Research, News & Discoveries

  • Vanderbilt University

    Richmond steps down as associate director for Research Education for VICC

    Jul. 16, 2020, 9:16 AM by Tom Wilemon After serving 16 years as associate director for Research Education at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), Ann Richmond, PhD, Ingram Professor of Cancer Research, is stepping down from the leadership post. Ann Richmond, PhD, is stepping down from her role as associate director… Read More

    Jul. 17, 2020

  • Vanderbilt University

    Antibody research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center shows promise in fight against COVID-19

    Jul. 15, 2020, 1:42 PM by Bill Snyder Based on positive results in preclinical studies reported today, potently neutralizing antibodies identified by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are showing promise as a potential therapy for preventing and treating COVID-19. The monoclonal antibodies were isolated from the blood of a couple… Read More

    Jul. 17, 2020

  • Vanderbilt University

    VUMC studies provide key positive results for COVID-19 vaccine in early-stage clinical trial

    Jul. 14, 2020, 4:19 PM by Leigh MacMillan An experimental coronavirus vaccine stimulated robust immune responses against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and raised no serious safety concerns in an early-stage clinical trial. The vaccine, called mRNA-1273, was developed by Moderna Inc. in collaboration with the National Institute of… Read More

    Jul. 17, 2020

  • Vanderbilt University

    New tools to study bioactive lipids

    Jul. 14, 2020, 8:00 AM by Leigh MacMillan NAEs are bioactive lipid molecules that appear to play roles in energy balance, inflammation, stress responses and addiction. How NAE levels are regulated and their precise contributions to biological processes remain poorly understood. To develop tools to explore NAE function,… Read More

    Jul. 17, 2020

  • Neuro-2a cells organized in the shape of a fidget spinner. Three colors are visible: red, blue, and green on a black background. Nuclei are stained in blue, cell surface calreticulin in red, and surface membrane in green.

    STING pathway stimulation promotes survival in preclinical models of neuroblastoma

    By Sohini Roy Neuro-2a cells after treatment with STING-NP. (Wang-Bishop et al. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, through a CC BY-NC 4.0 license) Neuroblastoma, an aggressive pediatric brain cancer with a high mortality rate, boasts a unique microenvironment that puts the brakes on infiltrating… Read More

    Jul. 14, 2020

  • A 3D illustration of a cell on a flat surface. The cell vaguely resembles an egg sunny side up, with the nucleus of the cell resembling a yolk. Long, thin tendrils are spreading from the right edge of the cell, giving the impression that it is in the midst of moving across the surface it’s on. The whole image is colored in shades of green.

    A cell’s breadcrumb trail: Exosomes mediate cell migration

    https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-web/medschool-wpcontent/sites/64/2020/07/13153639/Discovery_Weaver-SM-Web.mp4   By Sarah Glass Cells use exosomes as pathfinding tools during migration-related processes, such as embryonic development, wound healing, and cancer metastasis. © Christoph Burgstedt, stock.adobe.com Scientists once dismissed the small, membrane-bound particles packed with proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids that are expelled by cells as mere cellular… Read More

    Jul. 12, 2020

  • Vanderbilt University

    New space bolsters infectious disease and immunology discovery

    by Leigh MacMillan The Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation (VI4) recently moved into its new research and administrative home. The state-of-the-art facilities in Medical Center North represent the first phase of research space for VI4, which was created in 2017 as a key initiative… Read More

    Jul. 10, 2020

  • Vanderbilt University

    Keeping beta cells “fit”

    Jul. 9, 2020, 9:30 AM by Leigh MacMillan The proteins Sin3a and Sin3b act as scaffolds for protein complexes that regulate gene expression to control cell differentiation, survival and function. Guoqiang Gu, PhD, and colleagues have assessed the roles of Sin3a/b in the embryonic development and… Read More

    Jul. 10, 2020

  • Vanderbilt University

    New clues to lung-scarring disease may aid treatment

    Jul. 8, 2020, 1:38 PM   by Bill Snyder Scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona, have discovered previously unreported genetic and cellular changes that occur in the lungs of people with pulmonary fibrosis (PF). Their findings, reported Wednesday, July 8,… Read More

    Jul. 10, 2020

  • Vanderbilt University

    A Promising Start to Ending Coronaviruses Webinar

    Stephen W. Fesik, Ph.D., Orrin H. Ingram, II Chair in Cancer Research and Professor of Biochemistry, Pharmacology, and Chemistry, is the featured speaker of this July 3, 2020 webinar (50:43) titled, “A Promising Start to Ending Coronaviruses.”… Read More

    Jul. 8, 2020