Reporter April 12 2019
Pathways of radiosensitization
Apr. 11, 2019—Austin Kirschner and colleagues demonstrate how a hormone therapy for prostate cancer improves radiation’s tumor-killing power.
The arrestin-GPCR connection
Apr. 11, 2019—Understanding details of how arrestins deactivate signaling by G-protein coupled receptors is key to the design of new therapeutics aimed at these cellular "inboxes" that are targeted by up to half of all pharmaceuticals.
Keeping bone in its place
Apr. 11, 2019—Jonathan Schoenecker and colleagues have discovered a new mechanism for the formation of bone in soft tissues — a complication of severe injuries that causes pain and limits mobility.
Discovery aids search for cancer biomarkers
Apr. 11, 2019—A report by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has shattered conventional wisdom about how cells, including cancer cells, shed DNA into the bloodstream: they don’t do it by packaging the genetic material in tiny vesicles called exosomes.
Family’s journey an inspiration for organ donation awareness
Apr. 11, 2019—Heroes come in all sizes, and Mikayla Honeycutt was a small but mighty one. Born with a congenital brain condition called Dandy-Walker Syndrome, she had too much fluid in her brain.
How bugs overcome host defenses
Apr. 11, 2019—Vanderbilt researchers led by Eric Skaar are probing the mechanisms bacteria use when faced with nutrient starvation — a host defense strategy called “nutritional immunity.”
VUMC-led team ‘sprints’ to develop Zika virus treatment
Apr. 11, 2019—In January scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and colleagues in Boston, Seattle and St. Louis were given an audacious goal to develop — in 90 days — a protective antibody-based treatment that potentially will stop the spread of the Zika virus.
VUMC joins with National Academies, other institutions to launch initiative to prevent sexual harassment in higher education
Apr. 11, 2019—Vanderbilt University Medical Center has joined the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and over 40 other colleges, universities and research institutions — including Vanderbilt University — to launch an Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education.
VISE team seeks to develop new robot to ease prostatectomies
Apr. 11, 2019—The Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering (VISE) team of Robert Webster III, PhD, and Duke Herrell, MD, have received a $2.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a new surgical robot for endoscopic transurethral prostatectomy.
Smith named president-elect of Tennessee Medical Association
Apr. 11, 2019—M. Kevin Smith, MD, PhD, MMHC, assistant professor of Clinical Medicine, has been named president-elect of the Tennessee Medical Association (TMA) effective in May. He will serve as president from May 2020-May 2021.
Biostatistics expert Zeger set for next Discovery Lecture
Apr. 11, 2019—Scott Zeger, PhD, professor of Biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore and a leading expert on the application of biostatistics to improve health around the world, will deliver the next Flexner Discovery Lecture on Thursday, April 18.
Social Worker of the Year
Apr. 11, 2019—Erika Rodriguez-Muñoz, LMSW, receives her plaque from Josh Owens, LCSW, director of Transition Management, after she was named Carolyn Edwards Social Worker of the Year at the annual Social Work Luncheon. Rodriguez-Muñoz works at Vanderbilt Women’s Health One Hundred Oaks.
