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FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH
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School of Nursing awarded NIH grant to integrate genomics education into clinical and research-based nursing fields
Laurie Connors, associate professor of nursing, has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health National Human Genome Research Institute to train doctoral nurses—doctors of nursing practice and Ph.D. nurses—in the translation and integration of genomics into academics, research and clinical practice. The five-year grant, called Translation and Integration of Genomics is Essential to Doctoral Nursing, aims to facilitate personalized health care through this national educational effort. Genomics, the study of all of a person’s genes, is a growing field within health care and the burgeoning health technology space. Genomics is a complex competency and has been identified as a core trend shaping health care’s future. With the vast amount of information made available by genetic testing, data science and advanced sequencing technologies, there is an increased need for nurses trained in genomics, who can interpret the information and translate it in a way that patients can understand. MORE
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BME, CS grad students receive DoD science and engineering graduate fellowships
Two engineering doctoral students have received 2021 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowships. Sponsored and funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, the NDSEG Fellowship is a highly competitive fellowship awarded to U.S. citizens and nationals who intend to pursue a doctoral degree in one of 15 supported disciplines. Fellowship recipients are Mayna Nguyen, a biomedical engineering graduate student, and computer science graduate student Preston Robinette. Their fellowships are supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory. Nguyen’s research interests are biomedical optics, laser therapeutics and computational modeling. Robinette’s research interests are related to safety in autonomous systems and safe reinforcement learning. MORE
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New Extracellular Vesicle Research Center launches; NSF grant is an early success
On July 1, the Program for Extracellular Vesicle Research became one of the nine official centers and institutes associated with the School of Medicine Basic Sciences. The Center for Extracellular Vesicle Research is led by Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Alissa Weaver, who holds the Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair and also led the center’s previous incarnation as a program. The center follows a very successful “pilot” as a program, and seeks to continue the program’s mission of enhancing cutting-edge EV research at Vanderbilt. Despite sitting within the Basic Sciences, the center welcomes researchers from across the university, enabling collaborations between labs in Basic Sciences, the School of Engineering, the School of Medicine, the College of Arts and Sciences, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “An early success is a National Science Foundation grant focused on therapeutic extracellular vesicles. That project came about because of the Program in EV Research,” said Weaver . . . . MORE
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Video chat reduced feelings of isolation among grandparents during COVID-19 pandemic, new study finds
Access to video chatting helped grandparents stay connected and reduced feelings of isolation during the COVID-19 lockdowns, a new study found. The study, conducted by a team from Vanderbilt and four other universities and funded by the American Association of Retired Persons, found that 71 percent of grandparents of children ages birth to 5 years old reported that they increased their reliance on video chat technology to stay connected because of stay-at-home or physical distancing precautions. The researchers found that grandparents became more comfortable using the technology as the pandemic progressed, signaling that video chat may continue as a form of communication long beyond the current crises. MORE
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Vanderbilt to take part in citywide commemoration for Rep. John Lewis
Vanderbilt University will join with many community partners to pay tribute to the life and Nashville legacy of U.S. Rep. John Lewis on July 16 and 17 with the formal dedication of Rep. John Lewis Way and a public celebration at Ryman Auditorium. Lewis was among an extraordinary group of students mentored in nonviolent resistance by then-Vanderbilt Divinity student Rev. James Lawson, whom Diermeier will introduce before Lawson’s keynote address at the Ryman celebration. Lawson was expelled from Vanderbilt in 1960 because of his role in the sit-ins; eventually, Vanderbilt and Lawson reconciled, and he is now one of the university’s most distinguished and revered alumni. The two-day celebration, tracing a path through Lewis’ time in Nashville, will begin Friday with a 6 p.m. memorial service at First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill, where Lewis and many other sit-in participants were trained for civil disobedience more than 50 years ago. MORE
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Vanderbilt extends ATI partnership on education access, affordability
Chancellor Daniel Diermeier has reaffirmed Vanderbilt’s commitment to improving access to higher education in partnership with the American Talent Initiative, an alliance that aims to enroll, support and graduate 50,000 more lower-income students at top colleges and universities by 2025. Vanderbilt became a founding member of ATI in December 2016 and has helped lead the national initiative to recruit, support and retain students of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. The university is among 125 institutions that have signed on to ATI’s new Accelerating Opportunity campaign, which seeks to elevate the priority of access and success for lower-income students across the ATI-member schools. The campaign is propelled by ATI’s most recent progress report, which found significant declines in enrollment among lower-income students at many four-year colleges and universities across the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic. MORE
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Vanderbilt breaks ground on graduate and professional student housing development
Vanderbilt faculty, staff and community partners gathered on July 16 for a ceremony to break ground on the university’s new graduate and professional student housing project. The project was delayed by a year due to COVID-19 and construction began during the spring 2021 semester. Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School André Christie-Mizell and Division President of Balfour Beatty Solutions Robert Shepko spoke at the event held at the site of the new development between Lyle and 20th avenues. The 615-bed building will be home to a mixture of unit types, a public courtyard, a fitness center and a collaborative workspace open to all graduate and professional students. The ground floor of the building also will include retail space available to residents and the surrounding community. Construction on the housing development is expected to be completed in time for the 2023–24 academic year. MORE
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Vanderbilt wins Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award for energy and renewable resources progress
Vanderbilt University’s Green Invest Program partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority and Nashville Electric Service has been recognized with a 2021 Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation announced July 8. The annual honors are considered the most prestigious environmental and conservation awards in Tennessee and support the governor’s priorities of job and economic development and health and welfare while also supporting TDEC’s priorities of public-private partnerships and positive environmental outcomes. Now in its 35th year, the awards program recognizes exceptional voluntary actions that improve or protect the environment and natural resources with projects or initiatives not required by law or regulation. Launched in January 2020, Vanderbilt’s Green Invest Program partnership with TVA and NES to procure off-site large-scale renewable energy to help mitigate the campus’ greenhouse gas emissions served as a model for other companies and schools within the TVA region. MORE
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Vanderbilt climbs to 35th spot on National Academy of Inventors Top 100 list for U.S. patents in 2020
According to the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association, Vanderbilt University ranks 35th on the list of the top 100 worldwide universities granted U.S. utility patents in 2020. This is up one spot from 2019. The list was compiled using data obtained from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office during the 2020 calendar year. The year was a record-setting one for Vanderbilt faculty and the Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization. In FY20 alone, CTTC facilitated 1,057 material transfer agreements, 94 licensing transactions, 33 investor pitches and five startup opportunities; issued 76 U.S. patents and evaluated 168 invention disclosures across 63 distinct departments, divisions, institutes and centers. The faculty working with CTTC on commercializing their research spans the School of Nursing, College of Arts and Science, School of Medicine Basic Sciences, Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, School of Medicine Clinical Sciences and School of Engineering. MORE
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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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