News
Vanderbilt microscopist receives Chan Zuckerberg Initiative grant to expand access to imaging technologies
Dec. 2, 2020—Vanderbilt microscopist receives Chan Zuckerberg Initiative grant to expand access to imaging technologies by Marissa Shapiro Dec. 2, 2020, 11:00 AM Bryan Millis (Vanderbilt University) Bryan Millis, research assistant professor of cell and developmental biology and biomedical engineering, has been awarded a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Imaging Scientists program. The proceeds will go...
Vanderbilt awarded NIH grant to continue mentoring and career training among biomedical research graduate students from underrepresented groups
Dec. 2, 2020—by Marissa Shapiro Dec. 1, 2020, 9:00 AM The Vanderbilt School of Medicine Basic Sciences has won continued funding from the National Institutes of Health for its Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity program supporting the success of biomedical graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds. Roger Chalkley (Vanderbilt University) Linda Sealy (Vanderbilt University) The IMSD program is led by Roger...
Vanderbilt-Ancora partnership advances research for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
Nov. 18, 2020—by Marissa Shapiro Nov. 17, 2020, 12:00 PM Ancora Innovation LLC, a Deerfield Management company that supports Vanderbilt University’s innovative life science research, will fund further research into therapeutics for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, an inherited condition that damages peripheral nerves. This is the third Vanderbilt project Ancora has funded. Bruce Carter (Vanderbilt University) Chuck Sanders (Vanderbilt University) Charles...
Vanderbilt researchers work to build a molecular Trojan horse to battle COVID-19
Nov. 18, 2020—pair of Vanderbilt University researchers are focusing on proteins that may lead to an inside track on battling COVID-19. Envelope proteins—small membrane proteins—have an important yet unknown role in the development and virulence of multiple coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2. “We know this is an important protein because its removal impedes the virus’ ability to infect other...
Vanderbilt honors distinguished faculty with endowed chairs
Nov. 13, 2020—by Morgan Kroll Nov. 11, 2020, 11:24 AM (Vanderbilt University) Twenty-nine prominent faculty from across campus comprise Vanderbilt University’s latest endowed chair honorees. They include scholars working in diverse areas—from election analysis and lung cancer research to the nascent field of neurolaw, exploring the brain mechanism underlying legal decision-making. “An endowed chair is a remarkable...
Vanderbilt contributes to the ‘Google Earth’ of the human body, starting with the kidney
Nov. 12, 2020—by Marissa Shapiro Nov. 12, 2020, 9:00 AM Multimodal molecular imaging data collected from the human kidney by the BIOMIC team. Imaging mass spectrometry data was collected by Elizabeth Neumann, a postdoctoral fellow working with Drs. Spraggins and Caprioli, and multiplexed IF microscopy images generated by Mark deCaestecker and Maya Brewer of VUMC. The Human BioMolecular...
New therapeutic target for lung cancer
Nov. 12, 2020—Nov. 12, 2020, 9:00 AM by Sarah Glass Continuous activation of cell surface receptors increases signaling that can promote oncogenic transformation. One receptor, EphA2, has been identified as a driver of lung cancer, but its interacting partners are not well characterized. Reporting in Molecular Cancer Research, Jin Chen, MD, PhD, Dana Brantley-Sieders, PhD, and colleagues have identified a novel...
Ask an Expert: What effect has the pandemic had on the opioid crisis?
Nov. 11, 2020—Erin Calipari, assistant professor of pharmacology and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, discusses the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on those struggling with opioid addiction.
Vanderbilt biologist uses rabies-like virus to illuminate how SARS-CoV-2 blocks immune response
Nov. 11, 2020—by Marissa Shapiro Nov. 9, 2020, 8:00 AM Yi Ren, assistant professor of biochemistry Vanderbilt University researcher Yi Ren is part of an international team that has confirmed the mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2, the scientific name for the strain of coronavirus causing COVID-19, targets and impacts its host factor protein. The article “SARS-CoV-2 Orf6 hijacks Nup98 to...
Ren’s lab advances SARS-CoV-2 research and prioritizes safety during Research Ramp-up
Nov. 6, 2020—Nov. 6, 2020, 8:00 AM By Jenna Somers and Jane Hirtle Yi Ren, assistant professor of biochemistry As a structural biologist, Yi Ren, assistant professor of biochemistry in the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, studies the structure of biological molecules at the atomic level to understand fundamental cellular activities that are critical to genome maintenance...