Basic Sciences Faculty and Facility Profiles
In these videos, a number of our faculty members discuss their research, the importance of basic science, and funding and offer advice for graduate students and postdocs. Visit the Basic Sciences YouTube playlist to see core and research overviews and full interviews with our faculty!
About the School of Medicine Basic Sciences
John Kuriyan
Message from the Dean of Basic Sciences @VUBasicSciences
Addiction Research
Erin Calipari @TheCalipariLab Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology
Co-director of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research
Cody Siciliano @CodySiciliano Research OverviewFull InterviewLab
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology
Danny Winder @VCARScience Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Professor of Psychiatry
Co-director of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research
“Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research: A Conversation with Langhorne Slim” Lab-to-Table Conversation
Age-Related Diseases
Kris Burkewitz Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Alzheimer’s, Charcot-Marie-Tooth, Long QT Syndrome
Chuck Sanders Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Associate Dean for Research
Professor of Biochemistry
Aileen M. Lange and Annie Mary Lyle Chair in Cardiovascular Research
“What Are Proteins?”: Chuck Sanders, President of The Protein Society (2022-2023), discusses what proteins are in the body and how they are important to biomedical research and impact human health.
Alzheimer’s, Autism, Parkinson’s (Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders)
Jeffrey Conn Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Pharmacology
Lee E. Limbird Chair in Pharmacology
Ege Kavalali Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Pharmacology
William Stokes Chair in Experimental Therapeutics
Craig Lindsley @LindsleyLab Research Overview Full Interview Lab What is WNCDD? @WCNDD_TN
University Professor of Chemistry, Pharmacology, and Biochemistry
William K. Warren, Jr. Chair in Medicine
“Meeting the Challenge: Neuroscience Drug Discovery with the Warren Center” Lab-to-Table Conversation
“How the Brain Remembers” Lab-to-Table Conversation
“Depression and the Brain: A Paradigm Shift in Psychiatry and Neuroscience” Lab-to-Table Conversation
Blood Disorders
Breann Brown @dr_bquared Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
Brain Tumor Research – Adults and Children
Rebecca Ihrie @IhrieLab Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Breast Cancer/Cancer Metastasis
Barbara Fingleton @Fing2Barb Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Associate Professor of Department of Pharmacology
Associate Professor of Surgery
Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, Ovarian Cancer
Fiona Yull Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Associate Professor of Pharmacology
View Dr. Yull’s #CelebrateImmigrants video on Twitter! She shares her experiences growing up in Tanganyika, modern-day Tanzania, and what it was like to immigrate to the U.S.
Cancer Biology
Jonathan Irish @jonathanirish Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Assistant Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Cancer and Neurodegenerative/Metabolic Disease
Erkan Karakas @Karakas_Lab Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Cancer and Viral Infection
Yi Ren Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
Cell Fate In Disease
Carlos Lopez @ceelox4 Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Adjoint Associate Professor of Biochemistry
Adjoint Associate Professor of Pharmacology
Adjoint Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics
Cell Imaging Shared Resource
The Vanderbilt Cell Imaging Shared Resource (CISR) provides researchers with access to state-of-the-art imaging equipment and expert technical support for sophisticated microscopy and analysis of tissue and cellular anatomy and physiology. View video.
Center for Structural Biology
The Vanderbilt Center for Structural Biology (CSB) is part of a major trans-institutional initiative to significantly upgrade the capabilities in Structural Biology at Vanderbilt by bringing additional faculty and state-of-the-art instrumentation to campus. View video.
Colon Cancer and Crohn’s Disease
Ken Lau @KenLauLab Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Colorectal Cancer
“On the Cutting-Edge: Research Toward a Cure for Colorectal Cancer” Lab-to-Table Conversation
Computational Biology
Jens Meiler @MeilerLab Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Chemistry
Associate Professor of Pharmacology
Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics
Gregor Neuert @NeuertL Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
COVID-19
“Preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic…for 36 years” Mark Denison
“A Promising Start to Ending Coronaviruses” Lab-to-Table Conversation
“Addiction, Sobriety and Art in the Time of COVID-19” Lab-to-Table Conversation
DNA Replication: Cancer, Mutagenesis, and Drug Resistance
David Cortez @davidkcortez Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Biochemistry
Houra Merrikh @merrikh_houra Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Biochemistry
Depression and Rett Syndrome
Lisa Monteggia @LisaMonteggia Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute
Professor of Pharmacology
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Professor of Psychology
Funding
Funding Basic Sciences at Vanderbilt University
High-Throughput Screening and Antibody Core
Paige Vinson Research Overview Full Interview HTS Facility Website
Director of the High-Throughput Screening Core
Director of the Vanderbilt Antibody and Protein Resource Core
Infectious Diseases
Manny Ascano @nyc4asc Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Associate Professor of Biochemistry
Associate Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Microscopy and Quantitative Image Analysis
Bryan Millis @MillisBryan Facility Overview Full Interview
Research Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Microtubule Regulation and Molecular Transport
Irina Kaverina @KaverinaLab Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Marija Zanic @ZanicLab Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Associate Professor of Biochemistry
View Dr. Zanic’s #CelebrateImmigrants video on Twitter! She shares her experiences growing up in Croatia and what it was like to immigrate to the U.S.
Molecular Recognition – Endocarditis
Tina Iverson Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Pharmacology
Professor of Biochemistry
Obesity
Alyssa Hasty @ahasty4 Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Associate Dean for Faculty Development for Basic Sciences
Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
View a video explaining the findings of a recent paper on weight gain and weight loss.
Pancreatic Cancer
Kathy Delgiorno @DelgiornoKathy Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Protein Dynamics
Hassane Mchaourab @Mchaourablab Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Chemistry
Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Louise B. McGavock Chair in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Stem Cells
Vivian Gama @VGamaLab Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Structural Mechanisms in Cancer and Infectious Disease
Walter Chazin @ChazinWalter Research Overview Full Interview Lab
Professor of Biochemistry
Professor of Chemistry
Chancellor’s Chair in Medicine
Viruses
Will Wan @williamwan Research Overview Lab
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry