Vanderbilt Basic Sciences

Stressful experiences can lead to adaptive or detrimental behaviors. Understanding how stress can affect our brains can help understand basic brain function and is also essential to discerning causes and treatments for some diseases. A group of researchers led by Jeffrey Conn, professor of pharmacology at… Read More

Richard Sando, assistant professor of pharmacology, has been selected to receive a 2022 Sloan Research Fellowship, one of the most competitive and prestigious awards available to early-career researchers. The fellowships, awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, honor extraordinary U.S. and Canadian scientists and scholars… Read More

When considering pursuing an M.D., biomedical Ph.D., or M.D./Ph.D., what knowledge could undergraduate students obtain to prepare them to decide on a pathway aligned with their interests, personality, and goals? Do undergraduates grasp what this journey as a student will look like, and what professional life afterward will entail? Beth… Read More

The brain is constantly firing and controlling purposeful action potentials—electronic messages used by neurons to communicate with each other and allow the brain to function. Conversely, the way spontaneous neural communication happens in the brain has been found to make use of a different process. Ege Kavalali, William Stokes Chair in Experimental… Read More

Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD, director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), Benjamin F. Byrd Jr. Professor of Oncology and Executive Vice President for Research for Vanderbilt University Medical Center, is stepping down on June 30 from her long-held role as the Cancer Center’s director to focus on a combined leadership role… Read More

Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute and acclaimed neuroscientist Lisa Monteggia was named incoming co-principal editor, along with Dr. Tony George from the University of Toronto, of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology. Their appointments begin in January 2023. According to an NPP release, “Drs. George and Monteggia… Read More

By Aaron Conley Lisa Monteggia, Ph.D. Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute and acclaimed neuroscientist Lisa Monteggia was named incoming co-principal editor, along with Dr. Tony George from the University of Toronto, of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology. Their appointments begin… Read More

Christopher Wright, professor of cell and developmental biology who holds the Louise B. McGavock Chair, has been honored with the 2022 Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize. The award, presented by the Society for Developmental Biology, recognizes outstanding and innovative contributions to teaching and learning. Wright was nominated… Read More

By Emily Overway Timothy Cover, professor of pathology, microbiology, and immunology, published an article in mSphere in late 2021 investigating infection by Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that infects the stomach, potentially leading to gastric cancer. The research for the paper “Loss of Corpus-Specific Lipids in Helicobacter… Read More

Patients with autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have higher blood levels of the protein S100A9, but the source of this protein has not been identified. Andrew Monteith, PhD, Eric Skaar, PhD, MPH, and colleagues reasoned… Read More