The Flexner Discovery Lecture series kicks off the academic year next week with presentations by two Vanderbilt faculty members. The Cutting-Edge Discovery Lectures by Meena Madhur, MD, PhD, and Scott Smith, MD, PhD, begin at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 30 in 208 Light Hall.

Activation of the signaling protein YAP may be a target for treating acute kidney injury, which affects up to 20 percent of hospitalized patients.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been awarded a five-year federal grant to train investigators in Learning Healthcare Systems research, aimed at improving patient outcomes and the community’s overall health.

A receptor previously implicated in asthma may also play roles in other allergic diseases and in leukemia, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.

An international team of researchers has integrated gene expression and disease association data to better understand the biological mechanisms of complex human diseases.

A protein involved in binding cells together helps maintain the integrity of the intestinal mucosa and plays a protective role in ulcerative colitis.

A drug used to treat diabetes may point to new therapies for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis — inflammation and obstruction of the lungs’ small airways. A multi-disciplinary team of Vanderbilt investigators has demonstrated that liraglutide reduces the inflammatory response to RSV infection in a mouse model of the disease.