Research, News & Discoveries

The 2021 Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Faculty Awards for Excellence in Teaching, Outstanding Contributions to Research and Extraordinary Performance of Clinical Service were presented April 30 during the annual spring faculty meeting, held virtually this year via Zoom. The recipients are listed below: EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING   Recipient of… Read More

May. 6, 2021, 9:37 AM The team studying the regulation of innate immune response includes (front row, from left) Yang Zhao, PhD, Antiana Richardson, (back row, from left) William Dunker, Xiang Ye, PhD, and John Karijolich, PhD. (photo by Susan Urmy) by Leigh MacMillan A protein implicated in neurodegenerative diseases… Read More

Apr. 29, 2021, 9:53 AM by Leigh MacMillan Aging is a primary risk factor for many chronic diseases. Strategies to slow the aging process and improve health have focused on limiting nutrients, but fasting is difficult.  Jason MacGurn, PhD, and colleagues including Robert Dickson, PhD, at the University of… Read More

by Vanderbilt News and Communications Apr. 28, 2021, 12:38 PM by Aaron Conley Drawing on personal experiences, Will Welch, the global editorial director of GQ, discussed COVID-19’s impact on addiction, sobriety and art with Danny Winder, director of the Vanderbilt… Read More

Lorena Infante Lara Roger Chalkley, professor of molecular physiology and biophysics and senior associate dean for biomedical research education and training, will be retiring this summer. Chalkley, who has been at Vanderbilt since 1986, is also a co-PI of the Initiative for Maximizing Student… Read More

Maria Fomicheva (Kaverina lab) is featured in the April 20, 2021 issue of Oncology Times. CRISPR (which stands for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats”) is a genome screening tool that allows researchers to edit or delete individual genes—as well as identify the specific genes in the body responsible… Read More

by Marissa Shapiro Apr. 16, 2021, 9:00 AM By Miquéla Thornton Steven Townsend (Vanderbilt University) Assistant Professor of Chemistry Steven D. Townsend has been awarded the 2021 David Y. Gin Young Investigator Award by the American Chemical Society. The award is one… Read More

Apr. 15, 2021, 9:30 AM by Bill Snyder Integrins serve as adhesion receptors for proteins in the extracellular matrix and transduce biochemical signals into the cell. They regulate cell functions including migration, proliferation and apoptosis (programmed cell death).   The ILK-PINCH-parvin protein complex (IPP) functions as an intracellular signaling platform for integrins… Read More

Apr. 15, 2021, 9:00 AM by Leigh MacMillan The potassium channel KCNQ1 plays a critical role in the cardiac action potential — the electrical activity underlying heart muscle contraction. Inherited mutations resulting in loss of channel function or gain of function (GOF) cause heart rhythm abnormalities.  Charles Sanders,… Read More

by Marissa Shapiro Apr. 13, 2021, 9:00 AM Pioneering research from Vanderbilt scientists shows that cells respond differently to acute stress than to gradual stress. The findings establish an entirely new way to look at cell-to-cell communication, or signaling, and may fundamentally change how… Read More