Research Archives
Nonprofits support quest to cure childhood epilepsy
Nov. 29, 2023—Monica Joanna Elnekaveh was doing everything she could to learn what was causing her 18-month-old daughter’s developmental issues. Her relentless quest to find answers eventually led her to Vanderbilt investigative neurologist Jing-Qiong (Katty) Kang, MD, PhD.
Commensal gut bacterium protects from severe intestinal infection
Nov. 21, 2023— The commensal bacterium Turicibacter sanguinis could be used to protect against severe intestinal infections, Vanderbilt researchers discovered.
VUMC scientists discover key step to kidney fibrosis
Nov. 21, 2023—Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center for the first time have shown that activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is essential for the development of kidney fibrosis, tissue scarring following injury that can lead to kidney failure.
Tumor antigens key to improving cancer immunotherapy: study
Nov. 17, 2023—Vanderbilt researchers are working to better design immune therapies that attack tumors without also attacking healthy normal tissue in patients.
Nasty microbe H. pylori has Achilles’ heel
Nov. 16, 2023—Vanderbilt researchers found that an H. pylori enzyme is essential for colonization of the stomach, suggesting it as a promising therapeutic target for H. pylori infection.
Twelve at Vanderbilt are among world’s highly cited researchers
Nov. 15, 2023—Twelve current investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt University are on this year’s list of scientists whose papers have been cited the most frequently by other researchers.
Novel C. diff structures are required for infection, offer new therapeutic targets
Nov. 15, 2023—Vanderbilt research discovers that iron storage “spheres” inside the bacterium C. diff — the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections — are important for infection in an animal model and could offer new targets for antibacterial drugs.
Most can lower blood pressure by reducing salt, even those on BP drugs: study
Nov. 13, 2023—New research shows nearly everyone can lower their blood pressure, even people currently on blood pressure- reducing drugs, by lowering their sodium intake.
After 40 years, genetics still surprises VUMC’s Nancy Cox
Nov. 10, 2023—As she looks back on her 40-plus year career, what surprises Nancy Cox, PhD, an internationally known geneticist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, is how much progress has been made, and yet how much more there is to learn about the role genetic variation plays in human disease.
Pancreas “crosstalk” may influence course of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes
Nov. 1, 2023—In the largest study of its kind, researchers at Vanderbilt have identified unexpected alterations in the exocrine tissues of the pancreas that occur in the two major forms of diabetes, and with aging and obesity.
Polygenic “scores” may improve cancer screening
Oct. 31, 2023—Accounting for genetic variability in biomarkers not associated with cancer risk could avoid unnecessary diagnostic procedures, Vanderbilt researchers found.
Crowe, Osheroff honored by AAMC
Oct. 30, 2023—Vanderbilt's James E. Crowe, Jr, MD, and Neil Osheroff, PhD, are among 12 individuals honored by the Association of American Medical Colleges during its 2023 Awards Recognition Event.