News
Fecal microbiota transplants have been highly successful in treating patients who are ill with Clostridioides difficile, says Nicholson
Apr. 1, 2024—Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) has been highly successful in treating patients who are ill with Clostridioides difficile. However, research is just beginning to determine its potential for treating other inflammatory conditions. At Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, pediatric gastroenterologist Maribeth R. Nicholson, M.D., M.P.H., was the senior author on a Cochrane Review article that synthesized the findings of 12...
Talbot, principal investigator of the Emerging Infections Program, expands disease surveillance research with new grant from the CDC
Mar. 28, 2024—The Tennessee Emerging Infections Program has been awarded a new five-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to continue infectious disease surveillance research that has been conducted since 1999, and has expanded to include COVID, Mpox and HPV surveillance into oropharyngeal cancers. The EIP program, which includes more than 20 faculty...
Survey results from the Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy reveal over 40% of Tennessee families with children say they are food insecure; 70% have changed spending on food, says Fritz
Mar. 27, 2024—This year’s Vanderbilt Child Health Poll shows that over 40% of Tennessee families report they are food insecure ― a similar proportion from last year. Most families (71%) say they have continued to change food spending habits due to high prices. The annual poll from the Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy asked more than 1,000 Tennessee parents a...
Roumie discusses risks associated with low-level LDL cholesterol
Mar. 26, 2024—You probably know that having high cholesterol—more specifically, a high level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol—isn’t a good thing. It increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and other problems. That’s why it’s important to lower LDL cholesterol to a healthy level if yours is elevated. But with so much emphasis on low LDL, it’s natural...
Fill continues to lead disease surveillance efforts at the Tennessee Department of Health as deputy state epidemiologist
Mar. 25, 2024—On March 13, 2020, the Department of Health Policy established an ad-hoc committee of researchers, clinicians, and others who shifted their daily focus to advising and informing local, state, and federal leaders on the response to the global pandemic. A novel coronavirus was sweeping the globe, shutting down businesses, schools, and transforming how health and...
High costs and extensive application processes are obstructing patient access to Paxlovid, Pfizer’s new medication for COVID-19, says Schaffner
Mar. 18, 2024—Evangelical minister Eddie Hyatt believes in the healing power of prayer but “also the medical approach.” So on a February evening a week before scheduled prostate surgery, he had his sore throat checked out at an emergency room near his home in Grapevine, Texas. A doctor confirmed that Hyatt had covid-19 and sent him to...
Rosenbloom to chair scientific review committee at National Library of Medicine
Mar. 11, 2024—Trent Rosenbloom, MD, MPH, professor of Biomedical Informatics, Medicine, and Pediatrics, on July 1 will begin a one-year term as chair of the Biomedical Informatics, Library and Data Sciences Review Committee of the National Library of Medicine (NLM). Founded in 1836 and incorporated into the National Institutes of Health in 1968, the NLM is a research award-making...
Schaffner provides key facts about norovirus infections
Mar. 5, 2024—Cases of norovirus, a nasty stomach bug that spreads easily, are climbing in the Northeastern U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. Nationwide, about 12% of most recent norovirus tests sent to the CDC were positive, but the proportion was about 16% in the Northeast, the agency said. That compares with nearly 10%...
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary of Global Affairs Loyce Pace delivers 15th annual Satcher Lecture
Mar. 4, 2024—Loyce Pace, assistant secretary for global affairs within the United States Department of Health and Human Services, delivered the 2024 Satcher Lecture on Feb. 28 at Light Hall. Introduced by Dr. Adriana Bialostozky, associate professor of pediatrics, and second-year M.P.H. candidate Stacey Riddick, Pace spoke on global health diplomacy and equity followed by an audience...
Graves weighs in on impacts 2024 election may have on healthcare coverage for Americans
Feb. 26, 2024—The outcome of the presidential election in November could jeopardize coverage for millions, experts warn, even as a record number of people in the United States are signing up for health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Former President Donald Trump has renewed his threat to get rid of the health law...
Godfrey and colleagues refine machine learning model for lung-cancer prediction
Feb. 23, 2024—Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have built and refined a machine learning-based model for lung cancer prediction to support lung specialists in diagnosing and evaluating indeterminate pulmonary nodules (IPNs). The team developed the model for more accurate disease prediction in higher-risk populations evaluated in pulmonology and surgical specialty clinics. The team’s data and findings, recently published...
Talbot reappointed to the Department of Health and Human Services committee as chair
Feb. 21, 2024—The Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that it is filling eight vacancies, including the chairmanship, on an important advisory panel on vaccine policy that was down to less than half of its normal roster for months. It’s still not clear why so many positions were left unfilled on the Advisory Committee on...
Schaffner supports CDC’s proposed elimination of Covid-19 isolation protocols
Feb. 19, 2024—The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to shift its Covid-19 isolation guidance this spring to say that people no longer need to isolate once they have been fever-free for 24 hours and their symptoms are mild or improving, according to the Washington Post. The Post cited four unnamed agency officials and said...
Debate over proposed nursing home staff minimums is particularly unproductive, says Stevenson
Feb. 15, 2024—The Biden administration’s proposed minimum staffing standard is likely the most important nursing home reform measure in decades. If finalized, the rule would establish detailed federal nursing home staffing standards for the first time, requiring facilities to always have a registered nurse onsite and to meet explicit levels for RN and nurse aide staffing. Following the release...
Tennessee parents rank education and school quality as leading concerns for children for third consecutive year, says Gastineau
Feb. 14, 2024—The latest results from an annual poll of Tennessee parents from the Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy again show education and school quality is the leading concern parents have for their children for the third consecutive year. Statewide, parents listed their top concerns as 1) education and school quality (43%), 2) bullying, including cyberbullying (39%), 3) mental health...