The Passing of Colleagues

Two of our faculty colleagues have died in the past 8 months. Vivien Casagrande passed away in January and Alex Brown died in July (see below). The department of Cell and Developmental Biology organized a symposium in Vivien’s honor last November, which was attended by many of her friends and colleagues. It was a joyous event that was memorable for all the participants, especially Vivien. She wore a broad smile throughout the symposium sessions and into the celebratory dinner that evening. We heard about her scientific contributions as well as her collegiality and love for Vanderbilt. It was enlightening for young faculty and students to learn what one of their senior colleagues had done to build the institution that they call home.

Plans are underway to organize a symposium to honor Alex Brown, which will no doubt celebrate his many scientific contributions and his roles in Pharmacology and the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology. The memorial service that was held shortly after his death provided insights into the strength of his character and the courage with which he approached what he called his inevitable diagnosis. Alex and his family were surrounded by faculty from Vanderbilt and other universities. Some had been collaborators, others had been students and many had been friends. It was touching to look around the church and see the members of our community honoring a colleague who had enriched our lives and whom we will greatly miss.

The passing of individuals like Vivien Casagrande and Alex Brown reminds us that institutions like Vanderbilt are built by their faculty, staff, and students. Future generations inherit the legacy of their contributions, and the impact of those contributions extends well beyond our institutional boundaries.

Celebrating the Life of H. Alex Brown

H. Alex Brown, Ph.D., the Bixler-Johnson-Mayes Professor in the Department of Pharmacology passed away on July 25 at the age of 56. Creator of the field of computational lipidomics and key contributor to the mutli-omics analysis of cell signaling pathways, Dr. Brown was recruited to Vanderbilt in 2002. We mourn the loss of a passionate scientist, valued colleague, and challenging mentor. Read more

Another Great VICB Student Research Symposium

The thirteenth annual VICB Student Research Symposium was held August 10, featuring keynote speaker Anna Mapp (U. of Michigan) and an impressive lineup of oral presentations and posters from students and postdocs in VICB member labs. Awards for best oral presentations went to Nicole Perry (Gurevich & Iverson labs), Nichole Lareau (Caprioli lab), and Suzanne Batiste (Johnston lab), and those for best posters went to Zach Lonergan (Skaar lab), Rongxin Shi (Eichman lab), Linda Zhang (Davies lab), and Alex Allweil (Sulikowski lab). Michelle Mitchener (Marnett lab) was honored with the VICB’s Prize for Excellence in Chemical Biology. Congratulations to all! Read more & See photos

New Clinical Trial for Alzheimer’s Drug Begins

In a ground-breaking moment for Vanderbilt, a new drug developed in the Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery is entering Phase 1 clinical trials at the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. Read more   See local news coverage

Support Our Students!

On Friday, September 1 at 4:00 P.M. in Light Hall 208, the Simple Beginning Ceremony will welcome the incoming School of Medicine graduate student class. Each student will be presented a personalized lab coat and enjoy a reception in the company of family and friends. Faculty and staff are invited and encouraged to attend. Lab coats are provided through the donations of generous supporters. Read more    Donate

Newsworthy Accomplishments

John Karijolich (Pathology, Microbiology, & Immunology) and James Dewar (Biochemistry) are this year’s Pew Scholar and Searle Scholar nominees from Vanderbilt. Good luck John and James!

Student/Postdoc Awards Congratulations

Eileen Shiuan (Jin Chen lab) has received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Service Award (NRSA, F30) predoctoral fellowship from the NCI. Laura Kim (Jin Chen lab) has received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Service Award (NRSA, F31) predoctoral fellowship from the NIH.

New Discoveries

A New DNA Replication/Repair Protein

Research from David Cortez and his lab reveals RADX a protein that works as a RAD51 antagonist to promote genome stability during replication stress. Read more

Key to Toxicity – All in the Structure

Brandt Eichman and his lab show how the structure of a bacterial self-defense toxin explains its exceptional toxicity and its interaction with a DNA repair enzyme. Read more

New Insight Into Breast Cancer Metastasis

Recent work from Rebecca Cook and her lab reveals a signaling pathway required for metastasis of HER-2-positive breast cancer. Read more

Lighting Up the Fight Against Infection

Eric Skaar and his lab report a novel combination of a drug and light that kills S. aureus in the skin. Read more

Autophagy Meets the Immune System

A recent report from Luc Van Kaer and his lab demonstrates that an enzyme involved in autophagy is also critical for antigen presentation by dendritic cells. Read more

For Ants, the Nose Knows

Larry Zwiebel and his lab are exploring the many and varied odorant receptors of ants to learn how olfaction guides their complex societies. Read more

New Key to Heart Development

Charles Hong and colleagues report on the role of Notch1 in heart development, showing that a mutation in the gene for the Notch1 receptor leads to a major heart defect in infants. Read more

Key to Gastric Tumorigenesis

Work from the lab of Wael El-Rifai reveals genetic aberrations that appear early in the development of gastric cancer in mouse models and humans. Read more

New Funding

Trans-Institutional Program – A number of Basic Sciences researchers are either leading or participating in new TIPS projects. They are:

Biomedical Microscopy – Immersion, Innovation, Discovery, led by Anita Mahadevan-Jansen, (Biomedical Engineering), with Matt Tyska and Dylan Burnette (Cell & Developmental Biology), Richard Simerly (Molecular Physiology & Biophysics), and Carl Johnson (VICB), participating.

Data Science Visions, led by Yu Shyr (Biostatistics), with Vito Quaranta (Cancer Biology), and John McLean and Charles Manning (VICB) participating.

Enhancing the Research and Educational Missions of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, led by Ronald Emeson (Pharmacology)

Materials Durability and Environmental Research Facilities Hub, led by Florence Sanchez (Civil & Environmental Engineering), with John McLean (VICB) participating

Reinvestment in Cryo-Electron Microscopy at Vanderbilt, led by Teru Nakagawa (Molecular Physiology & Biophysics), with Tina Iverson (Pharmacology), Walter Chazin and Yi Ren (Biochemistry), and Borden Lacy and Brandt Eichman (VICB) participating.

Understanding the Complexity of Life One Cell at a Time, led by Vito Quaranta (Cancer Biology) with Carlos Lopez and Jonathan Irish (Cancer Biology), Ken Lau (Cell & Developmental Biology), and Gregor Neuert (Molecular Physiology & Biophysics) participating

Vanderbilt Microbiome Initiative, led by Seth Bordenstein (Biological Sciences) with Eric Skaar (VICB) participating. Read more

Funding Opportunities

Basic Sciences Bridge Funding
Applications for the next round of Bridge Funding should be submitted no later than Sept. 15.  Information on the Bridge Program and the on-line submission system are found at: https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-sciences/vu-bridge-program. Primary Basic Sciences faculty are encouraged to take advantage of this mechanism to help them either maintain project momentum during temporary lapses of funding or to scientifically realign projects to embrace new directions.

Beckman Young Investigators Program
The Beckman Foundation is accepting proposals for funding through its Young Investigators Program. Applicants must have been appointed to the faculty after August 14, 2014. There is no limit to the number of applicants from Vanderbilt. The deadline is August 14, 2017. If you are interested in applying, please contact Adele White in Corporate and Foundation Relations. Read more

The Concern Foundation’s Conquer Cancer Now Awards Program
The Concern Foundation is accepting letters of intent until September 7, 2017 for its Conquer Cancer Awards that provide $60,000 in funding over a two year period to young, innovative researchers in the fields of cancer genetics, cancer biology, and cancer immunology. Read more

Merck Investigator Studies Program (MISP)
Merck & Co. offers research funding, as well as drugs/vaccines to support research in areas of interest to the company. Pre-proposals (“concepts”) are accepted year-round. For more information, visit the MISP website

NIH Guide E-Mail List
If you have not already done so, you are encouraged to subscribe to the NIH Guide email list. The weekly NIH Guide provides a wealth of information on NIH grant programs, including RFAs for special one-time grant programs.  To subscribe, follow the instructions at this web site

See our newest Basic Sciences faculty interview – Jens Meiler!