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Thanks to the care he received at Vanderbilt, Owen Canavan eventually was able to return to the gym after recovering from a devastating car accident. (photo by Erin O. Smith)

Canavan family gift to support VUMC Trauma Team

May. 11, 2021—On April 7, 2017, a devastating car crash sent Owen Canavan to Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Trauma Intensive Care Unit, and he credits the medical team for saving his life.

Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, discusses VUMC’s commitment to community during this week’s Leadership Assembly.

Flexibility, trust: Takeaways from Leadership Assembly

May. 6, 2021—The flexibility and adaptability of Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been center stage as the pressures of COVID-19 and ongoing strategic imperatives have transformed how and where care is delivered.

The team studying the regulation of innate immune response includes (front row, from left) Yang Zhao, Antiana Richardson, (back row, from left) John Karijolich, PhD, Xiang Ye and William Dunker.

Study finds that regulatory protein prevents signaling that triggers cell death

May. 6, 2021—A protein implicated in neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis prevents the activation of an innate immune response that leads to cell death, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.

Lacey Ray plays with her son, Carter, at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Carter, who has a rare esophageal condition, has spent his entire life in hospitals.

Innovative techniques help treat boy’s rare condition

Apr. 29, 2021—Carter Ray has never been inside his family home. As a matter of fact, since he was born on Nov. 3, 2019, he has only lived in a hospital.

Members of the co-occurring disorders intensive outpatient program include, from left, Susan Crawford, RN-BC, Amy Hulings, LCSW, Jessica Lavender, LPC-MHSP, and Maria Dixon, LMSW.

Program combines treatment for mental health, substance use disorders

Apr. 29, 2021—For people with co-occurring mental health disorders and substance use disorders, finding integrated care that treats both conditions can be a difficult task. Vanderbilt Behavioral Health is seeking to simplify care for these patients through the co-occurring disorders intensive outpatient program (IOP).

Transplant Pharmacy team went extra mile during winter ice storm

Apr. 29, 2021—In February, a frigid winter storm swept across the United States, causing widespread chaos — including power outages, water shortages and business shutdowns. Amid the disaster, many kidney transplant patients in Middle Tennessee did not receive deliveries of their immunosuppressant medications due to hazardous road conditions.

Madelyn Stevens, MD, and Brandon Esianor, MD, created the new platform to help residency applicants connect with prospective residency programs.

New platform helps aspiring residents showcase skills

Apr. 22, 2021—Brandon Esianor, MD, and Madelyn Stevens, MD, both residents in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (O-HNS), have developed a virtual platform for O-HNS residency applicants across the country to connect with prospective residency programs.

Members of the Vanderbilt Oral Health team include (front row, from left) Julie Rezk, DMD, Margaret Maclin, DMD, (back row, from left) Kelly Norris, DMD, Tyler Ames, DMD, and Samuel McKenna, MD, DDS. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons not pictured include Susie Lin, DDS, MD, Ashish Sharma, BDS, MSD, and Luis Vega, DDS.

Vanderbilt Oral Health consolidates, expands services in new location

Apr. 15, 2021—With the opening of Vanderbilt Oral Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s dental and oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) services are now together in one convenient location on Belcourt Avenue in Nashville, just across from the Belcourt Theatre.

Sean Collins, MD, MSci, Deonni Stolldorf, PhD, RN, and colleagues are helping other health systems implement a self-care intervention for acute heart failure patients.

Self-care program for acute heart failure patients studied as standard practice

Apr. 15, 2021—Up to 25% of patients with acute heart failure (AHF) face mortality or hospital readmission within one month after being treated in the emergency department (ED).

Members of the Vanderbilt Undiagnosed Diseases Program include (front row, from left) Mary Kuziura, DNP, Anna Bican, John Fahrenholz, MD, Kevin Byram, MD, Lisa Bastarache, MS, (back row, from left) Joy Cogan, PhD, John Phillips III, MD, and Rizwan Hamid, MD, PhD.

VUMC offers new program for undiagnosed diseases

Apr. 15, 2021—Vanderbilt University Medical Center, an original member institution of the National Institutes of Health’s Undiagnosed Diseases Network, (UDN) is launching its own program, the Vanderbilt Undiagnosed Diseases Program (VUDP), which will operate alongside the UDN. The VUDP goal is to expand services to many more patients who are living with the often-dire consequences of an undiagnosed disease.

The new cardiac catheterization lab at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt features expanded space to better meet growing procedure volumes.

New cardiac cath lab opens at Children’s Hospital

Apr. 7, 2021—A new, state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization lab debuted recently at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt to meet the growing volume of the Pediatric Heart Institute.

From left, Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, Bradley Reinfeld, Matthew Madden and Jeffrey Rathmell, PhD, have discovered that immune cells — not cancer cells — are the major glucose consumers in the tumor microenvironment, upending a century-old observation.

Study revises understanding of cancer metabolism

Apr. 7, 2021—Tumors consume glucose at high rates, but a team of Vanderbilt researchers has discovered that cancer cells themselves are not the culprit, upending models of cancer metabolism that have been developed and refined over the last 100 years.