Vanderbilt researchers hope their new method to describe cells will be widely adopted and used to generate a “Who’s Who” database of cell types.

DNA replication is an extraordinarily complex multi-step process that makes copies of the body’s genetic blueprint. It is necessary for growth and essential to life. Now researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Vanderbilt University have found evidence that one of those steps may involve the telephone-like transmission of electrical signals regulated by a chemical “switch.”

The protein beta-catenin may be a good target for therapies to treat lung disease that is a common complication of preterm birth.

Although nitrous oxide was less effective than epidural anesthesia for pain management during labor, mothers who used nitrous oxide were equally satisfied with their childbirth experience.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have taken another step toward developing a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the major cause of life-threatening pneumonia in infants worldwide.

Social risk factors including income, education and ethnic background influence health outcomes and should be taken into account in Medicare payment models, according to a New England Journal of Medicine “Perspective” titled “Social Risk Factors and Equity in Medicare Payment.”

Vanderbilt researchers have identified a unique example of communication between bacterial signaling systems, which may have relevance for antibiotic resistance.