Research

Scott Pearson, MD, professor of Surgery (back row with tie), and James Patton, PhD, Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences (on Pearson’s left), celebrate year two of the Master’s Program in Biomedical Sciences they co-direct with the 16 students enrolled this year plus some of the 10 students from last year’s class. The program prepares students for a broad array of health professional careers. Patton directs the Vanderbilt University Interdisciplinary Graduate Program. Pearson is a core faculty member of the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. For more information, visit https://gradschool.vanderbilt.edu/postbac.
September 9, 2019

Year two for Master’s Program in Biomedical Sciences

Vanderbilt’s Master’s Program in Biomedical Sciences prepares students for a broad array of health professional careers.

By Bill Snyder
brain and lightning
September 9, 2019

Astrocytes and epilepsy

A protein with important functions in astrocytes — star-shaped brain support cells — may alter neuronal excitability and contribute to seizure activity, Vanderbilt researchers report.

By Leigh MacMillan
September 5, 2019

How salt increases blood pressure

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered that a protein called SGK1 in immune cells is activated by sodium, leading to the development of salt-sensitive hypertension.

By Leigh MacMillan
Catie Chang, PhD, MS, Dario Englot, MD, PhD, and colleagues are studying brain networks related to cognitive deficits in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.
September 5, 2019

Team explores epilepsy-related brain disturbances

A team led by a neurosurgeon-scientist and an engineering professor who specializes in techniques for analyzing functional neuroimaging data has received a $3 million grant to study disturbances in brain networks related to attention lapses and cognitive deficits in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.

By Pam Coyle
DNA sequence
September 5, 2019

Study backs genetic testing for all metastatic breast cancer patients

By Tom Wilemon
September 5, 2019

The plus and minus of microtubules

Understanding the dynamic regulation of cytoskeletal microtubules may suggest new ways to treat disorders ranging from Alzheimer’s disease to cancer.

By Bill Snyder
September 5, 2019

Zebrafish aid effort to regenerate damaged retinas

According to a new study, the tiny zebrafish may hold the secret to regenerating damaged retinas in humans.
By Bill Snyder
September 4, 2019

Novel treatment for Prader-Willi syndrome being tested at VUMC

A novel treatment for Prader-Willi syndrome, one of the most common genetic causes of obesity, may improve the insatiable hunger that patients with the disorder experience.
By Leigh MacMillan
September 4, 2019

Partnership to help bring Zika virus therapy to clinic

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are partnering with the Dutch biopharmaceutical firm Batavia Biosciences and Nashville-based IDBiologics to bring to the clinic a highly potent Zika virus neutralizing antibody they isolated three years ago.
By Bill Snyder
September 4, 2019

Vanderbilt Prize winner Seidman to speak Sept. 12

Christine Seidman, MD, recipient of the 2019 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science, will deliver her Vanderbilt Prize lecture at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, in 208 Light Hall.
By Bill Snyder
August 27, 2019

A “rheostat” for cancer signals

Jason MacGurn and colleagues have characterized a “rheostat” that sets WNT pathway signaling in breast cancer cells.
By Sanjay Mishra
August 26, 2019

Colorectal cancer researchers receive SPORE funding

Colorectal cancer researchers from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) have been awarded a Specialized Program of Research Excellence grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
By Tom Wilemon
August 26, 2019

Cancer susceptibility genes

Gene variants associated with cancer risk appear to contribute to carcinogenesis by regulating target genes that in turn promote the generation of mutations.
By Leigh MacMillan