News
Producing green fuel, and more rapid determination of the biological consequences of gene editing
Dec. 15, 2021—A team of Vanderbilt researchers led by Jamey Young, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering, John McLean, department chair and Stevenson Professor of Chemistry, and Carl Johnson, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Biological Sciences, has described a novel method for rapidly characterizing the biological impact of genetic editing on bacteria. The new approach enables researchers to take the consequences...
Antibodies discovered at Vanderbilt for prevention of COVID-19 granted FDA emergency use authorization
Dec. 9, 2021—On Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to the global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for a long-acting antibody combination which protects against COVID-19, discovered last year at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). A number of medical conditions result in immune compromise, from treatments for many cancers to organ transplantation. The combination of two...
McLean elected as 2021 National Academy of Inventors Fellow
Dec. 8, 2021—John McLean, Stevenson Professor of Chemistry, Stevenson Chair and the director of the Center for Innovative Technologies, has been elected a 2021 Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. The National Academy of Inventors Fellows Program highlights academic inventors who have demonstrated a spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a...
A potential new approach for the treatment of schizophrenia
Dec. 8, 2021—THE IDEA Jeffrey Conn (John Russell/Vanderbilt University) James Maksymetz A new study led by Jeff Conn, Lee E. Limbird Chair in Pharmacology, James Maksymetz, a former graduate student in the Conn laboratory, and other collaborators at the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery has identified a protein in the central nervous system, known as mGlu1, as a potential...
Long-acting antibody combo developed at VUMC reduces COVID-19 risk and symptoms
Dec. 2, 2021—The global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced more good news about its long-acting combination of two monoclonal antibodies against COVID-19 that were discovered at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In a prevention trial, one prophylactic, intramuscular injection of the antibody combination, called AZD7442, reduced the risk of symptoms occurring after exposure to the COVID-19 virus by 83%,...
Denison & researchers involved in developing Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine featured in Smithsonian exhibit
Dec. 2, 2021—Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who contributed to the development of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine are featured in a new exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., called “FUTURES.” The 32,000-square-foot, interactive exhibit in the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building opened on Nov. 20. It invites visitors to “smell a molecule … travel through...
Six from Vanderbilt among most highly cited researchers
Nov. 24, 2021—Six current faculty members at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have made this year’s list of scientists whose papers have been cited most frequently by other researchers. They are among 6,600 researchers around the world identified by the global analytics firm Clarivate whose publications rank in the top 1% by citations for field of research and...
Mosquitoes have a mutual symbiotic relationship with malaria-causing pathogen
Nov. 19, 2021—Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Biological Sciences Laurence J. Zwiebel is part of a team of researchers at Vanderbilt and the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute who are working to understand how Plasmodium falciparum—the pathogen that causes malaria in humans—affects the mosquitoes that spread the disease. The research was spearheaded by Ann Carr, a current visiting...
Professor makes Vanderbilt-discovered cancer targeting molecule freely available to researchers through collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim
Nov. 15, 2021—Stephen Fesik, Orrin H. Ingram II Chair in Cancer Research, has conducted pioneering research on some of the most difficult drug discovery targets in cancer research. As a result of his lab’s discoveries, molecule-specific data has been made freely available for download to cancer researchers on the opensource platform opnMe.com, which is an initiative being driven...
Search committee announced to find next dean of School of Medicine Basic Sciences
Nov. 8, 2021—Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs C. Cybele Raver has appointed a committee to conduct a national search for the next dean of the School of Medicine Basic Sciences. The committee includes faculty members, Vanderbilt University Medical Center leadership, a dean, an alumna and a current student. John Geer, Ginny and Conner Searcy Dean...