Research, News & Discoveries

  • Logo of Vanderbilt University, showing the oak leaf V in a square box with the name of the university below it, all in black.

    CDB seeks new assistant professor

      As part of the Destination Vanderbilt faculty-hiring initiative, the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at Vanderbilt University invites applications for a tenure-track faculty appointment at the rank of assistant professor; exceptional senior faculty applicants will also be considered. We seek candidates who are… Read More

    Sep. 13, 2021

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    Regulators of fat cell metabolism

    Sep. 7, 2021, 8:00 AM by Leigh MacMillan The cardiac natriuretic peptides (NPs) maintain blood pressure and fluid volume and stimulate fat cell metabolism. The expression level of NPRC — a “clearance” receptor that binds and degrades NPs — in adipose tissues is critical for NP action, yet little is… Read More

    Sep. 10, 2021

  • Dr. James Crowe Jr., professor of medicine, in his lab at Medical Research Building IV. Dr. Crowe is the subject of a feature article in the upcoming Winter 2018 issue of Vanderbilt Magazine. Crowe, who is the Ann Scott Carell Professor of Pediatrics, Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, as well as director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, has spent his career hunting for a universal flu vaccine. He has re-engineered how flu vaccines work and is on the edge of creating a single shot that covers all flu strains. In a new initiative announced in October, he will lead an international team of researchers as they launch clinical trials of his new vaccine.(John Russell/Vanderbilt University)

    Antibodies help neutralize two deadly viruses: study

    Sep. 8, 2021, 3:04 PM by Bill Snyder Cross-reactive human monoclonal antibodies isolated by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center prevented, in an animal model, severe illness and death caused by two emerging and deadly viruses called Nipah and Hendra. Their results, published this week in the journal Cell… Read More

    Sep. 10, 2021

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    Caught in a web: study reveals that immune cells cooperate to trap and kill bacteria

    by Leigh MacMillan Like a spider trapping its prey, our immune system cells cooperate to capture and “eat” bacteria. The newly identified antibacterial mechanism, reported Sept. 10 in Science Advances, could inspire novel strategies for combating Staphylococcus aureus (staph) and other extracellular bacterial pathogens. It was… Read More

    Sep. 10, 2021

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    Novel finding shows that brain cells conduct antidepressant action even in the absence of activity

    THE IDEA Ege Kavalali (Vanderbilt University) Lisa Monteggia (John Russell/Vanderbilt University) Researchers are one step closer to understanding the physiology of antidepressant action in the brain. They have confirmed that even when brain cells are not active, they trigger protein production that affects the function of cells and neural circuits. The… Read More

    Sep. 2, 2021

  • Ascano Receives Chancellor’s Award for Research

    Ascano Receives Chancellor’s Award for Research

    Manny Ascano is the 2021 Channcellor’s Award recipient for ground-breaking cancer research. Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Cybele Raver and Faculty Senate Chair Mark Magnuson, Louise B. McGavock Professor of Molecular Physiology and… Read More

    Aug. 31, 2021

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    Discovery offers insight for development of cancer therapies targeting mutant p53

    by Bill Snyder The tumor suppressor protein p53 is mutated in more than half of all human cancers. Several drugs that potentially can restore mutant p53 to its normal cancer-killing function are in clinical investigation. However, much remains to be learned about various mutations that lead to a “loss of… Read More

    Aug. 30, 2021

  • Dr. James Crowe Jr., professor of medicine, in his lab at Medical Research Building IV. Dr. Crowe is the subject of a feature article in the upcoming Winter 2018 issue of Vanderbilt Magazine. Crowe, who is the Ann Scott Carell Professor of Pediatrics, Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, as well as director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, has spent his career hunting for a universal flu vaccine. He has re-engineered how flu vaccines work and is on the edge of creating a single shot that covers all flu strains. In a new initiative announced in October, he will lead an international team of researchers as they launch clinical trials of his new vaccine.(John Russell/Vanderbilt University)

    COVID-19 antibody ‘cocktail’ discovered at VUMC protects chronically ill: study

    by Bill Snyder A monoclonal antibody cocktail against the COVID-19 virus discovered at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and developed by AstraZeneca reduced the risk of symptoms in a study of immunocompromised and chronically ill adults later exposed to the virus by 77%, the company announced today. Based on the… Read More

    Aug. 26, 2021

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    Development of a new framework and tool for multi-drug synergy and combination

    The Idea Carlos Lopez (Vanderbilt University) Vito Quaranta (Vanderbilt University) Pioneering research from Vanderbilt scientists identifies a measurement system for how well medications work together to help researchers devise new combinations of drugs. It also develops an open-source analysis tool to help speed such discoveries around the world. This research… Read More

    Aug. 24, 2021

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    An interview with Chuck Sanders, newly elected president of the Protein Society

    By Aaron Conley This summer, Chuck Sanders, associate dean for research, professor of biochemistry, and Aileen M. Lange & Annie Mary Lyle Chair in cardiovascular research at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences, took the helm of the Protein Society as president with a term… Read More

    Aug. 23, 2021