national science foundation Archives

VU, VUMC research funding surpasses $1 billion

Apr. 6, 2022—Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center received more than $1 billion in research funding awarded from external organizations in 2021.

DBMI program for undergrads receives grant renewal from NSF

Apr. 15, 2021—The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a three-year grant renewal for Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program for Access to Training in Health Informatics (REU-PATHI).

Temperature, newts and a skin-eating fungus

Mar. 8, 2021—Salamanders are more sensitive to a skin-eating fungus at colder temperatures, pointing to locations of North America where pathogen invasion is most likely.

Frog peptides as anti-HIV microbicides

Nov. 2, 2020—Peptides derived from the antimicrobial peptides secreted by frogs could function as microbicides to limit HIV transmission, while sparing protective vaginal bacteria.

Depression and the brain-age gap

Oct. 19, 2020—Older depressed adults show accelerated brain aging, according to a new study from Vanderbilt researchers, who suggest that the effects of depression may speed the decline in cognitive functions in older individuals.

The importance of estrogen cycles

Aug. 6, 2020—Deborah Lannigan and colleagues identify a key regulator of the estrogen receptor and suggest that its downregulation by oral contraceptives may increase oxidative stress and DNA damage, a common cause of cancer.

Team to develop patient data sharing framework for pandemics

May. 21, 2020—Any large-scale effort to use data from COVID-19 patients to serve biomedical or public health research must first concern itself with patient privacy issues.

How to fake a medical record

Nov. 4, 2019—Simulated electronic health records could avoid patient privacy risks and help speed discovery.

Microscopic spines connect worm neurons

Oct. 17, 2019—Worm neurons have microscopic “spines” — where nerve-to-nerve communication happens — that share features with mammalian neurons, supporting the use of worms to study spine genetics and biology.

Frog fungus fights back

May. 9, 2019—Louise Rollins-Smith and colleagues are exploring how a deadly fungus counters the amphibian immune response and contributes to declining worldwide amphibian populations.

Signals from the “conveyor belt”

Jan. 17, 2019—Vanderbilt researchers propose that cellular signaling pathways are amplified by a “conveyor belt” mechanism that exchanges active and inactive enzymes.