sepsis

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January 15, 2026

Immunometabolism may be a key to controlling sepsis: study

This discovery may lead to new ways to block metabolic changes contributing to excessive and ineffective inflammation, reset the immune system, and bring sepsis under control.

By Bill Snyder
The team studying how to control sepsis in the lungs and kidneys includes, from left, Huan Qiao, MD, PhD Jacek Hawiger, MD, PhD, Jozef Zienkiewicz, PhD, and Yan Liu, MD, MS. (photo by Erin O. Smith)
October 22, 2025

New sepsis therapy developed at VUMC edges closer to the clinic

Jacek Hawiger and his colleagues report that a “peptide genomic therapy” given in combination with an antibiotic nearly doubles survival rates from sepsis in an animal model, compared to treatment with antibiotic alone.

By Bill Snyder
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July 25, 2024

New study to explore infection response in diabetes

With a $3 million research grant, Henrique Serezani will investigate how altered metabolism in diabetes affects inflammation and sepsis.

By Paul Govern
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May 21, 2024

Acetaminophen shows promise in warding off acute respiratory distress syndrome, organ injury in patients with sepsis

Findings from NIH-supported clinical trial suggest that intravenous acetaminophen has the greatest benefit in the sickest patients.

By Nancy Humphrey
December 7, 2023

How to get the biggest “bang” for the research “buck”

Vanderbilt researchers are developing new methods to maximize what can be learned from clinical trials and cohort studies, while maintaining their rigor and reproducibility.

By Bill Snyder
The team studying how to control sepsis in the lungs and kidneys includes, from left, Huan Qiao, MD, PhD Jacek Hawiger, MD, PhD, Jozef Zienkiewicz, PhD, and Yan Liu, MD, MS. (photo by Erin O. Smith)
August 21, 2023

Study reveals genomic code for sepsis in the lungs and kidneys

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Nashville Veterans Affairs Medical Center have “cracked” the genomic code for sepsis in the lungs and kidneys.

By Bill Snyder
June 29, 2023

Persistent inflammatory state found in half of pediatric sepsis deaths: study

New research shows that about half of pediatric patients who died of sepsis over the past 20 years at Vanderbilt University Medical Center had evidence of an inflammatory state called persistent inflammation, immunosuppression and catabolism syndrome.
By Leigh MacMillan
May 4, 2023

VUMC to coordinate national effort to reduce ARDS, pneumonia, sepsis

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has received a $31.6 million federal grant to lead a national effort to better understand acute respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia and sepsis.
By Bill Snyder
March 2, 2023

Serious pneumococcal infections increase the risk of heart attack

A Vanderbilt study found that patients with serious pneumococcal infections, including pneumonia and sepsis, are at a substantially increased risk of heart attack after the onset of infection.
By Jake Lowary
February 2, 2023

Study of two sepsis interventions finds identical outcomes

Vanderbilt University Medical Center had a leading role in a large national study designed to compare two early interventions in the treatment of patients with sepsis, the body’s severe response to an uncontrolled infection.
By Nancy Humphrey
October 25, 2022

Vascular dysfunction during sepsis

Regulation of the enzyme Sirtuin 1 in blood vessel endothelial cells may drive altered metabolism and vascular dysfunction during sepsis, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.
By Leigh MacMillan
January 13, 2020

Zinc uptake by a deadly pathogen

The increasingly antibiotic-resistant bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii requires zinc to cause infection, and Vanderbilt researchers have identified the zinc uptake system it uses.
By Leigh MacMillan
October 3, 2019

New test assists physicians with quicker treatment decisions for sepsis

Rapid blood culture diagnostics for patients with bacterial bloodstream infections delivered final results in 12 hours versus the two to three days required for conventional testing.
By Jessica Pasley