Department of Pathology Microbiology and Immunology

A newly discovered mechanism that helps cancer cells avoid destruction by immune system cells may improve immunotherapies.

A genetic mutation that promotes cancer development blocks the normal sorting of a protein called “Argonaute 2.”

Vanderbilt researchers show that a certain factor negatively impacts the first-line responder cells in the lungs, providing one explanation for why patients with asthma are at greater risk for invasive bacterial disease.

Vanderbilt physician/scientist Mary Zutter, M.D., Louise B. McGavock Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology and assistant vice chancellor for Integrative Diagnostics, can now add “White House guest” to her resume.

A microRNA — a small piece of RNA involved in regulating gene expression — functions as an oncogene to drive the development of lung cancer, Vanderbilt University investigators have discovered.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have obtained the crystal structure of a toxin from the bacterium Clostridium difficile (“C. diff”) — the leading cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea in the United States.

Mary (Kay) Washington, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the College of American Pathologists (CAP). Washington was one of eight physician members honored during the organization’s recent annual meeting.