Department of Pathology Microbiology and Immunology

April 11, 2019

Keeping bone in its place

Jonathan Schoenecker and colleagues have discovered a new mechanism for the formation of bone in soft tissues — a complication of severe injuries that causes pain and limits mobility.

By Anivarya Kumar
bacteria microbiome
April 11, 2019

How bugs overcome host defenses

Vanderbilt researchers led by Eric Skaar are probing the mechanisms bacteria use when faced with nutrient starvation — a host defense strategy called “nutritional immunity.”

By Leigh MacMillan
Lab manager Rachel Nargi prepares a B-cell culture during the recent “sprint” to develop an antibody-based treatment for Zika virus infection.
April 11, 2019

VUMC-led team ‘sprints’ to develop Zika virus treatment

In January scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and colleagues in Boston, Seattle and St. Louis were given an audacious goal to develop — in 90 days — a protective antibody-based treatment that potentially will stop the spread of the Zika virus.

By Bill Snyder
March 28, 2019

Cancer prevention drug also disables H. pylori bacterium

A medicine currently being tested as a chemoprevention agent for multiple types of cancer has more than one trick in its bag when it comes to preventing stomach cancer, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.

By Leigh MacMillan
Louise Rollins-Smith, PhD, right, Laura Reinert, MS, and colleagues are studying how amphibian populations are impacted by climate change.
February 21, 2019

Research shows frogs can adapt to traffic noise

Frogs don’t like living near noisy highways any better than people do, but research from Vanderbilt suggests that frogs, like hardened city-dwellers, can learn to adapt to the constant din of rumbling trucks, rolling tires and honking horns.

By Nora Foegeding
February 14, 2019

Probing H. pylori cancer protein

Understanding how a bacterial protein that influences the risk of stomach cancer is produced could guide new strategies for treatment.

By Leigh MacMillan
January 31, 2019

Destructive ‘telegrams’ in asthma

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered that certain microRNAs — "telegram"-like signals — increase after the induction of allergic airway inflammation.
By Bill Snyder
January 31, 2019

Designing antibodies to fight the flu

Vanderbilt investigators said their work shows that computational design can improve the ability of naturally occurring antibodies to recognize different flu strains and may hasten the development of more effective flu therapies and vaccines.
By Bill Snyder
January 17, 2019

Pain relievers a risk for C. diff?

A link between anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and C. diff infection suggests caution against overusing such drugs in patients at high risk for infection.
By Leigh MacMillan
December 13, 2018

RNA processing and antiviral immunity

John Karijolich and colleagues have discovered a link between cellular RNA processing and the innate cellular immune response to viral pathogens.
By Leigh MacMillan
December 6, 2018

Discovery could lead to neutralizing West Nile virus

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and colleagues have isolated a human monoclonal antibody that can “neutralize” the West Nile virus and potentially prevent a leading cause of viral encephalitis (brain inflammation) in the United States.
By Bill Snyder
November 1, 2018

Team’s findings show glutamine metabolism affects T cell signaling

The cellular nutrient glutamine launches a metabolic signaling pathway that promotes the function of some immune system T cells and suppresses others, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.
By Leigh MacMillan
November 1, 2018

Rubin receives alumni award from Weill Cornell

Donald Rubin, MD, professor of Medicine and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt, has received the alumni award for special achievement from his alma mater, the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.
By Bill Snyder
1 … 13 14 15 16 17 … 30