health disparities

June 25, 2024

Gene variant may underlie diabetes disparities: study

The study was the largest ancestry-stratified, genetic estimation of the heritability of diabetic retinopathy conducted to date and included an unprecedented number of individuals of non-Hispanic African ancestry — more than 46,000.

By Bill Snyder
City University of New York’s Deidre Anglin, PhD, was the featured speaker at the 6th Annual Harold Jordan Lecture. (photo by Susan Urmy)
June 17, 2024

Annual Harold Jordan Lecture addresses racism and psychosis

The keynote speaker’s topic was “Infusing DEI in our Research Programs: An Example Studying the Social Patterning of Psychosis.”

By Danny Bonvissuto
Registered respiratory therapist Natasha Vanderbilt, RRT, encourages 10-year-old Kate to exhale a complete breath during a lung function test in the Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine clinic. (photo by Susan Urmy)
June 14, 2024

Removing race improves accuracy of lung function testing in children

The study suggests the adjustment for race in spirometry resulted in an underreporting — and thus possibly undertreatment — of chronic lung diseases, including asthma and cystic fibrosis, in Black children.

By Bill Snyder
(iStock)
May 14, 2024

Breast cancer risk variants identified for women of African ancestry

A study led by researchers from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center sheds light on some of the genetic variants that make breast cancer more deadly for women of African ancestry and significantly reduces the disparity in knowledge for assessing their genomic risk factors.

By Tom Wilemon
(iStock image)
May 1, 2024

Poverty tops smoking as a major death risk: study

A Vanderbilt study found that Black and white people who earned less than $15,000 a year died, on average, more than 10 years earlier than those whose annual income exceeded $50,000.

By Bill Snyder
Discovery Lecturer Vanessa Northington Gamble, MD, PhD, is an internationally known advocate for equity and justice in medicine and public health. (photo by Susan Urmy)
April 26, 2024

Discovery lecturer examines race and racism in health care

At her recent Discovery Lecture, Vanessa Northington Gamble, MD, PhD, described the deeply flawed yet lingering concept in American medicine that ascribes racial disparities in health status to inherent biological differences, rather than to environmental and sociological factors.

By Bill Snyder
December 18, 2023

Study examines social factors and cardiovascular disease risk

Eight social factors were among the top 15 markers of cardiovascular disease risk and could help guide community prevention efforts, according to a new study using machine learning algorithms.
By Paul Govern
October 19, 2023

VUMC initiative to address social drivers of health

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has received a federal grant to incorporate social drivers of health into adult primary care with the aim of improving outcomes for patients with multiple chronic conditions.
By Bill Snyder
October 5, 2023

Kidney disease gene also has a protective mutation

African Americans have long been known to be at increased risk of kidney disease due to a dangerous genetic mutation that creates a hole in the kidney cells, but Vanderbilt researchers have now discovered a protective genetic mutation that covers the hole to eliminate the risk.
By Craig Boerner
August 15, 2023

VUMC receives state grant to evaluate innovative models of nursing care that include screening and responding to social drivers of health

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has received a to evaluate innovative models of nursing care that include screening and responding to social drivers of health to better meet the needs of all VUMC patients.
By Matt Batcheldor
July 26, 2023

International workgroup of geneticists issues CHEK2 guidelines

International workgroup issues additional guidance on how to manage patients who carry inherited CHEK2 gene mutations that put them at a higher risk for cancer.
By Tom Wilemon
June 14, 2023

Symposium offers new ways to overcome health disparities

Ideas for addressing the disproportionate impact of cancer, diabetes, and gastrointestinal diseases on disadvantaged populations were shared recently during a diversity symposium at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
By Bill Snyder
April 6, 2023

COVID-19’s lingering impact on health

A decline in cardiovascular fitness — measured by activity trackers in the All of Us research program — persisted among some groups even after COVID-related restrictions were relaxed, exacerbating health disparities.
By Bill Snyder
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