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A look inside new imaging science program
Jan. 3, 2023—A new Master of Imaging Science (MIS) program will immerse students in the full spectrum of biomedical imaging and provide hands-on clinical and research experience. Biomedical imaging technologies, including ultrasound, X-ray, CT, MRI and PET, allow physicians and researchers to observe internal organs, detect cancers and monitor image-guided surgeries. The one-year MIS program, being offered...
Q + A: Ritu Banerjee, MD, PhD
Jan. 3, 2023—Ritu Banerjee, MD, PhD, is professor of Pediatrics, director of Clinical Services for the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, and medical director of the Pediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. What do you like about being an infectious disease specialist? It’s never boring. It’s always interesting. There’s so much...
Food for Thought
May. 16, 2022—It has been nearly 100 years since scientists first reported that caloric restriction could slow aging and extend life span in rodents. The same holds true for other research model species, including yeast, worms, flies and fish. “There’s an evolutionarily ancient link between nutrients, the conditions in the environment, and the aging process,” says Kristopher...
“What are you most excited about?”
May. 16, 2022—A recent “Lab-to-Table Conversation” sponsored by School of Medicine Basic Sciences featured three Vanderbilt faculty members who discussed aging research and the latest findings from their groups. Here, we share their responses to the question, “What are you most excited about in your own research program?” (Responses edited for length and clarity.) Rafael...
The Science of Longevity
May. 16, 2022—When someone asks her age, Abrie Pillow says that she’s 10. “I’m 82, but I put the eight and two together as a joke,” she laughs. Pillow is energetic and busy, with gardening and other projects at home, church and community volunteer work, family gatherings and great grandchildren sleepovers. She and her husband, Joe Nickerson,...
CRISPR in the clinic
Oct. 18, 2021—Blood Disorders Mutations in the beta-globin gene affect the function of hemoglobin and cause the genetic disorders beta thalassemia and sickle cell disease. CRISPR is being used to turn on fetal hemoglobin (by disabling a gene that turns it off) in hematopoietic stem cells isolated from patients. Modified cells are reinfused into patients. Patients in...
CRISPR screen for cancer
Oct. 18, 2021—A new genome-wide CRISPR screening technique conducted by researchers at Vanderbilt University is offering new insights about how tumors in 80 to 90% of all cancers grow. This novel approach developed by Maria Fomicheva, a graduate student in the lab of Ian Macara, PhD, Louise B. McGavock Professor and chair of Cell and Developmental Biology,...
Molecular Scissors
Oct. 18, 2021—In a matter of weeks, Jeffrey Rathmell, PhD, and his research team can probe hundreds of genes and identify the ones that matter most in a particular disease model — and might be promising therapeutic targets. Just a decade ago, such a strategy was simply not possible, said Rathmell, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Immunobiology. But...
Profiles in discovery
Sep. 9, 2019—Infectious diseases. Addiction. Mitochondrial diseases. Glioblastoma. In this issue of Vanderbilt Medicine, we share glimpses of five basic scientists in the early stages of their careers who are tackling these tough clinical problems by probing structures of individual proteins, cell identity, signaling pathways and animal decision-making behaviors. They are part of Vanderbilt University School of...
Flu: An old, but unconquered enemy
Mar. 1, 2019—One hundred years ago, multiple “waves” of a deadly flu swept across the world. Ultimately, the 1918 flu, which lingered into 1919, infected most of the world’s population and killed 50 million people. At the time, the cause of the flu outbreak was not understood, and there were no antibacterial medicines, ventilators or intensive care...
Brighter Days Ahead
Mar. 2, 2018— It was like a switch flipped. One month, Ryan Bayley, MD’08, was practicing emergency medicine with the energy and joy he had experienced for years. The next month, his shifts had become drudgery. It was the final year of his emergency medicine and EMS fellowship training in New York City. It was the last...
Student wellness a priority for VUSM
Mar. 1, 2018—Brian Drolet, MD’09, has come full circle with the Student Wellness Program at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM). He helped start the program in 2006 during his time as a student, and he is now a participating faculty member. “The wellness program grew out of the concept that in order to be a good...
Support for physicians
Mar. 1, 2018—At Vanderbilt, physicians can turn to the Faculty and Physician Wellness Program, which was established nearly 20 years ago, for confidential psychological support. About 6 percent of the faculty and physicians seek help annually for problems that are impacting their personal and professional lives, says Mary Yarbrough, MD, executive director of Faculty and Staff Health...
Call to Action
Mar. 1, 2018—The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) announced in January that more than 130 organizations across the U.S. — including associations, hospital and medical systems, universities, and professional societies — have joined NAM in declaring their commitment to reducing burnout and promoting well-being among clinicians. To provide an opportunity for organizations around the country to discuss...
Gut Reaction
Sep. 22, 2017— Jennifer Fleming was 22 years old, just beginning a career in a new city, when she started having some troubling symptoms. A persistently upset stomach, diarrhea and a small amount of rectal bleeding launched a barrage of tests that ultimately ended in a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory disease that damages the lining...
Magnets: The future of endoscopy
Sep. 22, 2017—You’ve turned 50. Happy birthday; it’s time to start screening for colorectal cancer. For some people, the colonoscopy—a procedure in which an endoscopist uses a long, flexible tube with a camera at the tip to examine the inside of the colon—brings feelings of dread. “Patients may fear colonoscopy, or not be able to take a...