Research, News & Discoveries

Apr. 25, 2019, 11:30 AM by Leigh MacMillan The novel antibacterial drug gepotidacin is showing clinical promise for the treatment of skin infections and gonorrhea. Gepotidacin was developed in response to the rising bacterial resistance to fluoroquinolone drugs such as ciprofloxacin. Like fluoroquinolones, gepotidacin acts on the bacterial enzymes gyrase… Read More

Apr. 25, 2019, 11:00 AM by Bill Snyder Arguably the most replicated post-mortem finding in schizophrenia is the loss of dendritic spines from pyramidal cells in the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which is involved in decision-making, attention and moderating social behavior. Pyramidal cells are cortical neurons that communicate with distant neurons. Read More

The Scream, Edvard Munch, PD-US-expired. Disorders arising from trauma and stress, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are a major cause of morbidity and mortality, and they exact a huge economic toll on our society. Hence, a major effort is underway to find new treatments for these diseases. A clue… Read More

Apr. 25, 2019, 8:46 AM Investigators using MRI technology to study changes in pancreatic volume to better understand the progression of Type 1 diabetes include, from left, Melissa Hilmes, MD, Daniel Moore, MD, PhD, Alvin Powers, MD, Jon Williams, PhD, and Jack Virostko, PhD. (photo by Jessica Kimber) by Jill… Read More

Apr. 24, 2019, 8:14 AM From left, Nancy Cox, PhD, Gokhan Unlu, PhD, Eric Gamazon, PhD, and Ela Knapik, MD, are using computational genetics to study the genetic mechanisms that contribute to human disease. (photo by Steve Green) by Leigh MacMillan In a series of studies that volleyed between large… Read More

A multi-institutional team of researchers, led by Basic Sciences faculty member Bingshan Li (Molecular Physiology & Biophysics), has developed a new framework that can help researchers learn more from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) than previously was possible. Their work was published in Nature Neuroscience. Read More

Apr. 22, 2019, 1:59 PM By Irene McKirgan Samantha Yohn, 2019 Vanderbilt Postdoc of the Year. (Anne Rayner/Vanderbilt) Postdoctoral scholar Samantha Yohn has been named Postdoc of the Year by the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs for her exceptional research scholarship. Since 2008, the… Read More

Graduate School Dean Mark Wallace (left) and Rebecca Sappington, 2019 Vanderbilt Mentor of the Year. (Anne Rayner/Vanderbilt) Rebecca Sappington, associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, was honored as Mentor of the Year by the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. This award recognizes faculty… Read More

Researchers who helped find high-risk genes for schizophrenia included, from left, Quan Wang, PhD, Bingshan Li, PhD, Nancy Cox, PhD, Rui Chen, PhD, Xue Zhong, PhD, Qiang Wei, PhD, and James Sutcliffe, PhD. (photo by John Russell) by Bill Snyder Using a unique computational framework they developed, a team of… Read More

Apr. 11, 2019, 12:00 PM by Sanjay Mishra G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the “inbox” of environmental messages in mammalian cells. Because of their central role in signaling pathways, mutations resulting in abnormal GPCR functions cause a wide variety of diseases. Therefore, GPCRs are the most intensively studied drug targets. After… Read More