Symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, including psychosis, depression and manic behavior, have both shared and distinguishing genetic factors, an international consortium led by researchers from Vanderbilt University and Virginia Commonwealth University is reporting.

Eric Gamazon, PhD, research instructor in the Division of Genetic Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, is spending part of the academic year at Cambridge University in England as one of 40 Clare Hall Visiting Fellows.

Genetic counseling is one of the fastest growing health professions in the country. Demand for genetic counselors is far outpacing the number of trained specialists, prompting the creation of a new degree program at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. The Board of Trust recently approved a master of genetic counseling degree, and the first students are expected to enroll for the fall 2019 semester.

One of the key elements of the Vanderbilt Program for LGBTI Health, an innovative effort to improve health care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex patients, is community engagement.

Vanderbilt investigators have conducted a first-of-its-kind genome-wide association study of lung cancer survival in African-Americans.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is one of four centers receiving a $15 million, four-year research award from the American Heart Association (AHA) to provide cutting-edge research on obesity as part of its sixth Strategically Focused Research Network (SFRN).

Vanderbilt Genetics Institute director Nancy Cox, Ph.D., left, poses with Nancy Brown, M.D., chair of the Department of Medicine, before Cox’s recent Flexner Discovery Lecture.