Vanderbilt Institute for Infection Immunology and Inflammation Archives

VUMC lands grant to build top-line biosafety facility

Sep. 29, 2022—Vanderbilt University Medical Center is set to construct a state-of-the-art BioSafety Level 3 (BSL3) facility for research involving the COVID-19 virus, anthrax and other dangerous microorganisms.

Kaydi Naylor, 4, touches an eastern chain kingsnake at last week’s “MEGAMicrobe Express” community science fair at the Warner Elementary Arts Magnet School in East Nashville.

MEGAMicrobe event shows children that science can be fun

Sep. 22, 2022—More than 100 children who attended the “MEGAMicrobe Express” community science fair on Sept. 17 at the Warner Elementary Arts Magnet School in East Nashville.

Luc Van Kaer, PhD, left, Luke Postoak and colleagues have identified a protein that is key to the “education” of immature T cells in the thymus.

Study identifies key player in T cell “education”

Sep. 1, 2022—New Vanderbilt research could inform therapeutic strategies for enhancing thymic function when desired — such as during aging, recovery from radiation therapy or chemotherapy, or other conditions that reduce T cell output.

Research by Christopher Peek, PhD, left, Jim Cassat, MD, PhD, and their colleagues reveals how gut inflammation leads to bone loss.

Vanderbilt researchers discover how gut inflammation leads to bone loss

Aug. 25, 2022—Gastrointestinal inflammation, such as occurs in inflammatory bowel disease, triggers the expansion of a population of “bone-eating” cells, leading to bone loss.

Maria Hadjifrangiskou, PhD, Connor Beebout, PhD, and colleagues are studying why the bacterium E. coli is so tenacious.

Study describes how E. coli co-opts cells, causes recurrent UTIs

Aug. 25, 2022—Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have discovered why the uropathogenic bacterium E. coli, the leading cause of urinary tract infections, is so tenacious; their findings could lead to new ways to prevent recurrent UTIs.

Jim Cassat, MD, PhD, and colleagues are studying enzymes involved in metabolism that are particularly important for Staphylococcus aureus to survive in host tissues.

Mathers Foundation award supports study of crosstalk between skeletal, immune systems

Jul. 7, 2022—Vanderbilt's Jim Cassat, MD, PhD, has received a three-year, $750,000 award from the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation to support research exploring the interplay between bone homeostasis and infectious disease.

Bacterial battle in 3D

Jun. 2, 2022—Using imaging mass spectrometry and microscopy, Vanderbilt researchers visualized how staph bacteria modifies lipids in its membrane to evade immune system-mediated killing.

Andy Weiss, PhD, Caitlin Murdoch, PhD, and colleagues have characterized the first zinc metallochaperone: a protein that puts zinc into other “client” proteins.

Study identifies first cellular “chaperone” for zinc, sheds light on worldwide public health problem of zinc deficiency

May. 17, 2022—A team led by Vanderbilt researchers has described and characterized the first zinc metallochaperone: a protein that puts zinc into other “client” proteins.

Erin Green, PhD, Eric Skaar, PhD, MPH, and colleagues are studying how a certain bacterial pathogen can survive on hospital surfaces for months with no water.

VUMC team discovers how bacterial pathogen survives without water

May. 5, 2022—Vanderbilt researchers are studying a bacterial pathogen that can survive on hospital surfaces — without water — for months, an ability that has helped it become a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections.

Eric Skaar, PhD, MPH, Hualiang Pi, PhD, and colleagues are studying a regulatory factor in the bacterium that causes the disease anthrax.

Study advances understanding of bacterial bioterrorism agent

Apr. 7, 2022—Vanderbilt researchers have identified a critical regulatory factor in the bacterium that causes the disease anthrax and has been used as a biological weapon.

Technique hastens COVID-19 antibody discovery

Mar. 10, 2022—Optimization of a technique developed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center enables rapid and efficient identification of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against the virus that causes COVID-19.

Impaired neutrophils in autoimmunity

Jan. 27, 2022—Vanderbilt researchers help answer the question of why patients with autoimmune diseases like lupus are more susceptible to bacterial infections: their neutrophils have impaired antibacterial activity.