Women may be at higher risk than men when it comes to overuse of opioid-containing painkillers, speakers warned at a research symposium at Vanderbilt University Medical Center earlier this month.

Drugs that are being used clinically to treat obesity and diabetes may also have a role in treating drug abuse.

A genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease in later life appears to benefit younger adults as they age.

COX-2 inhibitors – used clinically to reduce inflammation and pain – may find new applications for treating PTSD and other stress-related psychiatric disorders like major depression.

An inability to recognize faces may be an important mechanism underlying social inhibition and may contribute to, or maintain, social anxiety.

Harsh Trivedi, M.D., MBA, associate professor of Psychiatry, vice chair for Clinical Affairs for Vanderbilt’s Department of Psychiatry, and executive director and chief medical officer of Vanderbilt Behavioral Health, has been named CEO of Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital. He will remain administrative director for Vanderbilt Behavioral Health.

Vanderbilt researchers have established a link between the neurotransmitter serotonin and certain behaviors of some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a link that may lead to new treatments for ASD.