Research, News & Discoveries

Christopher Wright, professor of cell and developmental biology who holds the Louise B. McGavock Chair, has been honored with the 2022 Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize. The award, presented by the Society for Developmental Biology, recognizes outstanding and innovative contributions to teaching and learning. Wright was nominated… Read More

Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Maulik Patel and his lab have received a Pilot Research Grant from the Vanderbilt Evolutionary Studies Initiative to study reproduction and aging. According to one theory in evolution, aging is the price animals pay for reproduction. Research in the Patel lab uses the tiny but… Read More

Ege T. Kavalali, William Stokes Professor of Experimental Therapeutics, has been named chair of the Department of Pharmacology in Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences. National leaders in pharmacology, members of the pharmacology department at Vanderbilt and Lawrence J. Marnett, dean… Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have revealed an important mechanism in the kidney by which a cell surface receptor known as DDR1 fans the flames of inflammation and fibrosis that ultimately lead to kidney failure. Their findings, published recently in JCI Insight, a journal of the American Society for… Read More

Research led by Emily Hodges, assistant professor of biochemistry, first-author Lindsey Guerin, a graduate student in the Hodges lab, and Kelly Barnett, a recent graduate of the Hodges lab, developed and tested a new method called ATAC-Me, which profiles multiple epigenetic features, including DNA methylation, simultaneously from a single DNA… Read More

By Emily Overway Timothy Cover, professor of pathology, microbiology, and immunology, published an article in mSphere in late 2021 investigating infection by Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that infects the stomach, potentially leading to gastric cancer. The research for the paper “Loss of Corpus-Specific Lipids in Helicobacter… Read More

Nominating colleagues for an award or honorary fellows program is an important form of professional service. It is a way of helping to promote the careers of deserving scientists at various career stages, and it is also a way of helping to set a high bar for the quality of… Read More

The Department of Biochemistry is nestled within the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, but even though Basic Sciences was only established in 2015, the biochemistry department has been an integral part of Vanderbilt since its foundation in 1925. Historically, the department was known for its prowess in nutrition and toxicology,… Read More

Patients with autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have higher blood levels of the protein S100A9, but the source of this protein has not been identified. Andrew Monteith, PhD, Eric Skaar, PhD, MPH, and colleagues reasoned… Read More

Seven Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center faculty members have been elected 2021 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. Among those elected is Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Cybele Raver,… Read More