Stephen Doster

Mutations in the gene MYO5B cause microvillus inclusion disease (MVID), which prevents nutrient absorption in the intestines and is characterized by severe watery diarrhea that typically starts in the first hours after birth. People with MVID usually require lifelong intravenous feedings (parenteral nutrition) or small bowel transplantation. … Read More

Dear Basic Sciences Community, We are pleased to announce that Felysha Jenkins, Ph.D., has accepted the position of Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Basic Sciences. Jenkins was hired as the Basic Sciences diversity, equity, and inclusion program manager starting in the late summer of 2021. In her… Read More

Colleagues, As in years past, the Office of Federal Relations (www.vanderbilt.edu/federalrelations) is providing a reminder on the Congressional Rules regarding gifts to covered federal elected officials (including athletic tickets, travel to campus, and meals) and our obligations with respect to reporting lobbying activities made on behalf of… Read More

By Leah Mann Charles Sanders, Ph.D. The lab of Charles Sanders, professor of biochemistry and the Aileen M. Lange and Annie Mary Lyle Chair for Cardiovascular Research, published a study in Protein Science identifying all human proteins that have at least one segment that does not have… Read More

To understand a protein’s structure is to understand its function, says structural and chemical biologist Jens Meiler, PhD, distinguished research professor of Chemistry. It can take a PhD student up to five sleep-deprived years to determine the structure of a single protein, and of the 20,000 human proteins, only about… Read More

By Leah Mann Wenbiao Chen, Ph.D. The labs of Wenbiao Chen, associate professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, and Irina Kaverina, professor of cell and development biology, recently published a study in Molecular Metabolism focused on detecting genes that regulate insulin secretion. The authors demonstrated a new… Read More

Lourdes Estrada, PhD, associate professor of Biochemistry, has been named assistant dean for Health Equity Education, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, effective Feb. 1. In this role, she will work to develop and expand initiatives that integrate core principles of health equity into VUSM’s health sciences educational programs, with an… Read More

Targeting iron metabolism in immune system cells may offer a new approach for treating systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) — the most common form of the chronic autoimmune disease lupus. A multidisciplinary team of investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has discovered that blocking an iron uptake receptor reduces disease pathology… Read More

The laboratories of Brian Bachmann, professor of chemistry, biochemistry and pharmacology, and Jonathan Irish, associate professor of cell and developmental biology and pathology, microbiology and immunology, have developed a method to discover new small molecules that may kill cancer cells by working through the body’s immune system. The method is… Read More

Renã Robinson, Dorothy Wingfield Phillips Chancellor’s Faculty Fellow and professor of chemistry, received $2.04 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health to start a program that will help underrepresented minority faculty further their success in STEM. Collaborators on the grant include researchers from the University of Kentucky and… Read More