Marissa Shapiro

“After this trip, I now see the job search, networking, and application process as an exciting journey—a journey to meet great people, to better understand myself, to identify work cultures where I can belong and thrive, and to develop professional skills beyond my Ph.D. training,” Zhengyi Chen, a Ph.D. candidate in chemical and physical biology said. Read More

With novel insights in understanding and treating substance use disorder that have redirected neuropsychopharmacological dogma, Erin Calipari receives award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Read More

Niswender’s project seeks to understand why levels of mGlu7 are reduced in Rett syndrome and to test a new therapeutic approach using DNA molecules to restore those levels. This work could pave the way for new drug therapies to address symptoms of Rett syndrome and related disorders, while also advancing advocacy and visibility for these conditions in the scientific community. Read More

They are among 6,868 scientists worldwide whose papers rank in the top 1% by citations for their fields of research and publication year in the Web of Science Core Collection over the past 11 years. Read More

Kate is a graduate student in the Biochemistry Graduate Program and a member of the Sanders lab since 2020. Her research focuses on the potassium channel KCNQ1 and mutations that cause a cardiac disorder called type 1 long QT syndrome (LQT1). Sanders lab researchers have determined that mistrafficking is a common cause of KCNQ1 dysfunction in LQT1. Kate’s effort to search for small molecules that might remedy this mistrafficking provides an early foundation for possible drug discovery efforts to treat LQT1 and related cardiac disorders. Read More

A new potential treatment for schizophrenia discovered through the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery at Vanderbilt University has entered phase 1 clinical trials, marking the fifth WCNDD therapeutic to advance into human testing. Read More

To honor and continue the legacy of Richard Caprioli, Ph.D., Stanford Moore Chair in Biochemistry and Director Emeritus of the Mass Spectrometry Research Center, the Richard Caprioli Basic Sciences Research Award for Technology Education Fund was established to allow Vanderbilt University Ph.D. students in the School of Medicine to pursue an opportunity to obtain hands-on training and education in one or more new technologies outside of those obtained in their graduate research training. The scholarship will be awarded to a Ph.D. student to enhance the approach to their research program. Read More

Vanderbilt has been training physician-scientists for more than 60 years. Many graduates have gone on to leadership positions in academia, government, industry and clinical practice. Read More

Prior to Akil’s remarks, the 2025 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar, Kimberly Bress, an MD-PhD candidate mentored by Akil, briefly described her dissertation research, which applies functional magnetic resonance imaging to study facial expressions (nonverbal communication) in people with autism spectrum disorder. Read More

The Vanderbilt Vision Research Center was founded in 1989 and secured the National Eye Institute core grant that still supports it; the grant will provide approximately $3.3 million over the current five-year funding period. Read More