‘Vanderbilt Basic Sciences’
Vanderbilt research looks to smooth out bumps in medicinal chemistry processes
Oct. 3, 2025—The lab of Doug Mitchell (Biochemistry) recently reconstituted and characterized a versatile tryptophan halogenase. Improving the field’s understanding of this enzyme brings it a step closer to seeing use as a biocatalytic tool in basic and translational research.
Faculty share their “why,” spotlighting NIH-funded research
Sep. 25, 2025—Vanderbilt faculty joined United for Medical Research’s MyWHY campaign by answering a simple but powerful question: Why is medical research important to you? Their stories revealed the people, experiences, and motivations behind their work, all while underscoring the role that funding from the National Institutes of Health plays in every breakthrough.
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center names Tansey, Kojetin to leadership team
Sep. 25, 2025—The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center named William Tansey (Cell and Developmental Biology) and Doug Kojetin (Biochemistry) to leadership roles. Tansey will be the associate director for Shared Resources and Kojetin will be co-leader of the Genome Maintenance Research Program.
NCI grant funds $12 million for colorectal cancer research
Sep. 18, 2025—A colorectal cancer research team including Robert Coffey (Cell and Developmental Biology), Stephen Fesik (Biochemistry), Ken Lau (CDB), and Bill Tansey(Biochemistry) has received a $12.6 million Specialized Programs of Research Excellence grant renewal. The team has made numerous discoveries over the past 23 years and plans to build upon those achievements with the goal of...
SOMBS successes highlighted at 2025 Fall Faculty Assembly
Sep. 11, 2025—Two groups of researchers received the Chancellor’s Award for Research at the 2025 Fall Faculty Assembly. David Cortez (Biochemistry) and Rahul Bhowmick(Biochemistry) published findings that revised long-standing assumptions and provided a more nuanced understanding of maintaining genome stability.
Kojetin lab advances insight into Pin1 catalysis and PPARγ regulation
Sep. 11, 2025—A new study from the Douglas Kojetin lab (Biochemistry), led by staff scientist Paola Munoz-Telloby and graduate student Christopher Williams, used NMR to study Pin1–PPARγ binding, advancing insight into Pin1 catalysis and PPARγ regulation.
A package deal: Diagnosing and treating breast cancer with a single complex
Jun. 3, 2025—A critical strategy to limiting a drug’s toxic side effects is for it to reach only its pathogenic target and nothing else. A group of researchers from the lab of Larry Marnett, the Mary Geddes Stahlman Professor of Cancer Research, recently paired a precisely targeted imaging agent to an anticancer agent and found that they...
Hamm and Skaar elected to the National Academy of Sciences
May. 1, 2025—Election to the NAS—which was established by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863—recognizes distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. This year, Heidi Hamm (Pharmacology) and Eric Skaar (Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology) were elected members.
Winning the War on Bacteria
May. 1, 2025—Crucial research by Neil Osheroff and his lab leads to approval of the first new class of antibacterial drugs in decades.
Dean John Kuriyan was named a fellow of the American Association of Cancer Research
May. 1, 2025—Pelayo Correa, MD, professor emeritus of Medicine and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and John Kuriyan, PhD, dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences, have been elected to the 2025 class of fellows of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy.