School Of Medicine Basic Sciences

Eunyoung Choi and Ken Lau receive funding for novel cancer research, which may ultimately result in cancer detection and treatment options for patients. The fund supports early-stage, high-risk high-reward research projects and honor Cohen’s seminal discoveries, which led to the invention of many anticancer drugs used today. Read More

Leigh Anne Tang won the 2024 Brighter Ventures Award for her efforts to leverage health care artificial intelligence to influence the overdose crisis. She is the first Ph.D. student at Vanderbilt to work with the state on this type of translational research. Read More

Vestigo Issue 6 Welcome! Explore our sixth issue of Vestigo using the links below, or read the magazine as a PDF (accessible to screen readers). View the PDF A message from School of Medicine Basic Sciences Dean John Kuriyan. Read More

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. Ken Lau and Jeffrey Spraggins are creating the first spatially mapped atlas characterizing the progression trajectories of early-onset colorectal cancer versus average-onset CRC as they transition from precancerous lesions to malignant cancers. Read More

The Center for Extracellular Vesicle Research, which is made up of over 20 laboratories spanning Vanderbilt University, held its annual retreat in late September. Researchers discussed the types of biomolecular cargoes EVs contain and how EVs holding unique cargoes can be used as diagnostic tools. Read More

Olivia Kelly, a Ph.D. student in the Heidi Hamm lab, received an award to study non-drug-based interventions for maintaining or restoring wellness to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Read More

HHMI Hanna Gray postdoctoral fellow Anthony Venida will present the Discovery Science Emerging Scholar Lecture on Tuesday, Nov. 19. Read More

Efrain Garcia, a graduate of the pharmacology department who is now a Senior Project Officer & Health Scientist at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, sat down with us to discuss his experience studying basic science at Vanderbilt and how it played a role in his career.  Read More

A newly determined structure from the lab of Yi Ren reveals information about the mRNA export pathway and suggests that herpes viruses could hijack that interaction to infect their host. The new structures also reveal how certain mutations in the protein complex could play a role in cancers. Read More

Congratulations to our School of Medicine Basic Sciences members who were promoted or received new appointments from July to September 2024. These individuals significantly enrich our pursuit of pathbreaking research and contribute to the growth and success of our school.  Read More