NIAID Archives

The clinical trial group includes, from left, Gordon Bernard, MD, Katherine Cahill, MD, Kevin Niswender, MD, PhD, Pingsheng Wu, PhD, and R. Stokes Peebles, MD.

Clinical trial at VUMC tests novel treatment for asthma

Nov. 10, 2022—VUMC has begun enrolling patients with asthma in a clinical trial of a novel treatment: a medication approved to treat diabetes and obesity.

C. diff infections drop in children

Nov. 3, 2022—The number of pediatric infections caused by Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) decreased from 2013 to 2019, likely due to an increase in antibiotic stewardship programs and improved hospital contact protocols, Vanderbilt researchers found.

Enhancing innate immunity in the lung

Sep. 12, 2022—Vanderbilt researchers show that a TLR4 agonist improves lung immune response and survival in a mouse model of bacterial pneumonia, supporting the development of this drug to protect against pneumonia in hospitalized patients.

Luc Van Kaer, PhD, left, Luke Postoak and colleagues have identified a protein that is key to the “education” of immature T cells in the thymus.

Study identifies key player in T cell “education”

Sep. 1, 2022—New Vanderbilt research could inform therapeutic strategies for enhancing thymic function when desired — such as during aging, recovery from radiation therapy or chemotherapy, or other conditions that reduce T cell output.

Research by Christopher Peek, PhD, left, Jim Cassat, MD, PhD, and their colleagues reveals how gut inflammation leads to bone loss.

Vanderbilt researchers discover how gut inflammation leads to bone loss

Aug. 25, 2022—Gastrointestinal inflammation, such as occurs in inflammatory bowel disease, triggers the expansion of a population of “bone-eating” cells, leading to bone loss.

Maria Hadjifrangiskou, PhD, Connor Beebout, PhD, and colleagues are studying why the bacterium E. coli is so tenacious.

Study describes how E. coli co-opts cells, causes recurrent UTIs

Aug. 25, 2022—Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have discovered why the uropathogenic bacterium E. coli, the leading cause of urinary tract infections, is so tenacious; their findings could lead to new ways to prevent recurrent UTIs.

A clinical trial supports approval of a new medication to treat moderate-to-severe asthma in children.

Study explores role RSV plays in later asthma development

Jul. 21, 2022—A Vanderbilt clinical project will follow 1,950 Middle Tennessee children to determine how genes and the environment interact with RSV infection during the first year of life and contribute to asthma development

Bacterial battle in 3D

Jun. 2, 2022—Using imaging mass spectrometry and microscopy, Vanderbilt researchers visualized how staph bacteria modifies lipids in its membrane to evade immune system-mediated killing.

Andy Weiss, PhD, Caitlin Murdoch, PhD, and colleagues have characterized the first zinc metallochaperone: a protein that puts zinc into other “client” proteins.

Study identifies first cellular “chaperone” for zinc, sheds light on worldwide public health problem of zinc deficiency

May. 17, 2022—A team led by Vanderbilt researchers has described and characterized the first zinc metallochaperone: a protein that puts zinc into other “client” proteins.

Erin Green, PhD, Eric Skaar, PhD, MPH, and colleagues are studying how a certain bacterial pathogen can survive on hospital surfaces for months with no water.

VUMC team discovers how bacterial pathogen survives without water

May. 5, 2022—Vanderbilt researchers are studying a bacterial pathogen that can survive on hospital surfaces — without water — for months, an ability that has helped it become a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections.

Eric Skaar, PhD, MPH, Hualiang Pi, PhD, and colleagues are studying a regulatory factor in the bacterium that causes the disease anthrax.

Study advances understanding of bacterial bioterrorism agent

Apr. 7, 2022—Vanderbilt researchers have identified a critical regulatory factor in the bacterium that causes the disease anthrax and has been used as a biological weapon.

Microbiome reflects COVID-19 severity

Mar. 14, 2022—Characterization of the upper respiratory tract microbiome could help predict outcomes for COVID-19 infection, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.