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Outreach a focus of house staff alliance
Jan. 3, 2023—A diverse group of Vanderbilt residents, fellows and medical students shared why and how they chose to become physicians with more than 200 high school students at four Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) in the spring. The outreach event, sponsored by the House Staff Diversity and Inclusion Alliance (HSDIA) and the Vanderbilt University School of...
Machine learning in the cloud
Jan. 3, 2023—A new age of human data research has arrived, says computer scientist Paul Harris, PhD, professor of Biomedical Informatics and director of the Office of Research Informatics. “Just about every health center will by now have collected 10 to 20 years of EHR data, and we have figured out policies and procedures allowing sharing for...
Levels of supervision
Jan. 3, 2023—In supervised learning, an ML algorithm infers a function based on labeled examples. For example, given records labeled as normal birth and those labeled as preterm birth, the algorithm learns to predict premature births from routine longitudinal EHR data. A common version of semi-supervised learning involves an ML algorithm that has learned to assign labels...
Clinical Innovators
Jan. 3, 2023—Several years ago, Adam Hetzler was working at the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when he decided to do something completely different with his life. “I loved the people I worked with, and I thoroughly enjoyed the work,” he said, “but I wanted to make a more tangible difference in people’s day-to-day lives.”...
Investment in Undergraduates
Jan. 3, 2023— “I got to be there and see it in person,” says Melanie Perez, a senior at Florida International University, describing her experience in the 2022 Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) Summer Research Program at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. The nine-week program for college undergraduates interested in the MD/PhD career track is an extension...
Recommended Reading
May. 17, 2022—The sources in our “Time for Action” article recommend the following books and sources for a closer examination of climate change. Climate Change and Health Atwoli, Lukoye, Abdullah H. Baqui, Thomas Benfield, Raffaella Bosurgi, Fiona Godlee, Stephen Hancocks, Richard Horton, et al. “Call for Emergency Action to Limit Global Temperature Increases, Restore Biodiversity, and...
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...
Two VUSM alumni, ages 101 and 99, remembered
May. 16, 2022—People with strong social connections may live longer and healthier lives, according to numerous studies. Two Vanderbilt University School of Medicine alumni, both engaged throughout their long lives and careers, died days apart in January. Gordon Petty, MD’50, and Henry Nelson, MD’45, both lived long, fulfilling lives with remarkable dedication to improving the lives of...
“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...
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,...
Gene editing used to treat rare genetic disorder
Oct. 18, 2021— A 9-year-old patient of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt is the first in the world to receive an investigational gene editing therapy for Methylmalonic Acidemia (MMA), a rare genetic disorder diagnosed at birth. On May 29, Eddie Axelson, of Clarksville, Tennessee, received LogicBio Therapeutics’ investigational single-administration targeted gene editing therapy, hLB-001, which...
No time to waste
Oct. 13, 2021—In April 2020, weeks after the first reported COVID-19 case in Tennessee, health economists and epidemiologists from the VUMC Departments of Health Policy and Pediatrics and others were working with state health officials on a complex predictive model to chart the trajectory of infections and the resources needed to stop its spread. “Doing this so...
Closing the gap
Oct. 13, 2021—One of the cruelest but most constructive lessons of the pandemic was how it exposed the yawning gap between the haves and have-nots. Very early on it became evident that those who did not speak English well or had limited access to the internet, telemedicine or even routine health care were likely to be hit...
Genes and Alzheimer’s Resilience
Mar. 19, 2021—There are several examples in medicine where people are resilient to a disease — when they are exposed to the disease but don’t show any symptoms. There are people, for example, who carry a rare genetic mutation that prevents HIV from infiltrating cells. These individuals also exist in the world of Alzheimer’s disease — those...
Vanderbilt receives $20 million from The William K. Warren Foundation to further treatments for brain disorders
Mar. 19, 2021—Vanderbilt University received $20 million from The William K. Warren Foundation, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to establish the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery. The Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, led by director Craig Lindsley, PhD, currently includes approximately 100 renowned scientists with a diverse set of interests and skills working to translate essential...
Research rooted in family tree
Mar. 19, 2021—For Angela Jefferson, PhD, who heads the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center (VMAC), Alzheimer’s disease is both an academic and personal passion. “I’ve dedicated my career to fighting Alzheimer’s disease, to finding effective prevention and therapies, but this fight is also very personal. Both of my grandmothers were affected,” said Jefferson, who joined the Vanderbilt...
New Chaplain Covenant opens the door to better understanding at VUMC
Oct. 5, 2020—For the Rev. Cordell Simpson, MDiv, DDiv, a chaplain at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the emotional dam broke a week after George Floyd was killed on May 25 while in police custody in Minneapolis. Long-suppressed memories welled up until Simpson, a Nashville native and Vietnam veteran, couldn’t contain them anymore. In the presence of his...
A Family Affair: I was VUMC’s first employee with COVID and one of the physicians tasked with developing a vaccine
Oct. 5, 2020—It was a Tuesday morning in early March when the frantic, worldwide race for a COVID-19 vaccine suddenly became not only a professional matter for me, but also a personal one. Stores and restaurants were just beginning to shutter their doors, and statewide, Tennessee had only a handful of cases. Universal masking was not a...
MIDP students get creative to decontaminate respirator masks
Oct. 5, 2020—Students from the Medical Innovators Development Program (MIDP) within the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) devised a protocol that repurposed hospital blanket warmers to decontaminate N95 respirator masks — a process that could extend the current supply of the disposable masks by allowing them to be reused up to five times. The proposed protocol...
The Potential of Plasma and Passive Immunity
Oct. 5, 2020—In August VUMC was awarded a one-year, $34 million grant by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), part of the National Institutes of Health, to conduct a nationwide study of “convalescent plasma” as a treatment for COVID-19. The study, called the Passive Immunity Trial for Our Nation (PassItOn), will test whether infusions of...
New data offer insights on COVID treatments for people with cancer
Oct. 5, 2020—Data on treatment outcomes of people with cancer diagnosed with COVID-19 reveal a racial disparity in access to remdesivir, an antiviral drug that has been shown to shorten hospital stays, and increased mortality associated with dexamethasone, a steroid that has had the opposite effect in the general patient population. The data on 2,186 adults in...
Hydroxychloroquine: Ineffective as a therapy, can it help protect health care workers?
Oct. 5, 2020—In addition to remdesivir, several other drugs are being tested for the treatment of COVID-19. One of them is hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), a drug originally developed to treat malaria but which currently is prescribed as an anti-inflammatory medication to reduce the pain and swelling of rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus). In laboratory studies HCQ...
“If we don’t do it, who’s going to?”
Mar. 12, 2020—In spring 2018, a new Social Mission Committee was organized, and third-year Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) students Mollie Limb and Will Furuyama were selected as co-presidents. Determined to balance the academic rigor of medical school with benevolent ventures, they’re now part of an organized effort to ensure opportunities to address health inequities are...
Genetics and Heritability
Mar. 12, 2020—Since 2007, Douglas Ruderfer, PhD, MS, assistant professor in VUMC’s Division of Genetic Medicine, has centered most of his research on understanding the genetic architecture of psychiatric disorders and behavioral health traits to better quantify the role genetics play in risk and to understand the biology that leads to disease. By converting large-scale clinical data...
Supporting physician wellness
Mar. 12, 2020—Studies suggest one of about every 400 physicians dies by suicide in the United States each year, translating to more than 1 million patients losing their doctor to suicide annually. Compared with the general population, physicians are nearly twice as likely to succumb to suicide. Studies have often pointed to burnout due to heavy workloads...
Baby Boom
Sep. 9, 2019—More women. More babies. With more people choosing Nashville and its surrounding communities as home, Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology has seen a rapid growth in the number of visits for women’s care and babies born at VUMC. “In 2010, we saw about 50,000 outpatient visits,” said Ronald Alvarez, MD, Betty...
Hard Hats and Health Care
Sep. 9, 2019—Children’s Hospital Expansion With a population explosion impacting Nashville and surrounding communities, serving the health care needs of the region’s families and children means that Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt has been on the rise — literally. Following completion of construction on the first of four new floors, patients were moved into the...
Risky Ride
Sep. 9, 2019—There’s a fierce debate raging in the new Nashville – whether the influx of a growing number of electric scooters is a fun addition for tourists and residents or a dangerous trend that affects public safety. In July, after some Metro Nashville Council members called for a complete ban of electric scooters on Nashville streets,...
Leading the Way
Sep. 9, 2019—The 20 residents in the Department of Neurosurgery are in good hands, under the guidance of residency program director, Lola Chambless, MD’05, HS’12, associate professor of Neurosurgery. In 2012, Chambless became the first female faculty member in the department and the first female neurosurgery attending physician in Nashville. “I knew that Vanderbilt was a place...
Success Built on Trust
Feb. 28, 2019—As of Dec. 5, 2018, the VUMC Street Psychiatry team had encountered 151 unique individuals experiencing homelessness during 19 weeks at 15 different sites. Within that population, 89 patients reported being unvaccinated against hepatitis A, while 63 patients reported having already received the vaccine. Of the unvaccinated cohort, 75 patients (84 percent) agreed to the...
The Emotional Toll
Feb. 28, 2019—Living with a disease for a long time can affect more than just physical well-being, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center psychologist cautions. “Sometimes we see young adults in remission (from cancer) and considered long-term survivors, but they might be having issues with daily life, relationships, obtaining and maintaining gainful employment, and living independently,” said Shari...
Expanding education to help future providers better address tough situations
Feb. 28, 2019—To better prepare future health care providers about issues related to end-of-life care, several courses are offered for both undergraduates and students at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and the School of Nursing. The Clinical Ethics Consultation Service of the Center for Biomedical Ethics & Society also conducts a wide range of educational programs in...
The Program for Music, Mind and Society
Sep. 13, 2018—The Music Cognition Lab is a part of the Program for Music, Mind, and Society at Vanderbilt, a collaborative network of researchers, scientists, artists and students, working together to accelerate the understanding and impact of music on individuals and society. This network harnesses the teaching and research resources of the Vanderbilt School of Medicine, Peabody...
What is omphalocele?
Sep. 13, 2018—Omphalocele, also known as exomphalos, is a birth defect of the abdominal (belly) wall. The infant’s intestines, liver or other organs stick outside of the belly through the belly button. The organs are covered in a thin, nearly transparent sac that rarely is open or broken. As the baby develops during weeks six through 10...
New Treatments at a Glance
Sep. 13, 2018—New treatments for metastatic melanoma fall into two categories: immunotherapies that spur patients’ immune systems to attack the cancer and targeted therapies that block the molecules that allow the cancer to grow and spread. Immunotherapies — Up to 60 percent of patients will respond to immune therapy. FDA-approved immunotherapies include pembrolizumab, nivolumab, talimogene laherparepvec, ipilimumab...
Cell signals that trigger wound healing are surprisingly complex
Sep. 13, 2018—In a sharp and pointy world, wound healing is a critical and marvelous process. Despite a tremendous amount of scientific study, many outstanding mysteries still surround the way in which cells in living tissue respond to and repair physical damage. One prominent mystery is exactly how wound-healing is triggered. A better understanding of this process...
Easier Access Key to Early Detection
Sep. 11, 2018—The American Cancer Society estimates about 91,270 new melanomas will be diagnosed in 2018. About 9,320 people are expected to die of melanoma, the rates of which have been rising for the last 30 years. Vanderbilt’s Department of Dermatology has a few important initiatives in play to diagnose it and other types of skin cancer...
Science of the Skin
Sep. 11, 2018—How the skin protects Epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin, provides the critical protective barrier needed for terrestrial life. The process of epidermal barrier formation includes conversion of the essential fatty acid linoleate into skin-relevant oxidized lipids. Two lipoxygenase enzymes, 12R– LOX and eLOX3, initiate this conversion pathway. An inactivating mutation in either enzyme...
More than Milestones
Mar. 2, 2018—
Digital Detective
Mar. 1, 2018—Not so long ago, when patients’ laboratory reports came back to Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) indicating the possible presence of serious infections, Infection Prevention team members would print out the reports and divvy them up so they could visit the Medical Center’s clinical floors to investigate each case. “We were printing off hundreds of...
HAIs at a Glance
Mar. 1, 2018—Although significant progress has been made in preventing some infection types, there is much more work to be done. On any given day, about one in 25 hospital patients in the United States has at least one healthcare-associated infection (HAI). The CDC’s annual National and State Healthcare-Associated Infections Progress Report (HAI Progress Report) describes national...
By the Numbers
Mar. 1, 2018—Over the years the Vanderbilt Transplant Center (VTC) has seen tremendous growth in all of its programs. In 1962, the first cadaveric kidney transplant was performed. As one of the largest and oldest kidney transplant programs in the country, VTC has performed more than 5,600 kidney transplantations since the program’s creation. In 1985, the center...
Building the team beyond surgeons
Mar. 1, 2018—The infrastructure of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center (VTC) allows for an interdisciplinary environment that creates a culture of teamwork and enhanced communication among all members of the transplant service, said Ed Zavala, administrator for VTC. The complex nature of transplantation requires significant attention to all aspects of transplantation, including business and administrative issues. Vanderbilt’s focus...
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...
Progress Report
Sep. 22, 2017—Formed in 2008, the Minority Housestaff for Academic and Medical Advancement (MHAMA) is an organization comprised of Vanderbilt house staff and advisers who are committed to creating opportunities for the advancement of underrepresented house staff by providing opportunities for mentorship, networking and professional development. MHAMA is also committed to increasing the presence of underrepresented faculty...
Next-Generation Vaccines
Sep. 22, 2017—The Human Immunome Program is one of two initiatives currently being pursued by the Human Vaccines Project (the Project). The other initiative, called the Rules of Immunogenicity Program, aims to elucidate the key principles of human immunology to understand how to generate life-long protective immunity. The ultimate mission is to accelerate development of “next-generation” vaccines...
Immunity, Infection, Inflammation focus of New Research Institute
Sep. 22, 2017—Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is launching a new institute to coordinate initiatives among the rapidly evolving disciplines of infection biology, immunology and inflammatory diseases. The Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation — VI4 for short — will be headquartered in facilities at the Medical Center and will serve the entire Vanderbilt community. The...