Vanderbilt Brain Institute
The Vanderbilt Brain Institute was founded in 1999 as a transinstitutional entity to oversee and facilitate the extensive neuroscience-related endeavors carried out at Vanderbilt University. As such, the VBI's primary missions are to promote research, education, and training in the brain-related disciplines, and its stated goal is to foster excellence in each of these arenas.
Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research
Addiction is a uniquely frustrating disease since the problems it produces are brought on by an individual's intake of a substance or performance of a behavior despite understanding at least some of the negative consequences. The Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research is heavily invested in developing an understanding of the neural mechanisms that drive drug "craving" sensations and initiation of relapse to intake after extinction with the hope that that understanding can lead to much-needed novel intervention strategies. VCAR seeks to have a positive impact on the disease of addiction both locally and globally through research, education, and outreach.
Center for Applied AI in Protein Dynamics
The School of Medicine Basic Sciences recently established the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence in Protein Dynamics, led by Hassane Mchaourab, to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and macromolecular mechanisms to understand protein structures and their functions in the human body. The center's research aims to drive breakthroughs that could broadly impact human health, and its outreach programs are geared towards increasing awareness of AI's role in shaping society and improving medicine and research.
Center for Structural Biology
The Vanderbilt Center for Structural Biology is part of a major transinstitutional initiative started in the year 2000. The initiative was designed to significantly upgrade the capabilities in structural biology at Vanderbilt by bringing additional faculty and state-of-the-art instrumentation to campus. The CSB was developed to promote the broad use of structural biology approaches in all life science research and to provide a focal point that bridges medicine and biology to math, chemistry, and physics.
Mass Spectrometry Research Center
The mission of the Mass Spectrometry Research Center is to bring state-of-the-art mass spectrometry expertise, methodology, and instrumentation to the research and clinical infrastructure of Vanderbilt University.
Program in the Molecular Basis of Genetic Diseases
The Program in the Molecular Basis of Genetic Diseases is a trans-institutional initiative designed to establish experimental and computational platforms to translate genetic discoveries into an understanding of the underlying molecular changes in protein structure, function, and dynamics, eventually culminating in the identification of therapeutic targets and strategies. The vision of this program is to catalyze connections, collaborations, and cross-talk between clinicians, geneticists, and basic scientists, thereby creating teams focused on understanding the relationships between genotypes and phenotypes.
Quantitative Systems Biology Center
The Quantitative Systems Biology Center is a campus-wide center with a mission to transform systems biology into a sustainable program of excellence at Vanderbilt University. Its specific goals are to support the Vanderbilt systems biology community by enhancing research, education, and training in mixed approaches requiring mathematical modeling and experimentation.
Vanderbilt Center for Extracellular Vesicle Research
The Vanderbilt Center for Extracellular Vesicle Research aims to catalyze innovative and transformative research with broad impact in the rapidly evolving EV field by promoting synergistic and interdisciplinary collaborations, enabling access to key technologies, advancing education, and engaging in global outreach to the international EV community.
Vanderbilt Center for Stem Cell Biology
The mission of the Vanderbilt Center for Stem Cell Biology is to learn more about the biology of stem cells and mechanisms for directing differentiation to specific cell fates. A great deal remains to be learned about stem cells and how to convert them into various tissue and cell types that can be used to treat a variety of human diseases.
Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology
The Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology provides a vibrant interdisciplinary environment that fosters new discovery and research innovation at Vanderbilt. It is critical to the exploration of new dimensions for successful, multi-investigator initiatives and the ongoing integration of chemical biology education and research into disease-focused programs across the Vanderbilt campus. The VICB's mission is to harness the power of chemistry to improve human health.
Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery
The Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery extends traditional academic pursuits in basic science to a point where breakthroughs-brought about by increasing our understanding of human disease and drug targets-can directly impact patient care. By incorporating the highest level of drug discovery into academic research, the center is able to advance the most exciting scientific breakthroughs beyond the lab toward the development of patentable and marketable drugs suited for clinical studies.