News
DelGiorno Awarded American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award
May. 20, 2025—Kathleen DelGiorno was awarded an American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award. ($250k/year, 4 years). She was also able to get two of her students and her postdoc on training grants.
Lau and Coffey Receive $1 Million Grant
Oct. 2, 2024—The Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation has awarded a $1 million grant to support research at Vanderbilt aimed at dramatically expanding the efficacy of immunotherapy for colorectal cancer. Currently, only people with microsatellite-high colorectal cancer, which accounts for about 10% of patients, respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors, but Vanderbilt researchers have...
Alissa Weaver receives the Chancellor’s Award for Research at Fall Faculty Assembly
Aug. 22, 2024—Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, Provost C. Cybele Raver and Faculty Senate Chair Alissa Hare, who is assistant dean of the College of Arts and Science, presented awards at this year’s Fall Faculty Assembly to 10 faculty members who have made significant contributions through their scholarship, research or creative expression. Alissa Weaver, professor of cell and developmental...
Spraggins Named Director of Mass Spectrometry Research Center
Jul. 18, 2024—Jeffrey Spraggins, associate professor of cell and developmental biology, biochemistry, and chemistry, has been named director of the Mass Spectrometry Research Center. He succeeds Richard Caprioli, Stanford Moore Chair in Biochemistry, who established the MSRC in 1998 and who is retiring this summer. Spraggins is a leading scientist in spatial biology and imaging mass spectrometry—an untargeted molecular...
Weaver has hand in developing new tool that could lead to noninvasive “liquid biopsies”
Jul. 15, 2024—Researchers from the School of Medicine Basic Sciences recently developed an analytical tool that could lead to the use of “liquid biopsies” as a substitute for traditional biopsies for certain patients or diseases. The tool, called EV Fingerprinting, was the culmination of the dissertation work of Ariana von Lersner, a former graduate student and current postdoctoral...
Spraggins Among 2024 Faculty Fellows
Jun. 11, 2024—Thirteen outstanding faculty members from across the university have been selected for the 2024 cohort of Chancellor Faculty Fellows. This group is composed of highly accomplished, recently tenured faculty from a wide variety of disciplines and areas of expertise. “Through their transformative teaching and pathbreaking scholarship and research, Chancellor Faculty Fellows embody the Vanderbilt Way,” Chancellor...
Vivian Gama receives Seeding Success Grant
May. 31, 2024—On May 31st, Vivian Gama, Ph.D. was informed that her proposal “Mitochondrial fission defects drive disruptive neurogenesis in the rare disease EMPF1” was awarded a $120,000 Seeding Success Grant.
Marija Zanic Promoted to full Professor
May. 30, 2024—Marija Zanic, Ph.D. was promoted to full Professor in the Department of Cell & Developmental Biology. The promotion also extended to Dr. Zanic’s secondary appointments in Biochemistry, and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. Congratulations Marija!
Lau Lab Publishes Authoritative Reference Article
May. 7, 2024—The Lau lab published an authoritative reference article on the hallmarks of precancer. Now, Ken Lau, professor of cell and developmental biology, and Neelendu Dey, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington, and colleagues have laid out the principles governing the biology of early, precancerous lesions, which are different from the principles that govern cancers....
Vega and Islam win 2024 Provost Pathbreaking Discovery Award
Apr. 16, 2024—Paige Vega and Mirazul Islam (Lau lab) won the 2024 Provost Pathbreaking Discovery Award. This award recognizes doctoral students who exhibit exceptional academic excellence in areas such as publications, awards, patents, and other forms of national/international distinction.
Vanderbilt invests in research space to bolster faculty productivity
Feb. 8, 2024—For the spring 2024 semester, Vanderbilt University opened 114,000 square feet of new and renovated lab space to support faculty and students as they pursue groundbreaking research. The spaces, which are in the Engineering and Science Building and 17th and Horton (formerly the Sony Building), house faculty from four colleges and schools and more than...
Innovation Ignition Fund
Jan. 8, 2024—The School of Medicine Basic Sciences and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation are piloting the Innovation Ignition Fund, which will de-risk small molecule therapeutic projects at the very early target-validation and lead-optimization stages. Selected projects will receive up to $500,000 over two years and industry mentorship from drug development experts...
Stone wins pitch competition for mock biotech company
Dec. 12, 2023—CryoSalt safeguards biological products with nature’s antifreeze. Based on research from scientists at UT, Knoxville, CryoSalt introduces a non-toxic, safe-to-consume cryopreservation reagent derived from bile salts that can protect cells and proteins from damaging ice crystals and temperature fluctuation. With CryoSalt, precious biologic drugs are better preserved and cheaper to store and transport, ultimately saving...
Qiangjun Zhou Receives R01 Grant
Nov. 24, 2023—Qiangjun Zhou, Ph.D., received his first R01 Grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for his project title “Synaptic nanostructure and dysfunction in neurodevelopmental disorders” An R01 is for mature research projects that are hypothesis-driven with strong preliminary data. R01s provide up to five years of support, with a budget that reflects the costs...
Ken Lau named 2023 Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund Awardee
Nov. 8, 2023—Ken Lau, professor of cell and developmental biology, has been selected to receive a one-year research award from the Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund. The award will support groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting research in single cell genomics. This work will propel Vanderbilt forward as a leader in the field by leveraging novel technology to develop customized sequencing-based assays...