Discoveries

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

Neil Osheroff, John Coniglio Chair in Biochemistry and professor of biochemistry and medicine, is part of an international research collaboration resulting in what is on track to be the first new antibiotic treatment for uncomplicated urinary tract infections in more than 20 years. “We now have a direct path connecting… Read More

Dan Roden, MD, Senior Vice President for Personalized Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, will receive the PMWC 2023 Pioneer Award Jan. 27 during this year’s Precision Medicine World Conference. Approximately 2,500 people from more than 30 countries are registered for the three-day meeting, to be held in Santa Clara,… Read More

It’s time to revise the textbook entry for vasopressin production. For 100 years, it has been thought that vasopressin — a hormone that regulates water and blood pressure homeostasis — is only produced in the brain. Now, Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have discovered that vasopressin is also produced in… Read More

John H. Exton, MBChB, MD, PhD, professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, emeritus at Vanderbilt University, whose research provided fundamental insights into how many biologically active compounds control cellular physiology, died Dec. 18. He was 89. Dr. Exton was a member of the Vanderbilt University faculty from 1964 until his… Read More

From beautiful original compositions to witty comedy, the Office of Biomedical Research Education and Training gave students, postdocs, staff, and faculty the opportunity to step into the spotlight during its fourth annual winter showcase on Dec. 15 at the Blair School of Music. “These are brilliant students [and community members]… Read More

A group of Vanderbilt researchers has become the first group to uncover the 3D structure of the sodium/iodide symporter, also called NIS—the membrane protein that transports iodide into the thyroid. This protein, which is critical for cell metabolism, is also integral to the most successful internal radiation cancer therapy: radioiodide… Read More