Research

April 25, 2019

Low oxygen and antibody responses

Mark Boothby and colleagues are exploring the factors that contribute to antibody production and quality, which are key to our defense against pathogens and response to vaccines.

By Leigh MacMillan
April 22, 2019

Asia’s diabetes epidemic preferentially kills women, the middle-aged: study

Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in Asia and has dramatically increased the risk of premature death, especially among women and middle-aged people, a multinational study led by Vanderbilt University researchers has found.

By Bill Snyder
From left, Wei Zheng, MD, PhD, Jae Jeong Yang, PhD, Danxia Yu, PhD, and colleagues are studying smoking patterns and associated deaths in Asian countries.
April 18, 2019

Asian nations in early tobacco epidemic: study

Asian countries are in the early stages of a tobacco smoking epidemic with habits mirroring those of the United States from past decades, setting the stage for a spike in future deaths from smoking-related diseases.

By Tom Wilemon
April 15, 2019

Harvard’s Christine Seidman to receive 2019 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science

Christine Seidman, MD, whose lab has identified the genetic causes of several human heart diseases including cardiomyopathy (potentially fatal enlargement of the heart) is the recipient of the 2019 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science, officials at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) announced today.

By Bill Snyder
April 11, 2019

Pathways of radiosensitization

Austin Kirschner and colleagues demonstrate how a hormone therapy for prostate cancer improves radiation’s tumor-killing power.

By Leigh MacMillan
April 11, 2019

The arrestin-GPCR connection

Understanding details of how arrestins deactivate signaling by G-protein coupled receptors is key to the design of new therapeutics aimed at these cellular “inboxes” that are targeted by up to half of all pharmaceuticals.

By Sanjay Mishra
April 11, 2019

Keeping bone in its place

Jonathan Schoenecker and colleagues have discovered a new mechanism for the formation of bone in soft tissues — a complication of severe injuries that causes pain and limits mobility.
By Anivarya Kumar
April 11, 2019

Discovery aids search for cancer biomarkers

A report by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has shattered conventional wisdom about how cells, including cancer cells, shed DNA into the bloodstream: they don’t do it by packaging the genetic material in tiny vesicles called exosomes.
By Bill Snyder
April 11, 2019

How bugs overcome host defenses

Vanderbilt researchers led by Eric Skaar are probing the mechanisms bacteria use when faced with nutrient starvation — a host defense strategy called “nutritional immunity.”
By Leigh MacMillan
April 11, 2019

Study reframes approach to targeted therapy resistance

When a tumor mutates and develops resistance to a targeted therapy, researchers often focus on the acquisition of new mutations within the drug target as they seek an alternative treatment, but a team of Vanderbilt scientists has shown this may not be sufficient.
By Tom Wilemon
March 28, 2019

Cancer’s SOS

Stephen Fesik and colleagues are advancing cancer drug discovery with the characterization of small molecules that modulate RAS, an important target for anti-cancer therapies.
By Sanjay Mishra
March 28, 2019

Cardiac dysfunction in DMD

The protein MMP7 is elevated in blood from patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who have cardiac dysfunction, suggesting that it may be a biomarker for heart disease severity.
By Leigh MacMillan
March 28, 2019

Drug interaction causes hypotension

A muscle relaxing-drug and inhibitors of the metabolic enzyme CYP1A2 interact to cause severely low blood pressure and should not be co-prescribed, Vanderbilt investigators caution.
By Leigh MacMillan