Reporter Dec 20 2013
Year in review 2013: A year of achievements, transition for VUMC
Dec. 19, 2013—Editor’s note — the following is a roundup of the news that made headlines at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2013. Strategic repositioning This year, Vanderbilt University Medical Center proactively embarked on a forward-thinking and necessary mission to reposition the institution to thrive in a fundamentally altered and challenging health care environment. Faced with restricted...
Year in review 2013: VUMC lauded on numerous national ranking lists
Dec. 19, 2013—VUMC was lauded on numerous national ranking lists during the year.
Year in review 2013: Leadership additions bolster VUMC’s missions
Dec. 19, 2013—Leadership additions bolstered VUMC’s missions this year.
Photo: Holiday visit
Dec. 19, 2013—Santa talks with Emma Hudson during his recent visit to see patients and families at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
Ancient chemical bond may aid cancer therapy: study
Dec. 19, 2013—A chemical bond discovered by Vanderbilt University scientists that is essential for animal life and which hastened the “dawn of the animal kingdom” could lead to new therapies for cancer and other diseases.
Bariatric surgery’s metabolic impact to be explored
Dec. 19, 2013—Vanderbilt University researchers have received a two-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study a mouse model of the metabolic and hormonal changes caused by bariatric surgery.
Photo: VUSN Pinning
Dec. 19, 2013—School of Nursing Dean Linda Norman, DSN, R.N., awarded a VUSN pin to 16 students at Sunday’s pinning ceremony at Benton Chapel.
Stead re-elected to IOM Council
Dec. 19, 2013—William Stead, M.D., associate vice chancellor for Health Affairs and Chief Strategy Officer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has been re-elected to a second full term on the Council of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies.
Photo: Discovery Lecture
Dec. 19, 2013—Jennifer Puck, M.D., an expert on human primary immunodeficiencies at the University of California, San Francisco, spoke on newborn screening to detect immune defects at her recent Flexner Discovery Lecture.
Cancer cells combine tools to increase invasiveness
Dec. 19, 2013—Two features of invasive cancer cells — invadopodia and exosomes — are linked together, Vanderbilt University investigators have discovered.
Biodegradable scaffold may spur wound healing
Dec. 19, 2013—Biomedical and chemical engineers at Vanderbilt University, working with a pathologist, have constructed a sponge-like, biodegradable tissue “scaffold” that releases an enzyme-blocking molecule to indirectly activate endogenous pathways and enhance tissue regeneration and wound healing.
VU study identifies new gene fusions in melanoma
Dec. 19, 2013—Cancer researchers, led by investigators at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, have identified two novel gene fusions in melanoma that may be responsive to existing cancer therapies. Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer.
