Research

The study could suggest ways to promote the transport of phospholipids and cholesterol out of macrophages, immune system cells that play key roles in all stages of atherosclerosis development.
January 19, 2023

Study points to new ways to prevent, treat heart disease

Vanderbilt researchers have confirmed the existence of an alternative pathway to atherosclerosis, a finding that may lead to new ways to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease.

By Bill Snyder
January 19, 2023

Is drinking tea good for your gut?

Microbiome profiling of older Chinese adults showed that tea drinking changed the diversity and abundance of some bacteria in men but not women — effects that may contribute to a reduced risk of hypertension.

By Sarah E. Glass
January 19, 2023

Low potassium injures kidney

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered that low dietary potassium causes direct kidney injury, suggesting potential new targets for treating chronic kidney disease.

By Leigh MacMillan
Jeffrey Rathmell, PhD, left, and Kelsey Voss, PhD, led a multidisciplinary team that identified iron metabolism in T cells as a potential target for treating lupus.
January 13, 2023

Study identifies potential new approach for treating lupus

A Vanderbilt study found that targeting iron metabolism in immune system cells may offer a new approach for treating systemic lupus erythematosus — the most common form of the chronic autoimmune disease lupus.

By Leigh MacMillan
January 12, 2023

Antibody “fingerprinting” method potential advance to slow spread of dengue

Vanderbilt researchers have reported a major advance in understanding and potentially preventing dengue, a devastating, mosquito-borne tropical viral infection that is spreading across the globe.

By Bill Snyder
Alexander Bick, MD, PhD, and colleagues are studying inflammation at the single-cell level in the rare disease RUNX1-FPD.
January 12, 2023

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative grant supports single-cell study of rare inherited disease

A multidisciplinary team led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigator Alexander Bick, MD, PhD, has been awarded a $2 million, four-year grant to study inflammation at the single-cell level in the rare disease RUNX1-FPD.

By Leigh MacMillan
January 12, 2023

Study may lead to new diabetes, heart disease treatments

Vanderbilt research found that deletion of an autophagy-participating factor named PIK3C3 from the fat cells of mice led to compromised body temperature control, abnormal blood lipid levels, fatty liver and diabetes.
By Bill Snyder
January 12, 2023

Roden honored for his leadership in precision medicine

Vanderbilt's Dan Roden, MD, will receive the PMWC 2023 Pioneer Award Jan. 27 during this year’s Precision Medicine World Conference.
By Bill Snyder
January 10, 2023

Anti-nausea drug response in children

Genetic variation in a metabolic enzyme was not associated with response to the anti-nausea drug odansetron in children, Vanderbilt researchers report.
By Leigh MacMillan
January 9, 2023

Novel lung cancer biomarker

Autoantibodies against the p53 tumor suppressor protein may be a novel biomarker for identifying people, especially African Americans, at high risk for lung cancer.
By Leigh MacMillan
January 6, 2023

Early effects of Huntington disease

Impairments in brain executive function happen earlier than motor symptoms in people with the gene mutation that causes Huntington disease, suggesting younger ages and cognitive symptoms be considered for any future clinical trials.
By Kelsey Pinckard
January 6, 2023

MicroRNAs linked to lipid damage

VUMC researchers have linked microRNAs with systemic lipid peroxidation, a discovery that could point to new therapeutic targets for a variety of diseases.
By Sarah E. Glass
January 5, 2023

VUMC researchers upend dogma about vasopressin production

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered that vasopressin, which has long been thought to be produced only in the brain, is also produced in the kidney.
By Leigh MacMillan