Research

July 23, 2020

Criteria for lung cancer screens may be expanded

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is recommending two changes that will nearly double the number of people eligible for lung cancer screening by lowering the age from 55 to 50 and reducing the number of smoking history pack years from 30 to 20.

By Tom Wilemon
July 23, 2020

Cellular antiviral defenses

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.

By Leigh MacMillan
July 22, 2020

Amidon named 2020 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar

Katherine Amidon, a PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University, has been selected as the 2020 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar.

By Bill Snyder
July 22, 2020

New data offer insights on COVID treatments for people with cancer

Newly released data on treatment outcomes of people with cancer diagnosed with COVID-19 reveal a racial disparity in access to Remdesivir, an antiviral drug that has been shown to shorten hospital stays, and increased mortality associated with dexamethasone, a steroid that has had the opposite effect in the general patient population.

By Tom Wilemon
July 20, 2020

Study points to potential new approach to treating neurodegenerative diseases like glaucoma and Alzheimer’s disease

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have shown for the first time that when one optic nerve in the eye is damaged, as in glaucoma, the opposite optic nerve comes to the rescue by sharing its metabolic energy.

By Bill Snyder
gloved hand handling sterile surgical tools
July 20, 2020

Post-surgical bleeding associated with more deaths when compared to blood clots after surgery

Post-surgical bleeding is associated with more deaths than blood clots from surgery, according to a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study published in the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia.

By Craig Boerner
July 15, 2020

Antibody research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center shows promise in fight against COVID-19

Based on positive results in preclinical studies reported today, potently neutralizing antibodies identified by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are showing promise as a potential therapy for preventing and treating COVID-19.
By Bill Snyder
July 15, 2020

Vanderbilt University Medical Center to recruit up to 1,000 volunteers for COVID-19 vaccine Trial

In late July, Vanderbilt University Medical Center will begin recruiting up to 1,000 volunteers in a late-stage study of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine developed by Moderna Inc. in collaboration with the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health.
By Bill Snyder
July 14, 2020

VUMC studies provide key positive results for COVID-19 vaccine in early-stage clinical trial

An experimental coronavirus vaccine stimulated robust immune responses against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and raised no serious safety concerns in an early-stage clinical trial.
By Leigh MacMillan
July 14, 2020

New tools to study bioactive lipids

Vanderbilt researchers have identified and characterized inhibitors of an enzyme that synthesizes lipid signaling molecules with roles in energy balance, inflammation and addiction.
By Leigh MacMillan
July 13, 2020

Human lungs rejected for transplant recovered using novel technique

A multidisciplinary team from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Columbia University has demonstrated that injured human donor lungs declined for transplant can be recovered by cross-circulation between the human lung and a xenogeneic host.
By Matt Batcheldor
July 13, 2020

“Nur” target may aid arthritis treatment

Vanderbilt immunologists have discovered that the protein Nur77 is part of a control mechanism that guards against autoimmunity in natural killer T cells.
By Bill Snyder
July 9, 2020

About half of health care workers positive for COVID-19 by serology have no symptoms

The IVY Research Network has completed initial studies evaluating the epidemiology of COVID-19 in health care workers and patients.
By VUMC News and Communications