School of Medicine Basic Sciences | Vanderbilt University

Ritika Raghavan on her first day of the program at her lab coat ceremony. Pictured centered over the Vanderbilt gold background.

Trainee Tribute: Ritika Raghavan

Meet Ritika Raghavan, a fifth-year neuroscience Ph.D. candidate in Julio Ayala’s lab. Read More

August 19, 2026

School of Medicine Basic Sciences Staff Spotlight: Caitlin Peters

Meet Caitlin Peters, administrative assistant for the Vanderbilt Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center. Read More

June 21, 2026

Three-dimensional electron tomography reconstruction of a mouse hepatocyte showing spatial relationships between organelles. A large spherical lipid droplet (yellow) is partially covered by clusters of small glycogen particles (purple) along its surface. Surrounding the lipid droplet are thin endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes (blue) and elongated mitochondria (red), illustrating close physical interactions among these structures. The image highlights a coordinated organelle network involved in energy storage and metabolism.

Pioneering new method reveals glucose channeling, charting the fine structure of energy metabolism inside active cells

With a new method, researchers have captured a high-resolution metabolic “map” of how cells orchestrate glucose processing, revealing a hidden world where organelles and molecular complexes collaborate when responding to a rush of nutrients. The results of the pioneering work provide insights into an organizational and molecular framework that can be used to study how metabolic processes are disrupted in diseases and aging. Read More

July 10, 2025