Vanderbilt Center for Antibody Therapeutics (VCAT)

James Crowe Jr., MD, and colleagues are exploring how the body’s immune system gears up to fight off infection.
July 9, 2019

Vanderbilt vaccine pioneer James Crowe honored with major science prize

James Crowe Jr., MD, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, will be honored today by the science and technology company Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany for his contributions to developing new therapeutics and vaccines against some of the world’s deadliest viruses.

By Bill Snyder
June 14, 2019

New method tested to block chikungunya infection

Scientists are testing a new way to fight chikungunya virus that involves injecting genetic material into the bodies of infected and at-risk individuals to trigger rapid production of potent, virus-neutralizing antibodies.

By Bill Snyder
Research assistant Mahsa Majedi loads reagent used in DNA sample preparation in the genomics lab. She is part of a team of more than a dozen people at VUMC who are “sprinting” to develop — within 90 days — an antibody-based treatment to stop the spread of the Zika virus.
June 6, 2019

VUMC joins international effort to speed vaccine development

VUMC has joined an international effort to streamline and accelerate development of vaccines and other treatments against a growing worldwide surge of deadly and debilitating viral infections.

By Bill Snyder
May 16, 2019

Flu’s “hidden target” may lead to universal vaccine: study

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Scripps Research Institute have discovered a “hidden target” on the surface of the hypervariable influenza A virus that could lead to better ways to prevent and treat the flu.

By Bill Snyder
Lab manager Rachel Nargi prepares a B-cell culture during the recent “sprint” to develop an antibody-based treatment for Zika virus infection.
April 11, 2019

VUMC-led team ‘sprints’ to develop Zika virus treatment

In January scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and colleagues in Boston, Seattle and St. Louis were given an audacious goal to develop — in 90 days — a protective antibody-based treatment that potentially will stop the spread of the Zika virus.

By Bill Snyder
March 25, 2019

VUMC joins effort to stop spread of two deadly viruses

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are participating in a national effort to develop vaccines and other treatments as countermeasures to prevent the spread of two emerging and deadly viruses — Nipah and Hendra.

By Bill Snyder
February 21, 2019

VUMC chikungunya antibody set to enter clinical trial

A monoclonal antibody against the chikungunya virus developed by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center is the first monoclonal antibody encoded by messenger RNA to enter a clinical trial.
By Bill Snyder
February 13, 2019

Researchers push forward frontiers of vaccine science

Using sophisticated gene sequencing and computing techniques, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the San Diego Supercomputer Center have achieved a first-of-its-kind glimpse into how the body’s immune system gears up to fight off infection.
By Bill Snyder
January 31, 2019

Designing antibodies to fight the flu

Vanderbilt investigators said their work shows that computational design can improve the ability of naturally occurring antibodies to recognize different flu strains and may hasten the development of more effective flu therapies and vaccines.
By Bill Snyder
January 24, 2019

VUMC scientists ‘sprint’ to find anti-Zika antibodies

Scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and colleagues in Boston, Seattle and St. Louis are racing to develop — in a mere 90 days — a protective antibody-based treatment that can stop the spread of the Zika virus.
By Bill Snyder
January 17, 2019

Research explores link between stem cell transplant, diabetes

About a decade ago, at the beginning of his career in academic medicine, Brian Engelhardt, MD, MSCI, noticed that many of his patients receiving a stem cell transplant for their blood cancer ended up with diabetes.
By VUMC News and Communications
December 6, 2018

Discovery could lead to neutralizing West Nile virus

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and colleagues have isolated a human monoclonal antibody that can “neutralize” the West Nile virus and potentially prevent a leading cause of viral encephalitis (brain inflammation) in the United States.
By Bill Snyder
October 18, 2018

Translational Research Forum set for Oct. 26

Patricia Griffin, MD, chief of the Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will be the guest speaker at the 2018 Vanderbilt Translational Research Forum Oc. 26 at the Vanderbilt Student Life Center.
By Bill Snyder