A multidisciplinary study conducted by the combined efforts of Vanderbilt University graduate students has led to the first evidence that abnormal messenger RNA export from the nucleus to the cytoplasm can cause human disease.

The 2013 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science has been awarded to Laurie Glimcher, M.D., Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean and professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

Importin alpha 5, a member of a family of proteins that “shuttle” other proteins into the nucleus, is a potential new target for drugs to treat inflammatory diseases.

Patients treated in intensive care units across the globe enter their medical care with no evidence of cognitive impairment but often leave with deficits similar to those seen in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) or mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that persist for at least a year, according to a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers at the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital have identified a biomarker that can predict diabetes risk up to 10 years before onset of the disease.

A coronavirus protein is required for replication of the viral genome and may be a good treatment target for SARS and other diseases caused by coronaviruses.

Children who receive a vaccine to prevent blood and ear infections may be reducing the spread of pneumonia to the rest of the population, especially their grandparents and other older adults.