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By Emily Hawes and Lorena Infante Lara The Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences encompasses four departments: Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and Pharmacology. Through this article series, we are featuring each one, highlighting their proudest accomplishments, unique strengths, and visions for the future. A… Read More

Dean John Kuriyan (Photo by John Russell) Dear Alums and Friends, In the previous issue of Vestigo, we paused to look back at 150 years of innovative research. In this issue, we look ahead to new and amazing research breakthroughs coming out of our laboratories and their potential impact in… Read More

Acanthamoeba can cause diseases blinding keratitis, an infection of the eye, or granulomatous amebic encephalitis, a generally fatal infection of the brain and spinal cord. Antifungals that target the biosynthesis of fungal sterols, such as ergosterol, are often used as treatment, but the Acanthamoeba ergosterol biosynthetic pathway has been shown to differ significantly from that found in fungi. Read More

Cryo-ET suffers from the “missing wedge” problem: as samples become more tilted, their thickness at the extremes is increased and sample penetration decreases. William Wan and collaborators describe the creation of a new subtomogram averaging package called STOPGAP. Read More

Ken Lau, professor of cell and developmental biology, will receive a one-year research award from the Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund. This work will propel Vanderbilt forward as a leader in the field by leveraging novel technology to develop customized sequencing-based assays of cell-associated components at the single-cell resolution. Read More

By Emily Overway Marija Žanić, Ph.D. The lab of Marija Žanić, professor of cell and developmental biology, is investigating the regulation of microtubules. Work led by former postdoctoral fellow Elizabeth Lawrence, recently published in eLife, details the role of microtubule-associated protein SSNA1 in microtubule stabilization… Read More

By Wendy Bindeman Welcome to the first of four articles in our new “Meet the Departments” series! The Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences is composed of four departments: Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and Pharmacology. Through this article series, we… Read More

By Aaron Conley Stanley Cohen and Vanderbilt Chancellor Joe Wyatt (1986). Houra Merrikh, professor of biochemistry, and Teru Nakagawa, associate professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, have both been selected to receive one-year research awards from the Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund. The awards will support groundbreaking and… Read More

In a study published in the journal Developmental Biology, Chin Chiang, PhD, and colleagues demonstrate that depletion of Shh signaling in Bergmann glia in mice leads to underdevelopment of the cerebellum, a significant reduction in CGNP proliferation and disorganization of the Bergmann glia network itself. These findings demonstrate a previously unappreciated role… Read More