Author
Antibody isolated at VUMC found to halt dengue virus
Jan. 23, 2020—Jan. 23, 2020, 9:17 AM by Bill Snyder Using part of an antibody isolated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center that “broadly neutralizes” the human dengue virus, biologists at the University of California San Diego and colleagues have disarmed the mosquito that transmits the disabling and potentially deadly tropical infection. Reporting in PLOS Pathogens, published by the...
Targeting NA to protect against lethal avian flu infection
Jan. 22, 2020—By Sohini Roy Asian lineage avian influenza virus (H7N9) is a subtype of influenza virus that can infect humans following exposure to live, infected poultry. There have been several outbreaks since the first reported case in China in 2013, and the mortality rate is as high as 39 percent. Although person-to-person transmission of the virus...
VUMC study sheds light on gastric cancer development
Jan. 17, 2020—Jan. 16, 2020, 11:03 AM by Bill Snyder Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have created the world’s first laboratory model of precancerous changes in the lining of the stomach, a scientific tour de force that is helping to unlock the mysteries of gastric cancer development. Their achievement, described recently in the journal Nature Communications,...
Vanderbilt-led team discovers new genetic disease and defines underlying mechanism
Jan. 17, 2020—Jan. 13, 2020, 11:00 AM Cartilage cells in the zebrafish model of the disease CATIFA (right) have reduced volumes and irregular shapes compared to healthy cartilage cells (left) because of a defect in collagen secretion. (image courtesy of Ela Knapik, MD) by Leigh MacMillan Studies that started in zebrafish have now pointed to a role...
Zinc uptake by a deadly pathogen
Jan. 17, 2020—Jan. 13, 2020, 8:30 AM by Leigh MacMillan The journal cover featured an artistic representation of Acinetobacter baumannii infecting the lung, which was created by undergraduate student Ayomide Sanusia. Acinetobacter baumannii — a cause of pneumonia, sepsis, wound and burn infections — is becoming more prevalent and resistant to antibiotics. Like other pathogens, A. baumannii...
Study sheds light on link between cannabis, anxiety and stress
Jan. 15, 2020—Jan. 15, 2020, 12:08 PM by Kelsey Herbers A molecule produced by the brain that activates the same receptors as marijuana is protective against stress by reducing anxiety-causing connections between two brain regions, Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers report. This finding, published today in Neuron, could help explain why some people use marijuana when they’re...
Meet the pioneering scientists transforming medicine for millions of people
Jan. 13, 2020—Antibody science has been around since the 1790s, but it’s come a long way thanks to innovators in medicine By Deborah Abrams Kaplan for Regeneron Major advances were made in the 1970s, when scientists used technology to produce large numbers of identical (monoclonal) antibodies in mice.3 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the...
Jeff Conn awarded ASPET 2020 Julius Axelrod Award in Pharmacology
Jan. 13, 2020—ASPET is pleased to award Dr. P. Jeffrey Conn from the Vanderbilt Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery the 2020 Julius Axelrod Award in Pharmacology. The Axelrod Award was established in 1991 to honor the memory of the eminent American pharmacologist who shaped the fields of neuroscience, drug metabolism, and biochemistry and who served as a...
Structural views of a C. diff toxin
Jan. 10, 2020—Jan. 10, 2020, 8:30 AM by Leigh MacMillan Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) is a leading cause of hospital-acquired infection and diarrhea. C. diff infection requires the secretion of one or more bacterial toxins. Recent studies have suggested that the C. diff transferase toxin (CDT) increases the severity of infection. To explore how CDT functions, D....
Erin Calipari one of thirteen faculty members to receive Provost Research Studios for 2019-20
Jan. 7, 2020—Jan. 6, 2020, 8:00 AM Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Tracey George (Vanderbilt University) Thirteen outstanding faculty members from across the university have been awarded a Provost Research Studio for the 2019-20 academic year. The goal of the Provost Research Studios is to support the professional development of full-time faculty (tenured, tenure track, and non-tenure...