FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH
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Department of Education—Vanderbilt’s IRIS Center provides broad access to educational resources, support during pandemic
With schools across the country facing personnel shortages and COVID-19 continuing to affect education, people again turned to the IRIS Center at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development for free resources and support. In 2021, the center’s website hosted roughly 4 million visits from 223 countries. Among the most frequently accessed resources were both traditional- and alternative-certification educator preparation programs. As districts struggled to handle shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, these resources provided information to educators teaching out of their area of endorsement, to those who had been issued emergency certificates and to long-term substitute teachers. Funded by the U.S. Department of Special Education’s Office of Special Education Programs, the IRIS Center is a national center dedicated to improving education outcomes for all children, especially those with disabilities, from birth through age 21. MORE
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National Institutes of Health—Collaborative research lays groundwork for potential treatment of a rare and deadly type of cancer
A collaborative project between the labs of William Tansey, Ingram Professor of Cancer Research and professor of cell and developmental biology and biochemistry, and Stephen Fesik, Orrin H. Ingram II Chair in Cancer Research and professor of biochemistry, chemistry and pharmacology, has laid the foundation for pre-clinical and clinical trials for the treatment of rhabdoid tumors, rare tumors that are diagnosed in 25 children per year in the United States. Despite years of research, there are very few effective treatment options because researchers lack a clear oncogenic target for therapeutic intervention. It is likely that any practical treatment for rhabdoid tumors will involve combinations of therapeutics, making it necessary to identify if and how agents can be used together to improve treatment options and prognosis. The work was funded by National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute. MORE
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New Study: Black women face higher maternal mortality rates than previously determined
The effects of racism and sexism lead to higher maternal mortality rates among Black women in the U.S. than previously realized, according to new research from Associate Professor of Sociology and Law Evelyn J. Patterson at Vanderbilt University. Even after controlling for age and women’s reproductive rights support, Patterson and her co-authors found that Black women’s maternal mortality rates were typically nearly double that of white women. Using data from the National Vital Statistics System, Patterson and her colleagues examined the maternal mortality rates in the U.S. from 2015 to 2019. They measured the rates two ways—using maternal causes as an underlying cause of death and also as one of multiple causes of death. The data revealed a much greater disparity between women of color and white women than had been determined in other studies. Patterson and her team found that maternal mortality rates for Black women in their early 20s are consistent with those of white women in their mid-30s or older. MORE
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Prothena and Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery collaborate on new Alzheimer’s disease therapeutics
Prothena and the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery have entered into a collaborative research agreement to develop new small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in individuals with Down syndrome. Beyond health issues at birth, research has revealed that people with Down syndrome have a greatly increased risk of developing dementia that is either Alzheimer’s disease or something very close to it. If successful, the collaboration will deliver development candidates suitable for the initiation of IND-enabling studies. Prothena is a late-stage clinical company with expertise in protein dysregulation and a diverse pipeline of novel investigational therapies for neurodegenerative and rare peripheral amyloid diseases. MORE
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Vanderbilt professor named 2022 Guggenheim Fellow
Robert Barsky, a professor of French, European studies, Jewish studies and law at Vanderbilt University, is among an accomplished group of 180 artists, writers, scholars and scientists awarded a 2022 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. Barsky’s multidisciplinary research combines social justice, human rights, and border and refugee studies with literary and artistic insights into the plight of vulnerable migrants. He has also been actively involved in several national and international research projects supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the governments of Canada, Québec, Belgium and France and the Dutch Royal Academy. Barsky’s work contributes to efforts to dispel false concordances that link terrorism, “anti-American” behavior and economic hardship with persons deemed “foreign.” The Guggenheim award allows him to build on these research themes, he said. MORE
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Diermeier, Balser livestream event will focus on leading under adversity
Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and Vanderbilt University Medical Center President and CEO Dr. Jeffrey Balser, PhD’90, will discuss their experiences leading through the COVID-19 pandemic in a livestreamed event scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27. Register for the livestream event. Vanderbilt Trustee Emeritus Michael Ainslie, BA’65, will moderate the discussion. Diermeier and Balser, who also is dean of Vanderbilt School of Medicine, spoke about leading under adversity as part of a graduate business class Ainslie taught in March 2022. They will discuss how they approached making decisions in high-pressure situations, built trust within their communities and bolstered the university and medical center’s reputations in the process. MORE
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REGISTER: Vanderbilt Unity Project hosts panel on risks to democracies
The Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy will host “Democratic Erosion and How to Prevent It,” an online panel discussion on April 28 at noon. Vanderbilt political scientist Josh Clinton and Professor Susan Stokes of the University of Chicago will explore the tactics and conditions to which democracies are most vulnerable to succumb during a conversation moderated by Noam Lupu, political scientist and associate director of the Vanderbilt Latin American Public Opinion Project. This event will stream on the Unity Project website but registration is required. Sign up here. The two panelists and moderator are leading scholars in political science who bring deep expertise and extensive research in various aspects of public opinion, campaigns, elections and democratic institutions. MORE
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Vanderbilt adds volleyball as varsity sport
Vanderbilt University today announced the addition of women’s volleyball as the university’s 17th varsity sport. Enabled by the transformational Vandy United campaign, the sport will begin competition in the 2025–26 academic year. Today’s announcement marks the reintroduction of volleyball at Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt participated in the first officially recognized SEC Tournament in 1979. The university discontinued the sport after the 1979-80 academic year. After careful study, Vanderbilt believes a 36-month timeline for implementation offers the program the best chance for sustainable and competitive success, particularly in the Southeastern Conference, which will now sponsor 16 varsity volleyball programs starting in 2025 with the addition of Oklahoma and Texas. This allows the university sufficient time to build the infrastructure and resources necessary to support the sport at a championship level. Vanderbilt plans to conduct a national search this fall for a head coach to lead the program. MORE
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Alumna’s gift supports comprehensive program to aid women seeking leadership positions in engineering
The School of Engineering has launched a sweeping new initiative to cultivate and support women for engineering leadership positions that includes strategic experiences, expanded opportunities, and mentorship with faculty and alumni. Fueled by an inaugural gift of $1 million from School of Engineering Distinguished Alumna and Board of Visitors member Cynthia ‘CJ’ Warner, BE’80, the initiative includes a wide range of programming for incoming first-year students, undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty members. Significantly, the Women in Engineering Leadership Program also brings renewed focus to what happens after students enroll. Programming begins with a summer bridge opportunity, peer-to-peer mentorship, and pairing with a female graduate student and a female faculty member. Larger, informal group activities also are planned, as is financial assistance to attend and present at professional conferences. The initiative aims to create connections and build community to position women for career growth. MORE
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Vanderbilt Blair School of Music performs children’s opera at zoo as part of mission to deepen community ties, engagement
Noah Mond moves across the stage at the Nashville Zoo, hitting high notes in the children’s opera, Monkey and Francine in the City of Tigers, while dancing in a colorful costume and cat mask in front of a crowd of captivated kids. The event, held earlier this spring, is emblematic of a larger mission for the Blair School under the leadership of Dean Lorenzo F. Candelaria, who sees opportunities to revolutionize the experience of classical music in ways that cultivate new and diverse audiences for the art form. In some cases, it means taking the music out to unexpected places. The visit to the zoo is the latest in a series of community performances. Recently, Vanderbilt Opera Theatre performed at the Casa Azafrán community center and the Parthenon at Centennial Park. Meanwhile, other Blair School events are scheduled off campus in the months ahead, all with the goal of fostering stronger ties in the community through music. MORE
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