News
Gabriella Robertson awarded HHMI Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study with adviser Vivan Gama, PhD
Aug. 7, 2020—The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has selected 45 doctoral students and their advisers to advance diversity and inclusion in the sciences. Over the last 16 years, a growing community of doctoral students and their advisers has knit together, bound by a shared passion for science. They’re working on cutting-edge projects – such as studies of...
The importance of estrogen cycles
Aug. 6, 2020—Aug. 6, 2020, 10:00 AM by Sarah Glass Oral contraceptives are implicated in slightly increasing breast cancer risk. This birth control method contains forms of estrogen, a hormone that binds ERalpha (estrogen receptor alpha), to alter the reproductive cycle. While much is known about estrogen signaling, few have researched how receptor homeostasis is maintained to ensure regular...
Understanding sex-based behaviors may improve psychiatric treatments
Aug. 6, 2020—By Sara Eaton New research from the labs of Erin Calipari and Cody Siciliano, both assistant professors in the Department of Pharmacology, reveals differences in how male and female mice respond to anticipated rewards and punishments and implicates D1 medium spiny neurons as components of stimulus processing. The work was recently published in Neuropsychopharmacology. In...
Siciliano wins Fay/Frank Seed Grant and Alkermes Pathways Research Award
Aug. 5, 2020—Aug. 5, 2020, 7:00 AM By Jenna Somers Cody Siciliano (Vanderbilt University) Assistant Professor of Pharmacology Cody Siciliano has been awarded the Fay/Frank Seed Grant from the Brain Research Foundation and the Alkermes Pathways Research Award from the biopharmaceutical company Alkermes. In the Brain Research Foundation’s 40-year seed grant history, Siciliano is the first Vanderbilt...
Protein study may be key to treating fibrotic diseases
Jul. 31, 2020—Jul. 30, 2020, 8:08 AM by Bill Snyder A protein linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurological disease that causes muscle weakness, may be a key to treating fibrotic disease of the kidneys and other organs, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported recently. FUS is the acronym of a protein in the...
Discovery of a brain ‘negative regulator’ alters understanding of brain function and potential treatment of cognitive disorders
Jul. 23, 2020—by Marissa Shapiro Jul. 21, 2020, 10:00 AM The brain has an uncanny ability to enhance or reduce communication between brain cells. Whether or not communication is fast or slow changes the brain’s overall function. Understanding how these cells communicate within the brain is critical to understanding how our bodies and minds work together. Terunaga...
Vanderbilt bioengineer’s trailblazing cancer research receives $1M W. M. Keck Foundation grant
Jul. 17, 2020—A bold engineering approach by a Vanderbilt University researcher to sort breast cancer cells based on their behavior first has produced compelling data that show less migratory cells create more metastases, contradicting the prevailing hypothesis on how cancer spreads. Expanding this ambitious research by Cynthia Reinhart-King, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering, to other highly metastatic...
Richmond steps down as associate director for Research Education for VICC
Jul. 17, 2020—Jul. 16, 2020, 9:16 AM by Tom Wilemon After serving 16 years as associate director for Research Education at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), Ann Richmond, PhD, Ingram Professor of Cancer Research, is stepping down from the leadership post. Ann Richmond, PhD, is stepping down from her role as associate director for Research Education at Vanderbilt-Ingram...
Antibody research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center shows promise in fight against COVID-19
Jul. 17, 2020—Jul. 15, 2020, 1:42 PM by Bill Snyder Based on positive results in preclinical studies reported today, potently neutralizing antibodies identified by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are showing promise as a potential therapy for preventing and treating COVID-19. The monoclonal antibodies were isolated from the blood of a couple from Wuhan, China, who were diagnosed...
VUMC studies provide key positive results for COVID-19 vaccine in early-stage clinical trial
Jul. 17, 2020—Jul. 14, 2020, 4:19 PM by Leigh MacMillan An experimental coronavirus vaccine stimulated robust immune responses against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and raised no serious safety concerns in an early-stage clinical trial. The vaccine, called mRNA-1273, was developed by Moderna Inc. in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),...