A look ahead at our 150th year
To all members of our university community: After what I hope was a restful and energizing winter break, in which we were all able to reflect on our accomplishments in 2022, it is my pleasure to welcome you to what promises to be an especially rich and fruitful spring semester. In just a few short months, we will launch the official yearlong celebration of the 150th anniversary of our founding—our Sesquicentennial. This will be an extraordinary opportunity for us to come together as One Vanderbilt to reflect on our history, take stock of the myriad contributions to society Vanderbilt is making today and, especially, envision together how Vanderbilt can best take its place as the great university of the 21st century. MORE
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FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH
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National Institutes of Health—Researchers determine the structure of key thyroid iodide transporter
A group of Vanderbilt researchers has become the first group to uncover the 3D structure of the sodium/iodide symporter, also called NIS—the membrane protein that transports iodide into the thyroid to make thyroid hormones. This protein, which is critical for cell metabolism, is also integral to the most successful internal radiation cancer therapy: radioiodide treatment for thyroid cancer. The findings of this landmark study have implications for treating patients with thyroid and other types of cancers. The scientists believe these findings can provide a foundation for research looking to extend radioiodide treatment to other malignancies, such as breast cancer. In addition, this new work can provide experts with a structural, mechanistic understanding of how NIS transports other substrates and how mutations in NIS cause iodide deficiency disorders—which, unless detected and treated shortly after birth, lead to cognitive deficits. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health. MORE
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National Institutes of Health—Researchers demonstrate that dopamine is involved in novelty-based learning
Vanderbilt researchers in the lab of Erin Calipari, assistant professor of pharmacology and molecular physiology and biophysics, have demonstrated a role for dopamine signaling in novelty-based learning—a finding that could have major impacts on how neurological diseases are treated. Dopamine, a neurotransmitter, has long been touted as the “reward” molecule, understood to have a role in learning about rewarding stimuli. [T]he researchers have demonstrated a new role for the neurotransmitter in neutral learning, which involves neither rewarding nor aversive stimuli. This new function includes a role in nonassociative learning, when a person’s response to a stimulus changes over time. This newly identified role for dopamine clarifies many cognitive symptoms that are associated with neurogenerative diseases. Appreciating the effect of dopamine dysfunction on learning or decision-making capacity is crucial for treating patients with such diseases. This work was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. MORE
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National Institutes of Health—Protein tag determines trafficking of cargo to different cellular compartments
SNARE proteins determine how tiny membrane pouches called vesicles fuse with different cellular compartments to transport cargo and organize cells. How cells correctly target individual SNAREs to their destination is poorly understood, but new Vanderbilt research is shedding light on the process. The findings could have important implications for the study of neurodegenerative diseases, some of which are associated with dysfunction in vesicle fusion. The researchers discovered that SNARE proteins are modified with a small protein tag called ubiquitin, which helps determine where cargo is sent. They determined that ubiquitin could be bound by a protein called COPI, which is found on the surface of some vesicles, and that this interaction is critical for recruiting different SNARE proteins. As far as they know, they are currently the only labs worldwide addressing how ubiquitin’s interactions with COPI control SNARE trafficking. These studies were supported in part by the National Institutes of Health. MORE
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Vanderbilt engineering professor will use Israel exchange fellowship to explore innovations in water and energy usage for food production
Sanjiv Gokhale, Engineering Endowed Director of Construction Management and professor of the practice of civil engineering, is among 35 faculty members from U.S. universities and colleges who [toured] Israel through a fellowship program sponsored by the Jewish National Fund-USA’s Boruchin Center and other supporters. The fellows [traveled] throughout Israel Dec. 26 to Jan. 8 with the goal of developing research collaborations, co-authoring articles and establishing additional exchange programs between the U.S. and Israel. Gokhale [met] with faculty at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the University of Haifa, Tel Aviv University, and Ben-Gurion University to study innovations in water and energy usage to produce food. Trip participants [met] with professionals and experts in government, education, media, and other sectors to gain a deeper awareness of Israel as a “start-up nation,” its success in water innovation, and how the country addresses regional and global challenges. MORE
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Kujawa receives BBRF Young Investigator Grant to identify biomarkers of adolescent suicidal behavior
Autumn Kujawa, assistant professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, recently received a two-year, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator Grant of $70,000 for a novel study to identify biomarkers associated with suicidal behavior in adolescents. This study is the first to examine the use of neural markers as possible predictors of future suicidal behavior, which could help to detect adolescents at greatest risk for suicide, as well as lead to new targets for treating suicidal behavior. MORE
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Dykens receives Foundation for Prader-Willi Research grant to engage people with Prader-Willi syndrome in developing new self-report survey
Armed with a two-year, $141,444 grant from the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research, Elisabeth Dykens, professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, is developing the first psychometrically sound self-report survey of hyperphagia for people with Prader-Willi syndrome. Notably, this project is the first to include people with PWS as collaborators in the research process, using the method, Participatory Action Research. They plan to design a hunger questionnaire of hyperphagic symptoms for people with PWS that leverages insights gained from their 2021 interview study, including how the hunger urges and food seeking behaviors of participants with PWS impeded their daily lives and future goals. Participants offered concrete examples of how hunger and food availability interfered with learning or socializing at school, getting along with family and others, and living or working in the community. MORE
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Measurements of age-related changes in eye lens proteins yield insights into cataract formation
By determining how proteins in different areas of the eye’s lens change over time, researchers from Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine Basic Sciences have learned more about how they could contribute to the mysterious progression of cataracts—a clouding of the lens that affects more than 65 million people worldwide each year. The researchers built on previous work that harnessed mass spectrometry, an analytical technique that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of molecules and is the conventional tool for doing proteomics—the study of proteins. Mass spectrometry measures more than one protein at a time and is quantitatively robust. They also employed an unconventional approach—data-independent acquisition—that allowed them to better identify scarce and difficult-to-measure molecular structures in the lens. [The team found that], generally, large changes in protein abundances occur once a person reaches age 50. MORE
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STEM role models inspire future scientists through storytelling
A group of Vanderbilt students with diverse majors joined their creative forces for an immersive writing challenge: Take sophisticated science, technology, engineering and math topics and make them compelling for fourth graders. How did they do it? Through storytelling. The students leaned in to the inspiring origin stories and professional lives of Vanderbilt STEM professors to help write and edit biographies for the Who me? I’m a … Now! book series. The series, targeted to fourth and fifth graders, features Vanderbilt professors doing research in quantum dot chemistry, astronomy, bioarcheology, biomedical informatics, radiation oncology and more. Some students also expanded the work into Immersion Vanderbilt projects. MORE
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Acclaimed journalist Byron Pitts to speak at Vanderbilt’s 2023 MLK Day commemorative event
Emmy Award–winning journalist and author Byron Pitts, co-host of ABC’s Nightline, will be the keynote speaker for Vanderbilt University’s 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemorative event. This year’s topic is “It Starts with Me: Cultivating a Beloved Community Mindset to Transform Unjust Systems.” The event is scheduled from 6:30 to 8 p.m. CT on Monday, Jan. 16, at Blair School of Music’s Ingram Hall and is open to the Vanderbilt community. The event also will be livestreamed. MORE
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