Basic Sciences | Vanderbilt University

Surface view of a fruit fly gut basement membrane (green) and muscles (magenta). This image from the study won the American Society for Matrix Biology 2024 Image Award. Credit: Aubrie M. Stricker, M. Shane Hutson, Andrea Page-McCaw. Piezo-dependent surveillance of matrix stiffness generates transient cells that repair the basement membrane, Developmental Cell, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2025.02.011.

How tissues detect and repair damage to the body’s hidden support system

A new study uncovered how tissues detect and respond to damage in basement membranes, and how they recruit a previously unknown set of "matrix mender" cells to repair the tissue. The results of this study have far-reaching implications for numerous diseases, including diabetes, dementia, and cancer. Read More

Apr. 24, 2025

Five Basic Sciences faculty named to Vanderbilt University 2024 endowed chair cohort

Bruce Carter, Lisa Monteggia, Richard O’Brien, Andrea Page-McCaw, and Kevin Schey have been named endowed chairs, the highest academic award that Vanderbilt can give to a faculty member. Read More

Mar. 1, 2024

Photo of James O'Connor standing at a podium.

O’Connor’s dissertation named top 2022 Drosophila dissertation worldwide

By Lorena Infante Lara James O’Connor, Ph.D. The Genetics Society of America has presented James O’Connor, a Ph.D. graduate from the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, the 2023 Larry Sandler Award. This international award recognizes the best Ph.D. dissertation on Drosophila—a fly genus that includes the… Read More

Mar. 24, 2023