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Robert Coffey Archives

A ‘supermere’ method for biomarker discovery

Apr. 6, 2023—Vanderbilt researchers have developed a method for isolating extracellular vesicles and nanoparticles — a complex transport system involved in health and disease — which will improve biomarker discovery and the identification of therapeutic targets.

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Colon cancer researchers awarded NCI grant for study of early lesions

Sep. 22, 2022—Vanderbilt researchers are studying precancerous lesions and early cancers in the colon, with the goal of developing new ways to prevent colorectal cancer, the nation’s second leading cancer killer.

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Faculty awards honor teaching, clinical, research excellence

May. 5, 2022—The 2022 Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Academic Enterprise Awards for Excellence in Teaching, Extraordinary Performance of Clinical Service, and Outstanding Contributions to Research were presented April 29 during the annual spring faculty meeting.

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New prognosis predictor and target for gastric cancer

Apr. 7, 2022—The protein CGA — a subunit of glycoprotein hormones — is a biomarker that predicts chemoresistance in gastric cancer and could be targeted along with EGFR to restore chemosensitivity.

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Study sets framework for precision surveillance of colorectal cancer

Dec. 14, 2021—Vanderbilt research has revealed some of the mechanisms by which polyps develop into colorectal cancer, setting the framework for improved surveillance for the cancer utilizing precision medicine.

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“Supermeres” may carry clues to cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and COVID-19

Dec. 10, 2021—Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a nanoparticle released from cells, called a “supermere,” which contains enzymes, proteins and RNA associated with multiple cancers, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease and even COVID-19.

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The role of polarity in early cancer

Sep. 21, 2021—Mutations in the protein epiregulin, an EGF receptor ligand, affect larger epithelial cell reorganization and may contribute to early cancer development, Vanderbilt researchers discovered.

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Possible COVID-19 “decoy”

Oct. 15, 2020—It might be possible to use vesicles carrying the receptor for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to bind the virus and prevent infection.

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Research team awarded $9 million to study extracellular RNA in colorectal cancer

Apr. 9, 2020—The NCI program project grant is supporting multiple projects that aim to define fundamental biological principles about extracellular RNA signaling and the development and aggressiveness of colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States.

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Colorectal cancer researchers receive SPORE funding

Aug. 26, 2019—Colorectal cancer researchers from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) have been awarded a Specialized Program of Research Excellence grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

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Discovery aids search for cancer biomarkers

Apr. 11, 2019—A report by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has shattered conventional wisdom about how cells, including cancer cells, shed DNA into the bloodstream: they don’t do it by packaging the genetic material in tiny vesicles called exosomes.

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Cancer Moonshot award to help map tumor progression

Sep. 27, 2018—A trans-institutional team of researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt University has received an $11 million Cancer Moonshot grant to build a single-cell resolution atlas to map out the routes that benign colonic polyps take to progress to colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer among both men and women in the United States.

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