VI4 Archives

Molecular imaging of C. diff infection

Sep. 30, 2021—C. difficile — the leading cause of hospital-associated intestinal infections — induces a rapid influx of bile acids into the gut, which could provide a novel target for blocking infection.

Caught in a web: study reveals that immune cells cooperate to trap and kill bacteria

Sep. 10, 2021—Vanderbilt researchers have identified a new antibacterial mechanism that could inspire novel strategies for combating staph and other extracellular bacterial pathogens.

Temperature, newts and a skin-eating fungus

Mar. 8, 2021—Salamanders are more sensitive to a skin-eating fungus at colder temperatures, pointing to locations of North America where pathogen invasion is most likely.

VUMC postdoctoral fellow Valeria Reyes Ruiz, PhD, has been selected as a 2020 Hanna Gray Fellow by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

VUMC postdoctoral scientist named HHMI Hanna Gray Fellow

Feb. 18, 2021—Valeria Reyes Ruiz, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, has been selected as a 2020 Hanna Gray Fellow by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).

C. Henrique Serezani, PhD, right, and colleagues, from left, Amondrea Blackman, Nathan Klopfenstein and Júlia Miranda Ribeiro Bazzano are studying the early events of the inflammatory response to infection.

Study details early events of inflammatory response

Dec. 10, 2020—Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have identified a key molecular player in the early events of the inflammatory response to infection. The findings suggest new therapeutic possibilities for enhancing the inflammatory response to protect against pathogens and for blocking inflammation gone awry in diseases like arthritis and atherosclerosis.

V Scholar Award to support Byndloss’ cancer research

Nov. 18, 2020—Mariana Byndloss, DVM, PhD, assistant professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, has received a V Scholar Award to support her studies of the links between obesity, the gut microbiome and colorectal cancer.

Frog peptides as anti-HIV microbicides

Nov. 2, 2020—Peptides derived from the antimicrobial peptides secreted by frogs could function as microbicides to limit HIV transmission, while sparing protective vaginal bacteria.

Artist Anjali Kumari, an undergraduate student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, worked with Vanderbilt PhD student Kelsey Pilewski on this piece that depicts co-infection by two viruses, HIV (blue) and HCV (red), and the evolution of antibodies to combat virus infection.

Grant helps expand VI4’s Artist-in-Residence program

Oct. 29, 2020—An innovative Vanderbilt program that brings together scientists and artists with the shared goal of scientific communication is set to expand with support from a three-year grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

Rational vaccine design

Sep. 22, 2020—Understanding immunity generated by smallpox vaccine may hold lessons for COVID-19 vaccine development.

Probing pathogen antibiotic resistance

Sep. 17, 2020—Understanding how bacteria evolve resistance to antibiotics and host stresses could guide the development of more effective antimicrobial therapeutics.

Stomach bug hit-and-run

Jul. 23, 2020—The H. pylori machinery that “injects” an oncoprotein into stomach cells contributes to the development of gastric cancer, Vanderbilt researchers demonstrate.

Cellular antiviral defenses

Jul. 23, 2020—A cellular RNA quality control mechanism was known to restrict replication of RNA viruses. Vanderbilt researchers have discovered it is also antiviral against DNA viruses.