Around the Medical Center
Chronically disrupted sleep may increase risk for heart disease
Jul. 19, 2023—Sleep irregularity — chronically disrupted sleep and highly variable sleep durations night after night — may increase the risk for atherosclerosis, according to a study led by Kelsie Full, PhD, MPH, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The multicenter study, reported Feb. 15 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, followed 2,032 older, racially and...
Research Roundup
Jul. 19, 2023—Diabetes drug may improve asthma Type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity are associated with many comorbidities, including asthma. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) drugs, which have been approved for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, also may reduce asthma risk, although the mechanisms remain undefined. New research conducted by Katherine Cahill, MD, and colleagues at...
‘PoRT’ Scale Rebalances Burden of Initiating Trust in Science
Jul. 18, 2023—A Vanderbilt University Medical Center-led team developed a scale to measure trustworthiness in biomedical research among minority populations – a landmark tool for researchers to use to improve their own trustworthiness, and thus participation in research. The Perceptions of Research Trustworthiness (PoRT), described in an original investigation published in JAMA Network Open, is a groundbreaking...
Physicians’ words, patients’ stories
Jul. 18, 2023—Elizabeth Ebbens, MD, recently stood before fellows, residents and faculty to share words she’d written about a feverish 5-year-old’s emergency room visit. The child’s mother voiced fear about the “C” word. Ebbens, a pediatric emergency medicine fellow, thought the patient’s mother feared COVID, so she ordered a COVID-19 test as well as labs to check...
Shade Tree opens pediatric clinic
Jul. 18, 2023—Shade Tree Clinic, which since 2005 has provided primary care to underserved and uninsured adults in Nashville, opened a pediatric clinic in January, the result of nearly a yearlong effort on the part of medical and nursing students and their faculty mentors. The new monthly clinic serves adolescents ages 13-17 who are predominantly underserved and...
Positive Impact on Patients
Jul. 18, 2023—A transformative gift from the Potocsnak family has established the Potocsnak Center for Undiagnosed and Rare Disorders at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The center will allow VUMC to accelerate research and serve more patients looking for answers and cures to diseases that, in some cases, have been undiagnosed for decades. “I am incredibly grateful to...
Saved Twice
Jan. 3, 2023— The first time Janet Darnell saw her clinicians at Vanderbilt, she was sitting in a wheelchair, on oxygen 24 hours a day, and her lungs were near failure. She couldn’t walk from her chair to her front door. In a series of events she considers miraculous, Darnell’s life would be saved twice in one...
Research Roundup
Jan. 3, 2023—Ginseng intake and mortality The herbal supplement ginseng has been used in Asian countries to promote longevity and health for more than 2,000 years, but the impact of ginseng consumption on mortality is still unclear. Wei Zheng, MD, PhD, MPH, and colleagues analyzed ginseng consumption and death in 56,138 female participants with nearly 15 years...
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...
Diversity Partners
Jan. 3, 2023—Vanderbilt University Medical Center is partnering with Yale School of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine and the Research Centers in Minority Institutions Coordinating Center (RCMI CC) at the Morehouse School of Medicine in an initiative aimed at increasing diversity in clinical trials and addressing systemic barriers to participation by communities of color. The Equitable Breakthroughs...
A Helping Hand
Jan. 3, 2023—Approximately 60 Vanderbilt orthopaedics volunteers provided surgical treatment to 15 patients at the sixth annual Vanderbilt Orthopaedics Outreach Day in August. This year’s outreach day was held at the Vanderbilt Surgery Center in Franklin, Tennessee. Founded in 2017, Vanderbilt Orthopaedics Outreach Day provides orthopaedic surgical treatment for uninsured and underinsured patients in the Middle Tennessee...
National recognition for STEM pipeline program
Jan. 3, 2023—The Aspirnaut STEM pipeline for diversity and wellness at Vanderbilt University Medical Center celebrated its 15th anniversary with a daylong scientific symposium, followed by a feature on the program broadcast Aug. 2 on “NBC Nightly News.” The pipeline is designed primarily for under-resourced and under-represented rural high school and undergraduate students. Dressed in white lab...
Marnett stepping down as dean of VUSM Basic Sciences
May. 16, 2022—Lawrence Marnett, PhD, who has served as dean of Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine Basic Sciences since its creation in 2016 and has led its dramatic ascension as one of the nation’s top biomedical research and doctoral programs, will step down as dean, effective June 30. Marnett, Mary Geddes Stahlman Professor of Cancer Research, University...
Research Roundup
May. 16, 2022—White matter and psychosis Thalamocortical white matter connectivity in the brain is disrupted during psychosis, which can contribute to cognitive impairment, but little is known about its association with cognition during adolescence. In a study characterizing the effects of age, sex, psychosis symptomology and cognition in thalamocortical networks in a large sample of 316 typically developing...
Project aims to create at-home artificial lung system
May. 16, 2022—Vanderbilt University Medical Center will share in an $8.7 million federal grant to create an artificial lung system that patients with incurable lung disease can use at home. The Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program grant will fund research to create and test the device, which is intended for patients who may not...
SEMSS honors MD/PhD student Zach Jones
May. 16, 2022— The Southeastern Medical Scientists Symposium (SEMSS) was held in January and honored Zach Jones, a third-year Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) student at Vanderbilt and one of the co-chairs for the event. Jones, 25, died unexpectedly in September 2021. Started eight years ago, the SEMSS is an American Physician Scientists Association (APSA) regional meeting...
Slovis lauded by academic emergency medicine peers
May. 16, 2022—Corey Slovis, MD, recently received the Lifetime Service Award from the Association of Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine (AACEM). The award, created in 2016, is given to an AACEM member who has contributed to the advancement of academic chairs and made outstanding, nationally recognized contributions to the AACEM over the course of his or her...
Down syndrome patient celebrates anniversary of novel transplant
May. 16, 2022— Joe Eitl, 38, was among the first patients in the country with Down syndrome to undergo a heart and liver transplant, and his story is featured in the documentary TV series “Last Chance Transplant” on the streaming service Discovery+. To mark the one-year anniversary of the lifesaving transplant, Eitl and his family traveled from...
Internal medicine residency handbook expands reach
May. 16, 2022— Residency training is an important time in the education of postgraduate medical students, when future doctors are able to step into the role of physician for the first time. The transition from medical student to resident brings unique challenges, which are often best understood by other residents. These challenges are something Michael Neuss, MD,...
Research Roundup
Oct. 18, 2021—Dexmedetomidine and delirium In new findings that are exclusively with regard to cardiac surgery patients, intraoperative dexmedetomidine — that is, the drug administered during heart surgery — is associated with 85% greater risk of postoperative delirium and 29% greater risk of postoperative intubation and reintubation. Meanwhile, dexmedetomidine administered to cardiac surgery patients postoperatively in the...
COVID recovery included long stay on ECMO, double-lung transplant
Oct. 18, 2021— Zach Lloyd was only 37 years old with no preexisting health conditions, but COVID-19 brought him within an inch of his life. Beginning in October 2020, he lay immobile in a bed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, hooked up to a life-sustaining mechanical system called ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which can temporarily take...
Vanderbilt Transplant Center the focus of national TV series
Oct. 18, 2021—A new documentary television series follows the life-saving stories of organ transplant patients at the Vanderbilt Transplant Center. The series, “Last Chance Transplant,” is produced by Robin Roberts, anchor of ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Roberts is a double stem-cell transplant patient passionate about the topic, and her production company, Rock’n Robin Productions, is a partner...
Study shows benefit of scheduling lung screens with mammograms
Oct. 18, 2021—Women who are longtime smokers could potentially save their lives by undergoing lung screens on the same day they schedule mammograms, according to a study by Vanderbilt researchers published in the Journal of Medical Screening. The researchers reviewed data from 18,040 women who were screened for breast cancer in 2015 at two imaging facilities that also performed...
Dixie Place renamed in honor of Vanderbilt surgical pioneer Vivien Thomas
Oct. 18, 2021— Through a Vanderbilt University School of Medicine student-led effort, Dixie Place, the city street that runs between the Medical Center’s Central Garage and the Oxford House building on 21st Avenue South, has been renamed Vivien Thomas Way. The process to change the name of Dixie Place was borne of discussions that second-year medical students...
Ann Price, MD, steps down from VMAA post
Oct. 18, 2021—Ann Price, MD’78, who has served as associate dean of Vanderbilt Medical Alumni Affairs (VMAA) since 2008, stepped down from the position, effective July 1. Price, who served as executive director of VMAA from 2003-2008 before being named associate dean, has moved to part-time status in a physician liaison role with the VMAA and continues...
Large study finds higher burden of acute brain dysfunction for COVID-19 ICU patients
Mar. 19, 2021—COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care in the early months of the pandemic were subject to a significantly higher burden of delirium and coma than is typically found in patients with acute respiratory failure. Choice of sedative medications and curbs on family visitation played a role in increasing acute brain dysfunction for these patients. That’s...
Medical student addresses food needs during pandemic
Mar. 19, 2021—Stephanie Hart, a third-year student in Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine, is partnering with Cole Elementary School to help fight food insecurity in the Nashville community during the COVID-19 pandemic. When schools across the country closed in March 2020, many children did not get the meals they normally received during the school day. Hart knew...
Research Roundup
Mar. 19, 2021—Polymer protection for heart muscle Following an ischemic event that disrupts oxygen supply to the heart, such as myocardial infarction or cardiac arrest, the return of blood flow can result in additional cellular injury, known as reperfusion injury. Studies have suggested that Poloxamer 188 (P188), a polymer with hydrophobic and hydrophilic chemical properties, can stabilize cell...
Alum named chair of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Mar. 19, 2021—After an extensive national search Alice Coogan, MD’88, interim chair of the Department and professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology (PM&I), was named as the department’s next chair. Coogan is the seventh chair of the department and the first female chair. Coogan, who is also executive medical director of Anatomic Pathology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center,...
New bone-anchored hearing implant enhances patient’s life
Mar. 19, 2021—Although Elisabeth Mouw, 23, knew she would benefit from having a bone-anchored hearing implant, she put off getting one for several years. Aside from being concerned about the aesthetic of wearing an external hearing device, she was worried it would interfere with her ability to play sports. Mouw was born with a cholesteatoma, a cyst...
Living liver donor program performs first transplant
Mar. 19, 2021—Tammy Burnett’s life was threatened by cirrhosis of the liver and she desperately needed a transplant. She got on the waiting list at multiple centers, but feared she might die because of the limited supply of matching livers from deceased donors, which could take years to arrive, if ever. Last year, Burnett learned about the...
Price’s old laboratory recipe book proves to be invaluable
Oct. 5, 2020— Howard Price has a decades-old green notebook he keeps in his office at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and when a shortage of a critical laboratory supply nearly brought testing for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to a halt at the Medical Center in March, the notebook’s contents quickly became invaluable. “We ran out...
Research Round-up
Oct. 5, 2020—Probing DNA damage repair Cells missing the protein HMCES are hypersensitive to DNA-damaging agents that cause a common type of DNA lesion — an “abasic” site. But the agents also generate other types of lesions associated with mutations and cell lethality, making it unclear whether HMCES responds to abasic sites in cells. David Cortez, PhD,...
Program helps children with hand, upper extremity issues
Oct. 5, 2020—Brinkley Sandvall, MD, who runs the Hand and Upper Extremity program at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, bonds quickly with her young patients — children who have acquired or congenital hand and upper extremity differences. “I feel like this is the greatest job — it’s the intersection of what I can do, what...
Listen Up: VUMC offers original podcast series
Oct. 5, 2020—Vanderbilt University Medical Center has launched Vanderbilt Health DNA: Discoveries in Action, an original podcast series exploring the issues and scientific advancements shaping health, medicine and society. The series takes the listener deep into the world of health care through conversations with more than 30 pioneers who are pushing boundaries and setting the stage for the...
Opioid prescriptions after childbirth linked to increased risk of overdose, persistent use
Oct. 5, 2020— Women who are prescribed opioids after childbirth have an increased risk of persistent opioid use or other serious opioid-related events, including overdose, in their first year postpartum, according to a study by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers. This is true regardless of whether the woman had a vaginal delivery or a cesarean section. The...
Vanderbilt Transplant Center sets monthly record
Oct. 5, 2020—The Vanderbilt Transplant Center performed 73 transplants in May, setting a Medical Center record for the most transplants in a month. Sixteen of those were heart transplants — also a monthly record — cementing VUMC’s status as the busiest heart transplant center in the country. “In any month this would be an extraordinary achievement, but...
ROSA technology helps ease patient’s violent seizures
Mar. 12, 2020—Daniel Lookabaugh, a 20-year-old electrical engineering student who has epilepsy, has never driven a car because of violent seizures and had to put his schooling on hold last year. His seizures began about age 3. They became more frequent as he got older, then became so intense two years ago that he would dislocate his...
Multisite study focuses on opioid use during pregnancy
Mar. 12, 2020—The Vanderbilt Maternal Addiction Recovery Program is participating in a 12-site clinical trial that will compare two forms of the medication buprenorphine in treating opioid use disorder during pregnancy, and the results could have a potentially significant impact on clinical practice. The study, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, will randomize participants to...
Research Round-up
Mar. 12, 2020—Less inflammation = better healing Myocardial infarction remains a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, raising an urgent need for novel therapies. Acute MI provokes an inflammatory response in the heart that removes damaged tissue to promote repair and regeneration. Overactive and/or prolonged inflammation impedes healing, however, suggesting that reducing inflammation may lead to...
Shade Tree Clinic Founder Remembered
Mar. 12, 2020—In 2004 Vanderbilt medical students and classmates Katie Cox and Kristina Collins approached then-VUSM Dean, Steven Gabbe, MD, and Bonnie Miller, MD, then Associate Dean for Medical Students, with a proposal to establish a free medical student-run clinic to serve Nashville’s uninsured population. What started as a summer project resulted in their co-founding the Shade...
No such thing as a low-risk surgery for frail patients
Mar. 12, 2020—Even a minor surgery such as a laparoscopic gallbladder removal can prove to be a high-risk and even fatal procedure for frail patients, according to new research published in JAMA Surgery. A team of researchers from leading U.S. academic medical centers and VA medical centers examined the records of 432,828 patients who underwent a non-cardiac...
Study seeks to expand treatment options for rare airway disease
Sep. 9, 2019—Armed with $1.2 million in funding from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are searching to understand the cause of a rare airway disease in hopes of developing better treatments. Idiopathic subglottic stenosis (iSGS) is an unexplained narrowing of the windpipe just below the vocal cords. The...
VISE team seeks to develop new robot to ease prostatectomies
Sep. 9, 2019— The Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering (VISE) team of Robert Webster III, PhD, Richard A. Schroeder Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Duke Herrell, MD, received a $2.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a new surgical robot for endoscopic transurethral prostatectomy. The mechanical engineer (Webster) and urologic surgeon (Herrell)...
New technology helps pediatric patients who require frequent X-rays
Sep. 9, 2019—Chloie Jacobs, 9, prepares for a follow-up scan of her congenital scoliosis and climbs into a new X-ray imaging device at the pediatric orthopaedic clinic at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. But this isn’t just any X-ray machine. For Chloie, the cutting-edge technology, known as EOS, feels more like a teletransporter, because of its...
Master of Genetic Counseling program debuts inaugural class
Sep. 9, 2019—In August, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine welcomed its first class of students seeking a Master of Genetic Counseling (MGC) degree, one of the fastest growing health professions in the country. Vanderbilt’s program, developed and taught by genetic counselors in collaboration with the interprofessional faculty at Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, is built...
Treatment approved for acute graft-versus-host disease
Sep. 9, 2019—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved ruxolitinib, the first drug for patients with acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) who have an inadequate response to steroid treatment. Madan Jagasia, MBBS, MS, MMHC, chief medical officer and co-leader of the Translational Research and Interventional Oncology Program at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), was a lead investigator...
Research Round-up
Sep. 9, 2019—Blueprint for rebuilding the heart Cell fate reprogramming — converting one cell type into another — is a potential strategy for generating cardiac cells to treat heart diseases. Although previous studies have shown that the expression of cardiogenic transcription factors directly reprograms fibroblasts (connective tissue cells) into induced cardiomyocyte-like cells (iCMs), there remains the obstacle...
Q + A: John “Nicky” Grimes
Feb. 28, 2019—John “Nicky” Grimes, PhD, is a second-year student in Vanderbilt University School of Medicine’s Medical Innovators Development Program (MIDP), a four-year PhD-to-MD training program tailored to engineers and applied scientists. The first in his family to obtain a traditional bachelor’s degree, Grimes, who holds the Glenn and Virginia Hammonds Scholarship, explains what led him to...
Young heart patient, care team bond through music
Feb. 28, 2019—Sydney Andrade-Rubio usually brings her ukulele during hospital stays and clinic visits at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. The 15-year-old likes to pass the time strumming the four-string instrument, humming tunes and sometimes playing along with her cardiologist, Frank Fish, MD. Music has been the bridge Fish used to help him connect with...