood vessels — involves certain cell types and molecular pathways, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.
By Leigh MacMillan