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FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH
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Three teams with engineering faculty, students accepted to 2021 NSF I-Corps cohort
Three Ideator teams with an engineering faculty member, an alumna and an undergraduate have been accepted to the Spring 2021 I-Corps cohort. The National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program supports deep technologies and fundamental discoveries in science and engineering that have high potential to impact society. Vanderbilt’s Ideator program, run through the Wondr’y, works with burgeoning inventors among faculty, students and staff from universities throughout the Southeast. The program provides training, expert mentorship, individual office hours with experienced entrepreneurs and idea evaluation experts, and microgrant funding. MORE
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Evidence suggests climate whiplash may have more extremes in store for California
Vanderbilt paleoclimatologists using pioneering research have uncovered evidence of ancient climate “whiplash” in California that exceeded even the extremes the state has weathered in the past decade. Their findings present a long-term picture of what regional climate change may look like in the state that supplies the U.S. with more than a third of its vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts. “We hope this is useful to planners who are seeking more information on recurrence intervals of climate events like droughts, storms and floods,” said Jessica Oster, associate professor of Earth and environmental sciences. Working with a stalagmite that grew from 8,600 to 6,900 years ago, Oster and a team of researchers set out to identify climate patterns beyond the scope of human records. All data are with the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information Paleoclimatology Data repository. [This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation.] MORE
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Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering cochlear implant collaboration
The Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering is an interdisciplinary, trans-institutional structure designed to facilitate interactions and exchanges between engineers and physicians. Engineering expertise includes modeling, robotics, imaging, image processing and analysis, devices, system integration, and instrumentation. A significant VISE clinical application has been the development of minimally invasive, robotic-assisted cochlear implant surgery. Other VISE clinical applications include image-guided brain, kidney, liver, pancreas, or prostate surgery; guidance for transorbital therapy; assistance for deep brain stimulators placement and programming; and ophthalmic microsurgery. [VISE is the recipient of federal support from the National Institutes of Health.] MORE
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Curb Center and Metro Nashville Arts Commission win grant to expand Racial Equity in Arts Leadership program
Vanderbilt’s Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy has won a grant to expand its Racial Equity in Arts Leadership program, in cooperation with the Metro Nashville Arts Commission. The $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts will enable the REAL program to expand and deepen its programming. Established in 2015, REAL is designed to promote racial equity in Nashville’s arts sector. Through regular seminars and organizational workshops, participants gain insight into how their organizations’ institutional practices—such as hiring processes and arts programming choices—can advance racial equity in Nashville. REAL participants meet regularly over six months to address challenges they encounter as they work to build more equitable practices in their institutions. The Curb Center is a national policy center committed to challenging leaders to rethink the role of creative and cultural expression in contemporary society. MORE
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Despite limitations of pandemic, research continues in Basic Sciences, Engineering
Vanderbilt researchers are prolific and resolute in their pursuit of transformative research and innovation. During the Research Ramp-up process, more than 3,000 Vanderbilt research personnel have returned to in-person research activities, while many others have continued remotely through perseverance and ingenuity. On campus and at home, they are making discoveries that advance knowledge and improve lives. [ Danny Winder from the School of Medicine Basic Sciences is supporting student research experiences virtually, and Ethan Lippmann from the School of Engineering is fostering collaboration in the time of COVID-19.] MORE
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Vanderbilt-developed obesity treatments will be advanced through collaboration with Soleno Therapeutics
A new partnership between Vanderbilt University’s Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery and clinical stage biopharmaceutical company Soleno Therapeutics will further research into new clinical treatments for multiple obesity syndromes. The Vanderbilt–Soleno partnership, which is facilitated by the Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization, will promote the development of new ATP-sensitive potassium (K) channel activators for the treatment of hyperphagic obesity syndromes like hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia—low blood sugar caused by excess insulin—and other conditions. Vanderbilt’s Sponsored Programs Administration also is assisting the partnership to ensure that all relevant regulations are met and that standards comply with the university’s mission to advance research and promote leadership. MORE
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Owen faculty reflect on GameStop stock price surge and the future of community retail investing
Faculty at Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management are drawing important lessons from the fascinating and unlikely saga of the GameStop stock “short squeeze” that captured the attention of the world in late January. The episode, in which the seemingly failing retailer’s share price soared by hundreds of dollars only to fall just as spectacularly within two weeks’ time, pitted establishment Wall Streeters against a Reddit-organized group of lay investors using the aptly named Robinhood trading app. Although the GameStop story may be an anomaly, it has had big ripple effects, prompting an SEC investigation into trading platform governance and the regulation of investment communities. As the investigation unfolds, Jesse Blocher and Joshua White, both assistant professors of finance at the Owen School, caution retail investors against taking large market risks in the name of “making a point” and advocate for common-sense reforms to protect publicly traded companies and investors. MORE
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Portrait of a Statesman: Retired U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander leaves legacy of education reform and job creation
Like the red-and-black plaid shirts that became his trademark, Lamar Alexander, BA’62, is a study in contrasts. He is an ambitious former Tennessee governor who twice ran for president, but he avoids grandstanding. As three-time Republican conference chairperson, he formulated party strategy and policy in a hyper-partisan political environment, but his record reveals bipartisan leanings. In January, Alexander retired from the U.S. Senate after more than 50 years in public service, which most recently included chairing the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, as well as the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee. While many will remember him for the three terms he served on Capitol Hill, the four years he spent on Vanderbilt’s campus arguably were no less consequential. [The following is adapted from the story “Deep Roots, Strong Tree,” which originally appeared in the Spring 2010 issue of Vanderbilt Magazine.] MORE
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Vanderbilt communities tackle tough social issues in ‘This Moment in America’ discussion
Several hundred Vanderbilt University students, faculty, staff and alumni gathered Feb. 24 for a virtual panel discussion that highlighted the need for empathy and action to improve the experiences of marginalized groups in the U.S. The participants in the “This Moment in America” virtual event, hosted by the Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, shared expert views and personal struggles that touched on issues tied to racial and political divisions, the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal justice reform and more. The panel discussion, which can be viewed in its entirety here, complemented the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy by offering an opportunity to examine and interpret complex societal problems with the goal of advancing equity and inclusion. MORE
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Latest issue of ‘ON THE HILL’ government relations report now available
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VUbrief summarizes Vanderbilt news items to inform our Congressional community of developments at the university. Visit our website for past issues of VUbrief. Vanderbilt University Office of Federal Relations (202) 216-4361
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