obesity

June 12, 2024

Obesity-cancer connection discovery suggests strategies for improving immunotherapy 

The study reported in the journal Nature provides a mechanistic explanation for the “obesity paradox” — that obesity can contribute to cancer progression but also improve response to immunotherapy.

By Leigh MacMillan
May 31, 2024

VUMC-led team reports potential new way to stimulate weight loss

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System have demonstrated in a small clinical study that “turning up the heat” on fat may help people lose weight and reduce their risk of obesity-related cardiovascular and metabolic disease.

By Bill Snyder
March 27, 2024

Higher genetic risk of obesity means working out harder for same results 

Study authors used activity, clinical and genetic data from the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program to explore the association of genetic risk of higher body mass index and the level of physical activity needed to reduce incident obesity. 

By Craig Boerner
February 1, 2024

A biomarker for early Type 2 diabetes

Genetic analyses suggest that branched chain amino acids may be a sensitive biomarker of early or subclinical Type 2 diabetes and could be used to identify risk and implement preventive measures.

By Bill Snyder
Mariana Byndloss, DVM, PhD, (left), graduate student Catherine Shelton, and their colleagues discovered that beneficial bacteria in the small intestines produce a compound that protects against obesity. (photo by Erin O. Smith)
December 8, 2023

Gut microbiota metabolite protects against obesity: study

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered that beneficial bacteria in the small intestines produce a compound that protects against obesity.

By Leigh MacMillan
November 28, 2023

VUMC receives $10 million to study childhood obesity interventions in rural and minority communities in Tennessee and Louisiana

Vanderbilt researchers are set to begin studying the ideal “dose” of behavioral interventions to treat childhood obesity in rural and minority communities across Tennessee and Louisiana.

By Christina Echegaray
October 24, 2023

Vanderbilt-led team receives 2023 Endeavor Award from The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research

A multidisciplinary team of investigators has received a 2023 Endeavor Award from The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research to support four closely linked projects exploring the fundamental mechanisms that drive the obesity-cancer connection,
By Leigh MacMillan
September 6, 2023

Releasing a brake that drives obesity and diabetes

Vanderbilt researchers have uncovered a potential new way to help curb the rapidly rising worldwide prevalence of metabolic disorders, including obesity and diabetes.
By Bill Snyder
September 5, 2023

MicroRNAs in immune cells help protect against metabolic defects in obesity: study

Vanderbilt researchers have demonstrated that a cluster of microRNAs — small pieces of RNA that regulate gene expression — work in a type of immune cells called macrophages to help protect against metabolic defects in obesity.
By Leigh MacMillan
February 21, 2023

Diabetes drug may improve asthma

New biomarker finding strengthens the case for using GLP-1R agonists to treat patients with Type 2 diabetes who also suffer from asthma.
By Sarah E. Glass
February 16, 2023

Research network yields significant findings related to obesity

By Jill Clendening
October 24, 2022

Metabolic signatures of Type 2 diabetes risk

Vanderbilt epidemiologists found 32 blood metabolites associated with obesity and showed that adding these to traditional disease prediction models improves accuracy of determining Type 2 diabetes risk.
By Kelsey Pinckard
October 6, 2022

Stress, obesity and food intake

Vanderbilt researchers are elucidating the neuronal pathways that contribute to food consumption in response to stress — “comfort feeding” — and how they differ in males versus females and in the context of obesity.
By Kelsey Pinckard
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