Reporter March 29 2019

Cancer’s SOS

Mar. 28, 2019—Stephen Fesik and colleagues are advancing cancer drug discovery with the characterization of small molecules that modulate RAS, an important target for anti-cancer therapies.

Cardiac dysfunction in DMD

Mar. 28, 2019—The protein MMP7 is elevated in blood from patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who have cardiac dysfunction, suggesting that it may be a biomarker for heart disease severity.

Drug interaction causes hypotension

Mar. 28, 2019—A muscle relaxing-drug and inhibitors of the metabolic enzyme CYP1A2 interact to cause severely low blood pressure and should not be co-prescribed, Vanderbilt investigators caution.

Unraveling endocytosis

Mar. 28, 2019—New discoveries by Jason MacGurn and colleagues further understanding of the complex machinery that cells use take up substances from outside the cell.

Treatment resistance of mental disorders studied

Mar. 28, 2019—With the aid of a four-year, $3.4 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) will apply new techniques to investigate treatment resistance of two devastating mental disorders — major depressive disorder, which befalls 15 percent of people at some point in their lives, and schizophrenia, which affects approximately 1 percent.

Hot chemotherapy surgery helps save patient’s leg

Mar. 28, 2019—Tom Deweese can keep up with his grandchildren because of a highly specialized surgery using hot chemotherapy that saved his leg.

Speakers at the inaugural SCRIPS Spring Symposium (Supporting Careers in Research for Interventional Physicians and Surgeons) last week were, from left, Kelle Moley, MD, senior vice president and chief scientific officer of the March of Dimes; 2018 SCRIPS Scholars Yash Choksi, MD, and Akshitkumar Mistry, MD; and Anil Rustgi, MD, the T. Grier Miller Professor of Medicine and Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and incoming director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York. The SCRIPS program is supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

SCRIPS Symposium

Mar. 28, 2019—Speakers at the inaugural SCRIPS Spring Symposium (Supporting Careers in Research for Interventional Physicians and Surgeons) last week were, from left, Kelle Moley, MD, senior vice president and chief scientific officer of the March of Dimes; 2018 SCRIPS Scholars Yash Choksi, MD, and Akshitkumar Mistry, MD; and Anil Rustgi, MD.

Tool guides decision-making for prostate cancer patients

Mar. 28, 2019—Prostate cancer patients in Nashville and Los Angeles are benefiting from a computer-based decision aid that implements the latest study results to tailor treatment options to an individual’s quality-of-life priorities.

Jeff Palmucci, CEO of Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital, was among the speakers at a recent event celebrating the hospital’s 25th anniversary.

Vanderbilt Stallworth celebrates 25 years of service

Mar. 28, 2019—Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Children’s after-hours clinic to open in Smyrna

Mar. 28, 2019—Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt continues to lead the way in providing medical care closer to home with the opening of its sixth after-hours clinic in Smyrna on April 1.

Discovery Lecture

Mar. 28, 2019—Ruth Lehmann, PhD, center, a world-renowned expert on the biology of germ cells, delivered last week’s Flexner Discovery Lecture.

ACGME honors Moutsios’ contributions to teaching

Mar. 28, 2019—The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) recently presented awards to 29 recipients at its annual Educational Conference, recognizing noteworthy achievements from a wide range of talented graduate medical education professionals.