School Of Medicine Basic Sciences
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New ketamine study promises extended relief for depression
For the nearly 30 percent of major depressive disorder patients who are resistant to treatment, ketamine provides some amount of normalcy, but it requires frequent treatment and can have side effects. Vanderbilt researchers now show in proof-of-concept experiments that it may be possible to extend ketamine’s antidepressant effect from about a week to up to two months. Read MoreMay. 22, 2025
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Gene expression during differentiation depends on timing of epigenetic changes
A recent paper from the lab of Emily Hodges looks at how two types of epigenetic changes act together but on different time scales to affect gene expression during cell differentiation. Read MoreMay. 21, 2025
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Yi Ren’s journey as an international researcher highlighted at the 2025 VIRAL research symposium
At the annual VIRAL Research Symposium on April 18, associate professor of biochemistry Yi Ren reflected on her path as an international scientist as one of the event’s featured early-career speakers. Read MoreMay. 13, 2025
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CISR Life is Beautiful Image Contest Returns to Showcase Spectacular Scientific Imagery
The Cell Imaging Shared Resource is hosting its second annual Life is Beautiful Image Contest and will award cash prizes to winning images. The contest features stunning scientific imagery of life at the microscopic level and is open to anyone who has captured an image using a CISR microscope. Read MoreMay. 13, 2025
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From activation to repression: Decoding the impact of PPAR ligands on ligand-binding domain conformation
In a new study published in Nature Communications, the Doug Kojetin and Zhongyue Yang labs use peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma—more commonly known as PPAR—as a model system to understand the functional shifts of nuclear receptor LBDs. Read MoreMay. 12, 2025
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A package deal: Diagnosing and treating breast cancer with a single complex
Vanderbilt researchers have developed a nanoparticle complex that can both visualize and attack cancer cells by targeting the tumor microenvironment. Read MoreMay. 7, 2025
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Cracking the code: How studying single cells reveals the secrets of noncoding genes
In a recent study, Vanderbilt researchers address a significant gap in our understanding of how noncoding regions of the genome regulate important biological processes, such as X-chromosome inactivation. They use an innovative, single-cell approach to uncover new mechanistic insights into how specific long noncoding RNAs control critical gene regulation events. Read MoreMay. 7, 2025
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Vanderbilt Brain Institute marks 25 years of discovery with 2025 Brain Blast celebration
The Vanderbilt Brain Institute’s annual Brain Blast event, held March 26 at the downtown Nashville Public Library, celebrated 25 years of discovery with a day of hands-on neuroscience activities for K–8 students and families. Read MoreMay. 5, 2025
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Atlee Witt honored with prestigious P.E.O. Scholar Award
Graduate student Atlee Witt is one of 100 doctoral students from across the U.S. and Canada to receive the P.E.O. Scholar Award in recognition of her outstanding academic achievements and her research in neuroimaging techniques for multiple sclerosis. Read MoreApr. 30, 2025
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Vanderbilt basic science alum Q&A: Corey Hayford
Corey Hayford, PhD’21, sat down with us to discuss his experience studying basic science at Vanderbilt and how it played a role in his career. Hayford is now a principal data engineer at Cellarity. Read MoreApr. 30, 2025