Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center

August 7, 2025

Healthy plant-based diets reduce risk of death in long-term VUMC study

The findings published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggest that efforts to promote diets high in healthy plant foods and low in animal foods could improve health outcomes.

By Guillermo Sanchez, PhD
July 29, 2025

A fast daily walk could extend your life: study

Just 15 minutes per day of fast walking reduced the risk of premature death in a low-income and predominantly Black U.S. population.

By Leigh MacMillan
May 1, 2025

VoLo Foundation grant supports Southern Environmental Health Study

The grant will allow investigators to recruit additional participants and conduct methylation- and proteomics-based biological aging assays to check for biomarkers of early disease risk.

By Tom Wilemon
(Canva)
August 6, 2024

Guide to a healthier, longer life: Get up and get moving

In a study of predominantly low-income and Black Americans ages 65 and older, the researchers found that those with the longest “sitting time” — more than 10 hours a day — had the highest mortality risk.

By Bill Snyder
(iStock)
May 14, 2024

Breast cancer risk variants identified for women of African ancestry

A study led by researchers from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center sheds light on some of the genetic variants that make breast cancer more deadly for women of African ancestry and significantly reduces the disparity in knowledge for assessing their genomic risk factors.

By Tom Wilemon
(iStock image)
May 1, 2024

Poverty tops smoking as a major death risk: study

A Vanderbilt study found that Black and white people who earned less than $15,000 a year died, on average, more than 10 years earlier than those whose annual income exceeded $50,000.

By Bill Snyder
February 16, 2023

Breast cancer genetics: new insights

Largest genetic study of breast cancer to date identifies 222 genetic risk loci, 137 genes and multiple signaling pathways associated with risk, providing important new insights.
By Leigh MacMillan
January 19, 2023

Is drinking tea good for your gut?

Microbiome profiling of older Chinese adults showed that tea drinking changed the diversity and abundance of some bacteria in men but not women — effects that may contribute to a reduced risk of hypertension.
By Sarah E. Glass
June 20, 2022

Ginseng intake and mortality

Regular ginseng intake, particularly over a long duration, is associated with decreased risk of death from all causes, Vanderbilt researchers discovered in a large epidemiological study.
By Leigh MacMillan
September 16, 2021

Structural variants in breast cancer risk genes

Vanderbilt epidemiologists conducted in-depth whole genome sequencing of breast cancer risk genes in Black women, who die at higher rates and have more aggressive disease, to discover mutations that may improve testing and treatment selection.
By Leigh MacMillan
April 21, 2021

Zheng named VICC associate director for Population Sciences Research

Wei Zheng, MD, PhD, MPH, Anne Potter Wilson Professor of Medicine, has been named associate director for Population Sciences Research at Vanderbilt- Ingram Cancer Center (VICC).
By Tom Wilemon
March 9, 2021

Study incorporates genetics with smoking history to identify high-risk smokers for lung cancer screening

A study by Vanderbilt researchers that analyzed both smoking history and genetic risk variants for lung cancer supports modifying current guidelines to include additional smokers for lung cancer screening.
By Tom Wilemon
October 29, 2020

New markers of colorectal cancer risk

Vanderbilt epidemiologists identified new markers for colorectal cancer risk and characterized a previously unidentified tumor suppressor that regulates overall tumor volume in vivo.
By Sarah E. Glass
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