The 2023 Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats, scheduled for May 4–5, will feature U.S. Army Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, director of United States Cyber Command, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly, among other experts. Nakasone, who also is director of the National Security Agency and chief of the Central Security Service, will participate in a moderated conversation the evening of May 4. Easterly will deliver a keynote address on May 5. Vanderbilt’s second annual summit on modern threats will bring together members of the military and intelligence communities, scholars and innovators to build collaborative approaches to solving some of the nation’s most critical security challenges. Nakasone, a four-star general who delivered the opening keynote at Vanderbilt’s inaugural summit in 2022, assumed his present duties in 2018. MORE

One way to monitor a healthy pregnancy is tracking placental growth because a healthy placenta is crucial for a healthy baby. However, there are no practical tools to monitor placental development—to ensure proper fetal growth—into clinical care. Vanderbilt University computer scientist and grant PI Ipek Oguz aims to expand a medical image analysis tool she developed . . . that tracks placental growth in relation to fetal growth and could better identify at-risk pregnancies. [The team of researchers] won a five-year, $3 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to enhance their image analysis tool, which would allow bedside volumetric assessment of the placenta throughout pregnancy. The grant supports an ongoing collaboration with computer scientists, mathematicians and physicians to build on the current modeling tool and create a software program that presents a mosaic 3D view of the placenta through all three trimesters. Over five years, 1,000 patients will be monitored. MORE

Researchers in [Peabody College of education and human development and the School of Engineering] recently published a study . . . exploring a new tool for imaging the brains of neurofibromatosis type 1 patients and its significance in assessing their symptoms. Neurofibromatosis 1 is a disorder caused by mutations in a gene [that] can trigger the growth of tumors . . . . The best way to see many of the features of the disease is to do FLAIR imaging (a type of magnetic resonance imaging) on the brains of patients; [for neurofibromatosis 1 patients, there often are abnormally bright spots (UBOs) in the images]. The new approach, which uses a tool called the Lesion Segmentation Tool, reliably identified and segmented UBOs and was much faster than doing the work manually. Using automated tools will decrease the time and cost needed to analyze UBOs. Additionally, applying tools like LST to examine the relationships between UBO volumes and cognitive abilities will help create and refine targeted pharmacological, academic and behavioral interventions that may improve neurofibromatosis 1 patients’ quality of life. This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. MORE

A hands-on interactive class designed by graduate students in the Medical Engineering and Discovery (MED) Lab for high school students drew enthusiastic reviews from a Nashville college-preparatory school group. Sessions included introduction to engineering and STEM, computer aided design, robotics and coding, bioinspired design, and a civil engineering module on structure design. The three-week class, Structures, Technology and Robots or STARS, is part of Harpeth Hall’s premier January Winterim series that offers students career exploration and the possibility of finding new interests. The students also took a trip to the Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering (VISE) for a tour of the 7,000 square foot research space where they observed a variety of engineering demonstrations including multimodal 3D printing, a materials science look at liquid metal research, and an exercise in applying virtual reality to surgical training. MORE

When shopping online, most consumers are drawn to products with a high star rating. Not only are star ratings an easy way for past buyers to assess purchases, they also provide a visual marker that helps potential buyers quickly sort through various options. Quantitative star ratings have long been known to positively affect consumer demand for a product, but less is known about qualitative text (written) reviews. New research from Vanderbilt Business explores the relationships between quantitative star ratings and qualitative text reviews. The study finds that text reviews do help to drive product demand and influence consumer demand in several ways. First of all, positive text reviews provide supportive evidence for high star ratings, both of which drive consumer demand. Positive text reviews also help to counteract consumers’ tendency to discount extremely high star ratings for being sponsored or fake. These positive effects tend to diminish the higher the ratings become, so they have the greatest effect on products that initially have a lower star rating. However, if the text reviews are negative, they reinforce the consumer tendency to discount the high star rating. MORE

A series of workshops launching at Vanderbilt will focus on the health and wellness of the campus’s military veterans. “Health and Wellness for Vandy Vets” will consist of five sessions; the first is March 16. Each session will focus on overall veteran wellness. Guest speakers will include Pam Jones, associate vice chancellor for health and wellness; Karon Uzzell-Baggett, occupational therapist and decorated military veteran; a panel from the Department of Veterans Affairs, a dietitian and a financial consultant. Lydell Francis, Vanderbilt SkillBridge program manager and co-chair of the Military and Veterans Employee Affinity Group, Jones and Bonner spearheaded the health and wellness program for Vanderbilt. Francis, who retired in August 2022 after a 20-year career in the U.S. Army, recognized his own struggles with transitioning to life outside the military, and he has been committed to improving veteran support systems at Vanderbilt. MORE

Ask Billy Teets a question about the history of astronomy in Tennessee, and it’s more than likely he’ll know the answer. As the director of Vanderbilt’s Dyer Observatory, Teets is passionate about sharing his enthusiasm for the observatory through operating its telescopes and equipment, teaching college-level astronomy courses and serving as a regular speaker for the observatory’s public outreach events, camps, workshops and field trips. He also enjoys featuring Tennessee’s important astronomers. This spring, Teets is celebrating the contributions of one of Vanderbilt’s most well-known figures—astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard, who died in 1923. MORE