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In August, Raymond Blind of Vanderbilt University won the Journal of Biological Chemistry/Herb Tabor Young Investigator Award at the 2016 Phospholipid Signaling in Cancer, Neurodegeneration and Cardiovascular Disease Conference in Steamboat, Colorado. Blind, who has demonstrated that lipid-signaling enzymes can activate genes, received the award from JBC Associate Editor George M. Carman from Rutgers University. Read More

Harold (Hal) Moses, M.D., Ingram Professor of Cancer Research and director emeritus of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Moses, professor and interim chair of Cancer Biology, is among 175 academic leaders named to the 2016 class of NAI Fellows. Election to… Read More

Diverse: Issues In Higher Education has ranked Vanderbilt University No. 1 in the United States for the number of doctoral degrees awarded to African Americans in the biological and biomedical sciences for 2014-15. Vanderbilt also earned top 10 rankings for graduate-level degrees in the physical sciences, education and nursing. “This ranking is… Read More

The highly complex process of DNA replication is susceptible to a large number of stressors that can lead to stalling, and ultimately collapse, of the replication fork. The cell has multiple pathways to repair stalled forks, enabling DNA synthesis to proceed, but failure to achieve this goal leads to genomic… Read More

Accumulating evidence indicates that cancer is the result of multiple genetic mutations that lead to dysregulated cell signaling, growth, and death. This knowledge has led to the discovery of an exciting new armamentarium of therapies intended to disrupt the abnormal cellular responses that result from cancer-associated gene mutations. However, these… Read More

Type 1 diabetes occurs when an abnormal autoimmune response destroys the β cells, a specialized group of insulin-producing cells, in the pancreas. Insulin is required to promote proper uptake and utilization of glucose, and its absence in Type 1 diabetes leads to the characteristic high blood sugar along with a… Read More

A primary function of the lining surface of the intestine is to absorb nutrients. The epithelial cells that form this surface are notable for the presence of a brush border composed of microvilli, tiny plasma membrane projections that markedly increase the surface area through which absorption can take place. Read More

Pitt Hopkins syndrome (PTHS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a characteristic facial appearance, poor muscle tone and coordination, unusual breathing patterns, delayed development, and a profound language impairment. The cause is haploinsufficiency of the gene for transcription factor 4 (Tcf4), a gene that has also been associated… Read More

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder associated with recurrent lung infections, poor digestion, stunted growth, and a shortened life expectancy. It is caused by mutation of the gene that encodes the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator protein (CFTR), which transports chloride ion across the apical membranes of epithelial cells,… Read More

Heidi Hamm, Ph.D., Ana Carneiro, Ph.D., and colleagues used pharmacological and genetic models to show that chronic SSRI treatment causes decreased levels of a serotonin receptor (5-HT2AR) on platelets. They showed that inhibiting SERT increases extracellular serotonin, which desensitizes the 5-HT2AR and reduces platelet activation. Read More