Vanderbilt Genetics Institute

June 16, 2021

VUMC joins national effort to improve disease prediction in diverse populations

Vanderbilt University Medical Center will participate in a new federal initiative aimed at improving the use of polygenic risk scores (PRS) to predict complex diseases in diverse populations.

By Bill Snyder
April 29, 2021

Genetic ancestry and hypertension risk

Racial disparities in hypertension risk are due in part to genetic differences between ancestries, Vanderbilt investigators find in a study of participants in the Million Veteran Program.

By Bill Snyder
January 7, 2021

Functional seizures associated with stroke, psychiatric disorders in electronic health records study

In a large-scale study of electronic health records, Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have determined the prevalence of functional seizures and characterized comorbidities associated with them.

By Leigh MacMillan
October 22, 2020

New tool to probe genetic mechanisms of disease

Vanderbilt Genetics Institute investigators have added a new method to the computational genetics toolbox. Their approach, described in the journal Nature Genetics, integrates vast genomics datasets to predict gene expression and facilitate discovery of genetic mechanisms underlying human diseases.

By Leigh MacMillan
September 10, 2020

Award supports integration of genomic data, electronic health records

Eric Gamazon, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine, has been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to develop novel computational tools that integrate functional genomic data and electronic health records.

By Leigh MacMillan
pregnant belly
September 8, 2020

Fibroids and birth outcomes

Women with three or more uterine fibroids — non-cancerous growths — during pregnancy are more likely to have infants with reduced birthweight and may need additional surveillance.

By Leigh MacMillan
September 3, 2020

New clue to Alzheimer’s disease

Combining studies of genetically diverse mouse populations and human data led to the identification of a gene associated with cognitive decline and brain changes in Alzheimer’s disease.
By Bill Snyder
September 3, 2020

Bick receives Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists

Alexander Bick, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Genetic Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, is a recipient of the 2020 Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) Career Award for Medical Scientists.
By Bill Snyder
April 30, 2020

EHRs, biobanks and Mendelian diseases

Electronic health records and biobanks can be effectively combined to detect and study Mendelian diseases such as cystic fibrosis.
By Leigh MacMillan
April 23, 2020

VUMC joins global effort to explore COVID-19 genetics

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have joined an international genetics effort to make advances as quickly as possible on understanding and treating COVID-19.
By Leigh MacMillan
January 13, 2020

Vanderbilt-led team discovers new genetic disease and defines underlying mechanism

An international research team has discovered a new genetic syndrome caused by mutation of a single gene and named it CATIFA, an acronym for its core symptoms.
By Leigh MacMillan
November 7, 2019

Study explores genetic risk profiling of insomnia in autism

Vanderbilt researchers are studying how genes affect sleep and circadian disturbances in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with a goal of creating a genetic risk profile of insomnia in ASD.
By Kelsey Herbers
September 19, 2019

Gamazon receives NIH Genomic Innovator Award

VUMC's Eric Gamazon is one of only six investigators to receive an inaugural Genomic Innovator Award from the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the NIH.
By Leigh MacMillan