Vanderbilt engineers and American soldiers have partnered to make service members invisible on the modern battlefield. A team lead by VINSE Deputy Director, Jason Valentine, is designing innovative equipment that reduces soldiers’ detectability by thermal sensors, increasing their safety and operational effectiveness. [This collaboration is part of the Pathfinder-Air Assault partnership and supported in part by the Army.] MORE

The Cellular, Biochemical, and Molecular Sciences (CBMS) Training Program at Vanderbilt University has received an [NIH] grant supplement to . . . support an exciting new initiative aimed at enhancing laboratory safety practices and cultivating a safety mindset among graduate students and lab leaders. The CBMS training grant is under the leadership of Drs. Katherine Friedman, Todd Graham, and James Patton in the Department of Biological Sciences. The lab safety pilot program, which features an educational module titled “Developing a Lab Research Safety Mindset” . . . . will equip students with a strong foundation in risk assessment as it applies to lab research activities. Through a combination of didactic lectures, interactive activities, case studies, and peer discussions, students will learn to effectively use lab safety orientation checklists, apply risk assessment principles, identify improper safety practices, and incorporate risk assessment into their research activity plans. MORE

Leaders of Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development traveled to Israel in June to further develop research collaborations and joint educational opportunities with Israeli academic and government partners and to present keynote addresses at academic conferences. Camilla Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development, and Ellen Goldring, vice dean and Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy, met with leaders of the Maimonides Fund, the Future Scientists Center, and the Ministry of Education, as well as academic colleagues at The Mofet Institute and Tel Aviv University. They explored a range of collaborative opportunities, including research-practice partnerships with the Ministry of Education, regional professional development and training for mid-career policy leaders and an academic training program with the Mofet Institute, and prospective partnerships with Tel Aviv University . . . . MORE

Recent Vanderbilt graduate and Division I student-athlete Jared Wheatley may have spent his whole life playing sports, but it wasn’t until he studied the real-world applications of data science that the idea for his Immersion Vanderbilt project was sparked. Combining his deep understanding of athletics and his coursework as an economics major and data science minor, the four-year Vanderbilt football punter tackled the way performance data is collected and used across a variety of sports. Inspired by Professor Scott Crossley’s course Fundamentals of Data Science, Wheatley sat down with the football team’s data analyst to learn more about which metrics are collected, why and how they inform the strategies of coaches and individual athletes. The result was an experience that honed his data skills and inspired him to find solutions to real-world problems. While the nuances of data science may have been a surprise at first, Wheatley said it’s now a field he can take with him into graduate school and beyond. MORE

Seven Commodores were selected in the 2023 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft this week in Seattle. Vandy’s seven players drafted ranked third-most among SEC institutions. Outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. was taken 17th overall by the Baltimore Orioles. Bradfield is Vanderbilt’s 22nd first-round selection in the Tim Corbin era (2003-present), which marks the most in the SEC. Five Dores, including four pitchers, were drafted on Day 2, beginning with southpaw Hunter Owen to the Kansas City Royals in the fourth round. Right-handed pitcher Patrick Reilly was the next off the board, getting picked in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Miami Marlins took right-handed pitcher Nick Maldonado in the eighth round. Next off the board was Thomas Schultz to the Washington Nationals in the ninth round. Outfielder RJ Schreck was the fifth Commodore selected on Day 2, getting picked by the Seattle Mariners in the ninth round. Right-handed pitcher Grayson Moore marked Vanderbilt’s seventh draftee as the Chicago Cubs drafted him in the 14th round. MORE

Neil Osheroff, John G. Coniglio Chair in Biochemistry and professor of biochemistry and medicine, received the Mentoring, Innovation, and Leadership in Educational Scholarship Award at the annual Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference that took place in May. In the two decades since its inception, APMEC has flourished into one of the most notable medical education conferences in Asia. APMEC brings together over 1,200 participants from close to 40 countries to share their expertise and experiences in teaching the next generation of healthcare professionals. Although Osheroff has been an attendee and speaker at APMEC since 2017, this year he was honored by an invitation to present the opening keynote address at the 20th anniversary of APMEC in Singapore. He discussed lessons he has learned while revising medical school curricula and how those lessons can be applied to create better educators. MORE