Reporter March 20 2020

Spasticity underdiagnosed

Mar. 24, 2020—Spasticity — a consequence of stroke and other disorders of the central nervous system — may be underdiagnosed and undertreated in nursing home residents.

Cellular factor helps package flu genome

Mar. 23, 2020—New insights on influenza genome packaging could guide strategies for interfering with the virus’s life cycle and ability to cause infection.

Race, hormones and diabetes risk

Mar. 19, 2020—Variation in the levels of hormones called natriuretic peptides may contribute to racial differences in susceptibility to diabetes, suggesting that this hormone system may be a target for reducing risk of the disease.

Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, on altering approach to elective care

Mar. 19, 2020—Here’s the latest information on our coronavirus response. The situation is changing by the hour and we will keep you informed as we determine what’s best for our patients — and for all of us at VUMC.

Blocking stress-induced relapse

Mar. 19, 2020—Danny Winder and colleagues are teasing apart the actions of neurotransmitter receptors in a brain region linked to anxiety and addiction, with a goal of finding treatments for substance use disorders.

Brad Hill, MD, left, recently performed minimally invasive carpal tunnel release surgery for Tommy Rainey. The procedure allows patients to return to work and regular activities sooner than a traditional, open procedure.

Minimally invasive carpal tunnel surgery offers quicker healing

Mar. 19, 2020—Tommy Rainey suspects problems with his hands began as a result of countless hours at the keyboard during his long career as a publisher and writer, and when tingling and numbness in his left hand continued to worsen, he knew he had to get help.

Jonathan Wanderer, MD, MPhil, is the director of the eStar Physician Builders Program at VUMC.

eStar Physician Builders develop creative workflows

Mar. 19, 2020—Through its eStar Physician Builders Program, Vanderbilt University Medical Center supports physicians and other health care team members in devising new content and tools for VUMC’s health information technology system.

Partnership speeds speech-language interventions

Mar. 19, 2020—Preschoolers in the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) district are more quickly being identified as having a communication disability thanks to a new partnership between the district and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Suddenly having to work from home can create new challenges

Mar. 18, 2020—For those who work in an office surrounded by co-workers, working from home can sound like a dream come true — there’s no frustrating commute and you can sit quietly at your own kitchen table or home office, away from the distractions of daily office work life. But if it’s not your choice, it can be a different story.

Artist Rachael McCampbell poses with her mural, “Space Bunnies,” on the 11th floor or Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Artist hopes mural brightens days at Children’s Hospital

Mar. 18, 2020—At Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, bunnies in space helmets swirl around the rings of Saturn. A bunny speeds by the sun in a spaceship. Another rides across the sky in a hot air balloon.

Ibuprofen and COVID-19: a doctor’s guidance

Mar. 18, 2020—Last week, France’s health ministry urged people who have been infected by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) to avoid taking over-the- counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, naproxen and aspirin because they might increase the severity of the infection.

UC Berkeley’s Doudna named to receive Vanderbilt Prize

Mar. 18, 2020—Jennifer Doudna, PhD, who led development of the revolutionary genome editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9, is the recipient of the 2020 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science, officials at Vanderbilt University Medical Center announced this week.