Neal Patel, M.D., MPH, professor of Clinical Pediatrics and chief medical information officer for inpatient services at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, is the first-place recipient of the 2013 Healthcare Informatics/AMDIS IT Innovation Advocate Award, recognizing leaders who have helped move the health care industry forward through their innovations.

Vanderbilt University is part of a multi-site autism clinical study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a blood test that aims to screen children for referral for autism spectrum disorder evaluation (ASD) earlier and more accurately.

A “profile” of the genes and regulatory networks that govern early heart valve development lay the groundwork for generating valves from a patient’s own cells.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University have received grant awards from the National Institutes of Health as part of the Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) research program. The NIH announced grant awards of $100 million over five years to 11 centers nationwide, three of which feature projects from Vanderbilt Kennedy Center investigators, to further studies on autism treatment and intervention.

The Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) has awarded Vanderbilt’s William Russell, M.D., professor of Pediatrics and director of the division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, its highest honor — the Living and Giving Award for support of people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Janelly Martinez-Amador was born with thin, fragile bones, and by 3, she had no visible bones on X-rays. Initially, doctors weren’t sure she would survive her first birthday.

J. Carlton Smith noticed severe pain in his knee five years ago during a lacrosse tournament. Smith, then 13 years old, never imagined hearing the diagnosis doctors would give him: osteosarcoma, a cancer of the bone.