Research, News & Discoveries

Zebrafish aid effort to regenerate damaged retinas Sep. 5, 2019, 8:59 AM by Bill Snyder The tiny zebrafish may hold the secret to regenerating damaged retinas in humans, Vanderbilt University researchers reported last week in the journal Cell Reports. Currently there are few effective treatments for retinal degenerative diseases… Read More

by Kara Furlong Sep. 3, 2019, 9:00 PM (courtesy of Howard Hughes Medical Institute) The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has awarded Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study to three Vanderbilt University doctoral students and their advisers. The grants are designed to support… Read More

Aug. 27, 2019, 8:30 AM by Sanjay Mishra WNT signaling pathways play important roles in cell growth, development and cancer.The classical or “canonical” WNT pathway and its atypical, “non-canonical” counterpart share a protein called DVL2 that “transduces” or converts one kind of signal to another. Now Jason MacGurn,… Read More

Aug. 26, 2019, 4:07 PM Jordan Berlin, MD, left, and Robert Coffey, MD, lead the Gastrointestinal Specialized Program of Research Excellence. (photo by Susan Urmy) by Tom Wilemon Colorectal cancer researchers from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) have been awarded a Specialized Program of Research Excellence grant from the National Cancer… Read More

Tina Iverson (Pharmacology) and Vito Quaranta (Biochemistry) are stepping up to bat for students in the Quantitative and Chemical Biology (QCB) Program. They have recently been named Director and Associate Director, respectively, of the QCB, and will be taking over from Hassane Mchaourab (Molecular Physiology and Biophysics), who served as director since… Read More

Figure reproduced under an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike-No Mirror Sites License from C. Strothman, et al., (2019) J. Cell Biol., Published online August 16, DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201905019. Copyright 2019, C. Strothman, et al. Microtubules – protein polymers consisting of heterodimers of α- and β-tubulin – play a critical role in cell division, morphology,… Read More

Aug. 22, 2019, 11:00 AM by Bill Snyder Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is the most common inherited disorder of the peripheral nerves in humans, affecting 1 in every 2,500 people. There is no cure for the disease, which causes severe disability due to disruptions in myelin, the protective insulation that covers… Read More

by Leigh MacMillan Recipients of the 2019 Dean’s Award for Exceptional Achievement in Graduate Studies are (front row, left to right) Margaret Axelrod, Abigail Neininger, Alejandra Romero-Morales, Sheryl Vermudez, Demond Williams, and (back row, left to right) James O’Connor, Manuel Castro, Matthew Cottam, Matthew Wleklinski, Michael Doyle and Azadeh Hadadianpour. Read More

Aug. 22, 2019, 9:29 AM  by Tom Wilemon Breast cancer researchers at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) have secured a fourth round of continuous Specialized Program of Research Excellence funding. The SPORE in Breast Cancer grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is for a five-year period totaling $11.6 million. Applications… Read More

Congratulations to Cathy Pettepher, Professor of Biochemistry, a 2019 AAMC Award recipient for making significant research contributions to the basic sciences! She will be honored at the annual meeting in Phoenix on Nov 10th. An exceptional educator and innovative leader, Dr. Pettepher led Vanderbilt University School of Medicine’s… Read More