Research, News & Discoveries

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a highly infectious lung disease in humans.Unfortunately, resistance to anti-tubercular medicines such as fourth-generation fluoroquinolones is on the rise. In most cases, fluoroquinolone resistance is caused by mutations in a bacterial enzyme called gyrase. Compounds called M. tuberculosis gyrase inhibitors (MGIs) display activity against tuberculosis in cellular… Read More

Vanderbilt University has been awarded a five-year, $8.1-million grant from the National Cancer Institute to serve as a research center in the institute’s prestigious Cancer Systems Biology Consortium. Directed by Dr. Vito Quaranta, professor of biochemistry and pharmacology in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, the new center will focus on advancing the… Read More

Albumin Degradation in the Diabetic Kidney A major long-term complication of diabetes is kidney damage that leads to diabetic nephropathy (DN), a condition associated with considerable morbidity and mortality among diabetic patients. An early sign of DN is the appearance of protein, primarily albumin, in the urine. Indeed, clinicians… Read More

Targeting Mood Disorders in Alcohol Withdrawal Mood disorders such as anxiety and depression are strongly associated with alcohol use disorder and can be exacerbated during alcohol withdrawal. In fact, the increase in anxiety and depression associated with withdrawal contributes to the likelihood of relapse and return to alcohol abuse. Read More

Each year the School of Medicine honors faculty members for Excellence in Teaching and Outstanding Contributions to Research. This year’s presentations included Owen McGuinness, Professor, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics; Hassane Mchaourab, Professor, Departments of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and Chemistry; David Wasserman, Professor of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics; and Roger Colbran, Professor, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics. Read More

Two Vanderbilt students were honored for their stellar scientific research during the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) Annual Scientific Retreat held May 3 at the Vanderbilt University Student Life Center. The VICC Graduate Student of the Year award was granted to Chloe Snider (Gould Lab) who presented work on the regulation… Read More

A Vanderbilt team took the next leap forward in using a little-known bacteria to stop the spread of deadly mosquito-borne viruses such as Zika and dengue. Wolbachia are bacteria that occur widely in insects and, once they do, inhibit certain pathogenic viruses the insects carry. The problem with using Wolbachia broadly to protect… Read More

It’s time to move beyond the traditional “magic bullet” approach for discovering new drugs and start leveraging the full complexity of Mother Nature, according to Vanderbilt Professor of Chemistry Brian Bachmann and Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Jonathan Irish. The researchers have developed a new process that can rapidly and inexpensively… Read More

Elizabeth Gibson, a third year student in the Neil Osheroff Lab, has been awarded the 2017 AAPS Foundation Fellowship for her work on antibacterial-drug-resistant TB. Read more… Read More

Epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin, provides the critical protective barrier needed for terrestrial life. The process of epidermal barrier formation includes conversion of the essential fatty acid linoleate into skin-relevant oxidized lipids. Two lipoxygenase enzymes, 12R– LOX and eLOX3, initiate this conversion pathway. An inactivating mutation in either… Read More