❤️ Whether they met at the bench or bonded over research setbacks, these alums prove that meaningful relationships can flourish alongside rigorous scientific training. medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

🔥 A new study found that prolonged treatment with the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide doesn’t just reduce food intake—it reshapes how animals eat and how their metabolism adapts across distinct stages of weight change. Read more 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

💕 Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and today, we are pulling the curtain back on the lives of some of our alum couples who met while in graduate school here at Vanderbilt University. First highlight: Chrystal Sohl, PhD’10, and Hans Sohl, PhD’11

🧬 Researchers in the Burkewitz lab at Vanderbilt have uncovered a clue in the biology of aging: cells actively remodel their internal machinery through a process called ER-phagy, altering the structure of the endoplasmic reticulum as organisms age. medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

🌟 Today we’re highlighting Jen Silverman as this month's Trainee Tribute! As a graduate student working with the Wang lab, Jen has contributed to research focused on understanding how genetics and cellular processes intersect in neurodevelopment and disease.

🚀 Big news in biomedical innovation! Vanderbilt University has launched the Vanderbilt Institute for Therapeutic Advances, a new research powerhouse designed to redefine how discoveries become real therapies. 👉 news.vanderbilt.edu/2026/01/21/v...

🎉 Congrats to Kalen Petersen, PhD’19, who has been promoted to assistant professor of neurology at Washington University in St. Louis and Kristin Kwakwa, PhD’21, who has been promoted to staff scientist at the Washington University School of Medicine. And yes, they’re married! 💛 A true power couple!

📢 Planning to apply for an NIH F30, F31, or F32 fellowship? The process can feel overwhelming, but BRET has some helpful resources to guide you through the process and apply by the April 8 deadline! medschool.vanderbilt.edu/career-devel...

🔬 Molecular biologist André Nussenzweig delivered a full-house Apex Lecture. In his talk, he explored how cells maintain genome stability in both dividing and non-dividing cells, innovative genome-wide approaches to detecting DNA damage, and more. medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

🎉 Congrats to Hannah Collins, who has been named a 2025 Destination Biochemistry Stanley Cohen Postdoctoral Scholar. This prestigious award recognizes outstanding early-career researchers and honors the legacy of Nobel laureate Stanley Cohen. medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

✨ As 2025 comes to a close, we’re proud to reflect on the incredible achievements of the Vanderbilt School of Medicine Basic Sciences #community that advanced fundamental #science and made discoveries with real-world impact. We are excited for 2026! 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

📢 The 2026 VICB Seminar Series is here! Join us Wednesdays at 12:15 PM in 1220 MRB III for talks from leading scientists across academia, industry, and national labs. 👉 View the full schedule below. @vubasicsciences.bsky.social @vanderbilt.edu

🎵 ✨ This week, the Vanderbilt School of Medicine Basic Sciences came together for our annual administrative holiday gathering. What a wonderful chance to celebrate the season, reflect on a year of hard work, and enjoy time with colleagues who keep our school thriving! ❄️💛🖤

🎉 The Vanderbilt Graduate Student Council has announced the winners of the 2025 Graduate Leadership Anchor Awards, which honor the hard work and leadership of Vanderbilt graduate students. Congrats to the SOMBS students were recognized! Read more here 👉 news.vanderbilt.edu/2025/12/04/g...

👏 Yesterday, the Osheroff lab's mechanistic data played a pivotal role in the FDA’s approval of Blujepa (gepotidacin) for treating uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea, the first new class of antibiotics for this infection in decades. 🔬💊 Read more! 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

🎓 Our latest Alum Answers features Dave Vigerust, IGP graduate who went on to specialize in molecular pathology at Vanderbilt. Today, he serves as Chief Scientific & Strategy Officer for several companies advancing precision diagnostics and forensic science. medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

⭐ Happy Nobel Prize Day! Vanderbilt Nobel Laureate Stanley Cohen transformed biology with his discovery of EGF. Today, that legacy lives on through researchers like @krishnamudumbi.bsky.social, who is pushing the study of signal transduction into new territory. 🎥 Watch the video!

🗓️ We’re excited to welcome André Nussenzweig, world-renowned molecular biologist and Chief of the National Cancer Institute Laboratory of Genome Integrity, for the next Apex Lecture Series, taking place on December 15 at 2:00 p.m. in 1220 MRB III. medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

📢 Don’t miss the next CBT & VICB Trainee Talks on Dec 18! Featuring presentations from Yifan Zhang (Chen Lab, St. Jude) and Will Sutton (Plate Lab, Vanderbilt). 🕔 5:00–6:30 PM 📍 Vanderbilt (U1202 MRBIII) + St. Jude (PRT E1003) Food & beverages provided! @vubasicsciences.bsky.social #research

“After this trip, I now see the job search, networking, and application process as an exciting journey,” Zhengyi Chen, a Ph.D. candidate in chemical and physical biology said. Read more about the ASPIRE on the Road participants visiting Seattle 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

👏 #GivingTuesday is here! Help us make a powerful difference in the lives of our biomedical trainees, researchers and programs. Make a gift 👉 vu.edu/GiveToSOMBS

🎉 Big congratulations to Erin Calipari who has been awarded the prestigious Daniel H. Efron Research Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology for her cutting-edge work at the intersection of neuropharmacology and addiction science. 👏 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

🎓 We are loving this full-circle moment! Kevin McCarty, PhD’25, recently defended his dissertation in the Department of Biochemistry. He stands with mentors Laura Lowe Furge and Fred Guengerich both biochemistry alumni, representing over 50 years of discovery and mentorship!

🏢 Meet Josh Luffman, construction and project manager in the facilities, infrastructure and risk management group within our school, ensuring that labs and core spaces run smoothly, safely, and efficiently. Read more about Josh! 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

🎉 Congrats to Tony Ferranti, Niki Harris, and Harrison Parent from the Niswender lab, who were all recognized for their outstanding poster presentations at this year’s Academic Drug Discovery Consortium annual meeting! 📸 Pictured here: three proud presenters (and one well-earned conference mascot).

“Katherine Moster is a versatile scientist who is exceptionally devoted to rigor and reproducibility,” Charles Sanders said. “She lives out her belief in the importance of service and is always willing to step up and help out!” Read more 👉 www.vanderbilt.edu/csb/2025/11/...

🚀 Big congratulations to Kayla Temple, Darren Engers, and John Wikswo who were named Vanderbilt University 2025 Master Innovators for their outstanding contributions to discovery and real-world impact! 👏 news.vanderbilt.edu/2025/11/10/v...

🖥️ Vanderbilt’s Center for Computational Systems Biology recently hosted its first symposium on AI, spatial and systems biology, highlighting how 3D AI is transforming biomedical research. Read more 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

🧬 Today is #WorldDiabetesDay, and we’re proud to spotlight the dedicated faculty, trainees, and labs in our school driving discoveries in diabetes research for more than 50 years. medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

Another potential #schizophrenia treatment developed at Vanderbilt in the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery has entered a Phase I trial, marking the second such schizophrenia drug candidate from the center to reach this milestone. Read more 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

✨ New research from Vanderbilt University Medical Center identified a new genetic marker that may significantly improve the ability to predict life-threatening reactions to the gout medication allopurinol in U.S. patients. Read more 👉 news.vumc.org/2025/10/29/n...

🧠 A new technique has been developed that digs deeper into the genetic roots of schizophrenia, beyond the usual “strongest” genetic signals.This discovery opens up fresh avenues for treatment, ones that protect and repair how brain cells connect. Read more 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

🎉 Big congratulations to three members of our community—Megan Altemus, Mayme Van Meveren, and Yilin Yang—who were recognized at this year's Vanderbilt Fall Staff Assembly for outstanding impact and innovation. Join us in congratulating them! news.vanderbilt.edu/2025/10/30/2...

🧬 🪦 Dean emeritus Larry Marnett, Mike Goodman (staff scientist in the Sanders lab), and senior advisor to the dean Chuck Sanders paid their annual visit to the grave of Oswald Avery, the scientist “best known for his discovery that DNA serves as genetic material. profiles.nlm.nih.gov/spotlight/cc

👻 Happy Halloween! What looks like a haunting group of glowing ghosts is actually a Drosophila (fruit fly) pupal notum — a sheet of cells captured with scattered spots expressing a GFP-tagged microtubule minus-end binding protein, Patronin. 📸: Pankajam Thyagarajan, postdoc in the Page-McCaw lab

✨ 🔬 Shan Meltzer has been awarded the prestigious Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation Award to investigate how our sense of #touch and #pain develops. By uncovering these processes, Meltzer aims to develop new strategies to treat sensory disorders. medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

💛 Your pride looks good in Vandyprint! When you make a gift to the School of Medicine Basic Sciences by Nov. 9, you’ll get a limited-edition thank-you gift to show our appreciation. Every contribution helps support our community!

🎉 Congratulations to the faculty members in our school on their recent appointments and promotions! These individuals significantly enrich our pursuit of pathbreaking research and contribute to the growth and success of our school. 👏🏻👏🏼👏🏽👏🏾👏🏿 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

🎃 Halloween is right around the corner and every year, Chuck Sanders sits down with a very special guest...This Halloween, his annual eerie interview features none other than Maud Menten, co-creator of the legendary Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics. 🧪 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

🎓👏 Join us in honoring dean emeritus Larry Marnett, whose five decades of dedication to science, leadership, and mentorship was highlighted during a reunion of 70+ former trainees from around the globe. Read more about this tribute 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

Some of our leaders attended the 2025 Biomedical Research Training Conference, hosted by the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Group on Research, Education and Training. They shared Vanderbilt's innovative approaches to trainee recruiting, mentoring, and more! 👉 news.vumc.org/2025/10/08/v...

💊 Vanderbilt scientists, led by Ann Richmond, have discovered a new drug combination that targets three key pathways, helping melanoma tumors once resistant to immunotherapy respond again to the body’s immune defenses. Read more 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

🎓 Meet one of our alums, Chase Spurlock, PhD ’14! Today, he is CEO and co-founder of Decode Health, and also serves as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt, NYU, and Belmont’s medical school. Read his full Q&A here 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

💻 Ben Brown takes on one of the biggest roadblocks to using AI in this field: how to accurately model the complex interactions between drugs and their protein targets. Learn more about his new targeted approach 👉

🧬 Few genes wield as much power or mystery as MYC, a key driver of #cancer cell growth and survival. Stephen Fesik and William Tansey are uncovering how MYC reprograms cells and why it’s one of the most challenging yet promising targets in oncology. 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

With a new collaboration called diffUSE, the @stephanieaw.bsky.social lab is helping to advance our understanding of protein motion, leading to a new paradigm in dynamic structural biology. @vubasicsciences.bsky.social medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

Big discoveries start with support. 💛 When you give to Vanderbilt by Nov. 9, you’re helping our researchers and trainees push discovery further. And as a thank-you, you can choose a limited-edition Vandyprint item. ⚓✨https://give.vanderbilt.edu/fall-incentive-2025/?a=10853854

💉 Vanderbilt researchers, including Todd Graham of CDB, have figured out how to make the topical antibiotic neomycin safe for injection. This innovation could reduce harmful side effects and help fight antibiotic resistance. 👉 as.vanderbilt.edu/news/2025/09...

🌟 Meet Hannah Waterman, a trainee in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics. Her advice for future trainees? "It is okay to ask for guidance from mentors, lean on colleagues, and trust that collaboration makes research stronger." medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...

🌟 Meet David Stiles who works for our finance team. He’s passionate about mentoring new team members, improving departmental processes, and streamlining post-award finance workflows. Learn more about David 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...