FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH
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Department of Defense—Vanderbilt students receive prestigious Boren FellowshipPeabody College doctoral students Stacy Jer and Diana Khan have been awarded 2022 David L. Boren Fellowships to support the completion of their doctoral studies, and rising sophomore Shaun Karakkattu has been named an alternate for the Boren Scholarship. Funded by [DOD's] National Security Education Program, Boren Fellowships support graduate students pursuing the study of languages, cultures and world regions that are critical to U.S. interests. Boren Scholarships fund undergraduate students who wish to work in the federal national security area as they study less commonly taught languages. MORE
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Department of State—Vanderbilt students and alumni awarded Critical Language ScholarshipsFourteen Vanderbilt students and recent alumni were awarded the Critical Language Scholarship by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs during the 2021–22 academic year. Critical Language Scholarship finalists for 2022 were selected from a diverse pool of more than 4,500 applicants nominated by 583 colleges and universities. The 2022 CLS Scholar cohort includes representatives from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico and from 228 higher education institutions. The CLS program seeks to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages . . . . CLS scholars also serve as citizen ambassadors, representing American values and the diversity of the United States while participating in language-intensive instruction and cultural enrichment experiences designed to promote rapid language gains. MORE
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National Institutes of Health—Discovery of mosquito survival tactics leaves room for new disease vector control tacticsLJ Zwiebel, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair and professor of biological sciences and his lab [are utilizing] CRISPR gene editing techniques to create mutant mosquitoes in which they could map and functionally characterize the role of a crucially important IR gene known as Ir76b. The data reveal discrete roles of Ir76b across olfactory and gustatory pathways, shedding light on a potential molecular target for the design of new disease vector control strategies. This and other mosquito-centered research open the door to developing another approach to reducing mosquito-borne disease. The Zwiebel lab is expanding its IR-based studies and exploring research and other opportunities to target those pathways to control the spread of disease. [This work was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.] MORE
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Vanderbilt Poll: Approval for Biden and Lee—and for a 2024 Trump presidential run—drops as voter malaise simmers
In a sign that malaise over rising inflation and stressors related to pandemic recovery could be influencing Tennesseans’ attitudes toward elected leaders, support for President Joe Biden and Gov. Bill Lee has dropped among registered voters, according to the most recent statewide Vanderbilt Poll. Poll co-directors John Geer, Ginny and Conner Searcy Dean of the College of Arts and Science and professor of political science, and Josh Clinton, Abby and Jon Winkelried Professor of Political Science, say the new findings align with a national trend of waning support for Biden, even among Democrats and independent voters. Tennessee voters also are less inclined to see the merit of another presidential run by Donald Trump. MORE
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Vanderbilt psychologists win access to neuroscience observatory to conduct ‘quantum leap’ experiments on predictive coding in the brainA team comprising Assistant Professor of Psychology André Bastos, Associate Professor of Psychology and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Alexander Maier and Ph.D. candidate Jacob A. Westerberg is among three international research teams that have won the opportunity to pursue their exploration of brain function at the Allen Brain Observatory. Bastos, Maier and Westerberg’s project will explore theories around predictive coding, or brain energy conservation. Predictive coding allows the brain to conserve energy when an environment meets the brain’s expectations so that it can instead focus on the rewarding or dangerous results of unexpected scenarios. [The] Allen Brain Observatory allows neuroscientists to propose and direct theoretical, computational, and experimental science conducted on one of the institute’s high-throughput experimental platforms. MORE
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Amanda Lea named 2022 Searle Scholar, wins $300K to pursue research on effect of early-life environments on human health
Amanda Lea, assistant professor of biological sciences and Frank Kelly Dean’s Faculty Fellow in Climate Studies, has been named a 2022 Searle Scholar, an honor bestowed on 15 exceptional young faculty in the biomedical sciences and chemistry. Lea will receive $300,000 in flexible funding to support her work over the next three years. Lea’s projects focus on the molecular effects of humans’ early environment on their health later in life—especially among less-studied populations. Lea’s research is conducted in partnership with local communities and as part of The Turkana Health and Genomics Project, a long-term, collaborative research project with co-principal investigators at Princeton University and the University of Nairobi. MORE
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Vanderbilt research: Diet and exercise may not be the key to ending childhood obesityFocusing on diet and exercise to curb childhood obesity may be counterproductive and lead to missing other root causes of becoming overweight, according to a newly released report from Vanderbilt University researchers. [The team found] that focusing on a child’s individual diet and exercise can unintentionally contribute to weight discrimination and feed into biases that being overweight is the result of a lack of self-discipline or a moral failing. [Led by Ted Fischer, the team], argues in the report that health is about more than weight and that shaming a person about body mass index is ineffective as a public health tool. The report shows that what one eats is about more than individual choice: corporate-driven global food systems are built upon colonial legacies of inequality and continue to supply the market with cheap, convenient and hyper-palatable ultra-processed products that replace local foods and culturally grounded eating practices. MORE
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Online instruction blended with face-to-face time is best strategy for students recovering from COVID-19 setbacksStudents are most likely to benefit from online credit recovery when it blends online instruction with face-to-face time, rather than being conducted fully online, according to research published by Carolyn J. Heinrich, chair of the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations and Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Public Policy and Education at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, and her co-authors. The research brief . . . outlines strategies to help students make up coursework missed during COVID-19 [and provides specific, research-based principles for effective online credit recovery, including which students benefit most, how to group classes and how to train instructors.] MORE
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REGISTER: Vanderbilt University, Unity Project to host virtual discussion on facts, evidence in America’s gun debateVanderbilt University and the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy will host a live virtual panel discussion, “Facts and Evidence: Navigating the Gun Debate in America,” on Tuesday, June 7, at noon CT about the issue of gun violence in America. The discussion will feature expert faculty and guest speakers, including Vanderbilt University’s Jonathan Metzl and James Blumstein and Georgetown University’s Mary McCord. The panel will address the facts and evidence surrounding gun violence, including data on gun deaths, mass shootings, violent crime, public opinion statistics, potential solutions and the roadblocks to such solutions. This event will be free and open to the public. [ Register here.] MORE
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Vanderbilt Mobile Vaccine Program recognized by American Association of Nurse Practitioners
Christian Ketel and Carrie Plummer, both associate professors of nursing, were recognized by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners for their stewardship and successful outcomes of the Vanderbilt Mobile Vaccine Program. The mobile vaccine clinic was established as a joint venture between the School of Nursing and Vanderbilt University Medical Center to provide COVID-19 vaccines to communities with less access to vaccines, including uninsured and marginalized communities throughout Middle Tennessee. Since its start in March 2021, the mobile clinic has administered 15,000 COVID-19 vaccines (first, second and booster) to more than 6,500 people in Nashville and in Bedford, Coffee, Rutherford, Williamson and Wilson counties. MORE
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Sargent wins national titleGordon Sargent won a four-man playoff Monday at the Grayhawk Golf Club [becoming the second Commodore in Vanderbilt Athleics history to win an individual national title.] The freshman birdied the par-4 18th hole to [win]. Sargent came into the day at 4-under-par and actually had his worst round of the four-day stroke competition. But he recovered from three bogeys on the front nine to come back in at 1-over-par. Sargent became the first freshman to win the NCAA individual golf championship since 2007 and just the ninth to do so ever. MORE
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