The Nikon Center Of Excellence

Since its publication on February 21, 2025, the Burnette Lab’s article detailing the discovery of blebbisomes—a newly identified class of extracellular vesicles—has received over 44,000 Article Accesses, a remarkable benchmark for scientific reach and engagement. This visibility is due in part to Vanderbilt University’s new open access agreement with… Read More

Since its February 2025 publication in Nature Cell Biology, a groundbreaking study from the Burnette Lab has drawn more than 44,000 Article Accesses—amplified by Vanderbilt’s new open access agreement with Springer Nature. The study reveals the existence of blebbisomes, massive, motile extracellular vesicles that behave almost like mini cells. Packed with organelles and capable of delivering immune-modulating proteins, blebbisomes may one day serve as therapeutic couriers or targets in cancer treatment. Read More

Dylan Burnette, associate professor of cell and developmental biology, and Olivia Perkins, a graduate student in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, were awarded prizes in the 2022 Nikon Small World and Nikon Small World in Motion competitions. Read More

If you had visited Vanderbilt nearly a century ago searching for cellular research, you would have found yourself in the Department of Anatomy. Established in 1925, the Department of Anatomy gave way to the Department of Cell Biology before taking on its current moniker—Cell and Developmental Biology—in 2001. Read More