Marissa Shapiro
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Neuroscientist Shan Meltzer named 2026 Sloan Research Fellow
Shan Meltzer was named a Sloan Research Fellow, one of the most competitive honors available to young investigators, for her research into how the neural circuits responsible for touch and pain processing are built and organized. Read MoreFeb. 17, 2026
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Targeting immune suppression to overcome melanoma resistance
Ann Richmond outlines a promising therapeutic strategy that may re-sensitize treatment-resistant tumors to immunotherapy. The research introduces a three-drug combination that enhances immune activity and suppresses tumor-promoting immune cells. Read MoreFeb. 16, 2026
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Protein plays dual roles in repairing damaged kidney
In a new study, Vanderbilt researchers found that by promoting the formation of actin cytoskeleton inside the epithelial cells lining the proximal tubules, Rac1 facilitates removal and replacement of mitochondria damaged by ischemia. Read MoreDec. 11, 2025
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Seeing Seattle: ASPIRE on the Road visits the Pacific Northwest
“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 MoreDec. 2, 2025
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Erin Calipari receives ACNP’s Daniel H. Efron Research Award
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 MoreDec. 1, 2025
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Niswender receives Nicholas Hobbs Discovery Award to test a new therapeutic approach for Rett Syndrome
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 MoreNov. 20, 2025
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Six Basic Sciences faculty among this year’s ‘highly cited’ researchers
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 MoreNov. 20, 2025
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Kate Clowes Moster wins the 2026 Dr. Anne Karpay Award in Structural Biology
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 MoreNov. 17, 2025
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Second schizophrenia treatment discovered at Vanderbilt’s Warren Center enters phase I clinical trial
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 MoreNov. 12, 2025
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Richard Caprioli Basic Sciences Research Award for Technology Education Fund established, now accepting applications
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 MoreNov. 11, 2025