While the number of COVID-19 cases across the country is decreasing, pediatricians at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt are beginning to see a new post-surge trend: an increase in cases of multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston have discovered what may be the Achilles’ heel of the coronavirus, a finding that may help close the door on COVID-19 and possibly head off future pandemics.

A blood stem cell protein plays a role in the initiation and progression of leukemia, Vanderbilt researchers have found.

The rate of mothers who had an opioid-related diagnosis when delivering their baby increased by 131% from 2010-2017, as the incidence of babies diagnosed with drug withdrawal, known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), increased by 82% nationally during that same time period.

In fall 2020, 9% of Tennessee children were uninsured, more than twice the level at the same time in 2019, according to a new poll conducted by the Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy. Just 4% of children were uninsured in fall 2019, the poll found.

The development of the vaccines, monoclonal antibodies and antiviral drugs that ultimately will defeat COVID-19 wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for the unflagging and selfless efforts of a global army of research nurses, laboratory personnel, recruiters and other staff.

Geoffrey Fleming, MD, professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, and Vice President of Vanderbilt University Medical Center Continuous Professional Development, died Dec. 8. He was 50.