Department of Medicine

July 23, 2020

Criteria for lung cancer screens may be expanded

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is recommending two changes that will nearly double the number of people eligible for lung cancer screening by lowering the age from 55 to 50 and reducing the number of smoking history pack years from 30 to 20.

By Tom Wilemon
July 23, 2020

Rice named to new leadership role for VICTR operations

Todd Rice, MD, MSc, has been appointed vice president for Clinical Trial Innovation and Operations in the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR).

By Bill Snyder
William Fissell, MD, has been working on the Kidney Project to create an implantable bioartificial kidney for the last decade.
July 22, 2020

VUMC, UCSF win KidneyX award for implantable home dialysis system

A $500,000 KidneyX prize has been awarded to The Kidney Project — a collaboration between Vanderbilt University Medical Center and University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) — for the development of an implantable dialysis system that would enable patients to safely and effectively treat kidney failure at home.

By Kelsey Herbers
July 10, 2020

VUMC team fills COVID information gaps for web users

For the world’s web users, Vanderbilt University Medical Center is working with Google to address COVID-19 information gaps.

By Paul Govern
July 9, 2020

Autonomic disorders clinical fellowship created

A new Clinical Fellowship in Autonomic Disorders, administered through the Division of Clinical Pharmacology in the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, will be one of only four accredited fellowship programs in autonomic disorders in the country.

By Bill Snyder
lungs
July 8, 2020

New clues to lung-scarring disease may aid treatment

Scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona, have discovered previously unreported genetic and cellular changes that occur in the lungs of people with pulmonary fibrosis (PF).

By Bill Snyder
July 1, 2020

VUMC-led network to focus on polygenic risk for common diseases

With the aid of a $75 million, five-year grant renewal, the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics Network (eMERGE) will venture beyond its current focus on monogenic disease to scoring research participants’ relative risk for complex heritable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes.
By Paul Govern
June 30, 2020

New study examines coronavirus transmission within households

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators are leading a new study that examines the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, within households in Nashville.
By Jake Lowary
June 26, 2020

American Airlines boosts travelers’ peace of mind with VUMC expertise

American Airlines has created a new Travel Health Advisory Panel that includes Vanderbilt University Medical Center infectious disease experts to advise on health and cleaning matters as travelers return over the summer.
By VUMC News and Communications
June 24, 2020

Study shows better option for treatment of inoperable anal cancer

People with inoperable anal cancer treated with carboplatin-paclitaxel had fewer complications and lived longer than those who received another chemotherapy that has been more often administered.
By Tom Wilemon
June 24, 2020

Study finds zinc doesn’t reduce mortality, other health risks, for heavy alcohol users living with HIV/AIDS

Zinc supplementation did not reduce mortality, cardiovascular risk, levels of inflammation or microbial translocation among people with heavy alcohol use living with HIV/AIDS, according to a Vanderbilt-led study.
By Matt Batcheldor
June 23, 2020

Two VUMC researchers named 2020 Chancellor Faculty Fellows

Two Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers -- Jennifer (Piper) Below, PhD, associate professor of Medicine, and Ivelin Georgiev, PhD, associate professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology -- have been selected for the 2020 cohort of Chancellor Faculty Fellows at Vanderbilt University.
By Bill Snyder
June 12, 2020

Robotic technology speeds arrhythmia gene classification

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have used high-throughput robotic technology to rapidly study and classify variations in a gene linked to heart rhythm disorders and cardiac conditions.
By Leigh MacMillan