Reporter Nov 4 2016
Protein structure and epilepsy severity
Nov. 10, 2016—Understanding how mutations affect the structure and function of inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors will shed light on the mechanisms underlying some types of epilepsy.
Improving wound healing
Nov. 8, 2016—Vanderbilt researchers have shown that an injectable material improves wound healing and may be useful for large skin wounds such as those in patients with diabetes.
Probing drug abuse circuitry
Nov. 4, 2016—Vanderbilt researchers have identified cocaine-induced modifications at specific neuronal connections, which could aid the development of new therapies for substance abuse disorders.
Commitment to service excellence recognized
Nov. 3, 2016—The most recent Credo Award, Five Pillar Leader, and Elevate Team Award winners were announced at this week’s Clinical Enterprise Leadership Assembly at Langford Auditorium. The awards are conferred on a quarterly basis.
Address outlines VUMC’s strategic direction
Nov. 3, 2016—In his State of the Medical Center address on Wednesday, Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), and Dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, described a “Strategic Compass” to help the Medical Center continue to “grow and shine” in the years to come.
Complex facial surgery helps bring back patients’ smiles
Nov. 3, 2016—When Kelly Davis woke up one morning in April, she told her husband Anthony that she dreamed her face was moving; then she looked in the mirror and saw that it really was.
VUMC investigators find pathogens work together to infect host
Nov. 3, 2016—Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus — two pathogens that frequently co-infect the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis — appear to cooperate with each other, Vanderbilt investigators have discovered. When pseudomonas is starved for metal by the host, it shuts down the production of factors that would normally kill staph, promoting a co-infection.
A DARPP role in gastric cancer
Nov. 3, 2016—Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a link between Helicobacter pylori infection, inflammation and gastric cancer that could suggest new anti-cancer therapies.
Study details rare heart risk of certain cancer therapies
Nov. 3, 2016—Combination therapy using two approved immunotherapy drugs for cancer treatment may cause rare and sometimes fatal cardiac side effects linked to an unexpected immune response. In a study led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) investigators and published in the Nov. 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers describe two cases of...
Brown named interim director of Institute of Chemical Biology
Nov. 3, 2016—H. Alex Brown, Ph.D., the Bixler-Johnson-Mayes Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, has been named interim director of the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology (VICB).
Cellular interactions found to contribute to lung fibrosis
Nov. 3, 2016—Specific interactions between inflammatory cells and epithelial cells contribute to lung fibrosis, according to a study published last week in JCI Insight fromVanderbilt’s Lisa Young, M.D., associate professor of Pediatrics and Medicine and Cell and Developmental Biology, and colleagues.
Kellie Pickler’s visit
Nov. 3, 2016—Country music recording artist Kellie Pickler performed for and visited with patients at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt earlier this year as part of a segment for her television series, “I Love Kellie Pickler.”
