Vanderbilt School of Medicine Basic Sciences
@vubasicsciences.bsky.social
🎓 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!
November 24, 2025 at 3:03 PM
🎓 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...
Read more about Josh! 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...
School of Medicine Basic Sciences Staff Spotlight: Josh Luffman
Meet Josh Luffman, construction and project manager in the facilities, infrastructure and risk management group within the School of Medicine Basic Sciences.
medschool.vanderbilt.edu
November 23, 2025 at 5:25 PM
🏢 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...
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).
📸 Pictured here: three proud presenters (and one well-earned conference mascot).
November 22, 2025 at 8:01 PM
🎉 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).
📸 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/...
Read more 👉 www.vanderbilt.edu/csb/2025/11/...
Kate Clowes Moster wins the 2026 Dr. Anne Karpay Award in Structural Biology
By Karen Davis Congratulations to Kate Clowes Moster, of the Sanders lab, on being named the 2026 recipient of the Dr. Anne Karpay Award in Structural Biology. “I’m really honored to be selected fo…
www.vanderbilt.edu
November 21, 2025 at 4:45 PM
“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/...
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 honors 2025 Master Innovators who drive breakthrough research and commercial impact
Five exceptional Vanderbilt faculty members have been named 2025 Master Innovators for their extraordinary contributions to translating research into commercial applications that have significant…
news.vanderbilt.edu
November 20, 2025 at 6:30 PM
🚀 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...
Center for Computational Systems Biology explores how 3D AI is reshaping biomedical research
The Center for Computational Systems Biology hosted its inaugural Symposium on AI, Spatial & Systems Biology. The two-day event highlighted how emerging 3D artificial intelligence technologies …
medschool.vanderbilt.edu
November 18, 2025 at 7:00 PM
🖥️ 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...
diabetes | Basic Sciences
Oct. 6, 2025
medschool.vanderbilt.edu
November 14, 2025 at 4:05 PM
🧬 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...
Second schizophrenia treatment discovered at Vanderbilt’s Warren Center enters Phase I clinical trial
lnkd.in
November 13, 2025 at 10:30 PM
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...
Read more 👉 news.vumc.org/2025/10/29/n...
New genetic marker found to predict severe gout drug reactions in US patients
A newly identified genetic marker may help predict life-threatening reactions to the gout medication allopurinol.
news.vumc.org
November 5, 2025 at 4:15 PM
✨ 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...
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...
New technique pioneered at Vanderbilt can identify new risk genes for schizophrenia
Bingshan Li and his lab are changing the paradigm of how geneticists can identify risk genes for schizophrenia, enabling new studies into its underlying biology and opening new doors for the develo…
medschool.vanderbilt.edu
November 4, 2025 at 5:45 PM
🧠 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...
Join us in congratulating them! news.vanderbilt.edu/2025/10/30/2...
2025 Fall Staff Assembly honors individuals and teams for excellence in leadership and innovation
Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and Vice Chancellor of People, Culture and Belonging Sydney Savion presented awards at the 2025 Fall Staff Assembly to a mix of inspiring individuals and teams who have…
news.vanderbilt.edu
November 3, 2025 at 8:25 PM
🎉 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...
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
profiles.nlm.nih.gov/spotlight/cc
November 1, 2025 at 5:15 PM
🧬 🪦 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
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
📸: Pankajam Thyagarajan, postdoc in the Page-McCaw lab
October 31, 2025 at 5:08 PM
👻 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
📸: 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...
Pharmacologist Shan Meltzer receives Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation Award to uncover how our sense of touch and pain develops
Shan Meltzer has been awarded a prestigious Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation Award to advance her pioneering research on determining how the body’s sensory circuits form and function. Meltzer’s …
medschool.vanderbilt.edu
October 26, 2025 at 6:30 PM
✨ 🔬 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!
Fall Incentive 2025
Join me and make a gift to Vanderbilt
give.vanderbilt.edu
October 25, 2025 at 7:15 PM
💛 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...
Celebrating appointments and promotions in the School of Medicine Basic Sciences: July–September 2025
Congratulations to our School of Medicine Basic Sciences faculty members who were promoted or received new appointments between July and September 2025. These individuals significantly enrich our p…
medschool.vanderbilt.edu
October 25, 2025 at 3:45 AM
🎉 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...
A Halloween interview with Maud Menten
Tune in to Professor of Biochemistry Chuck Sanders' yearly Halloween interview, this year featuring Maud Menten, co-creator of the Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics equation.
medschool.vanderbilt.edu
October 23, 2025 at 8:07 PM
🎃 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...
Read more about this tribute 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...
From Lab to Legacy: Marnett’s Trainees Gather to Toast a Life in Science and Service
In a heartwarming tribute to a remarkable career, more than 70 of his former graduate students and postdoctoral scholars recently traveled from across the globe for a three-day festivity on Oct. 3–…
medschool.vanderbilt.edu
October 22, 2025 at 4:15 PM
🎓👏 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...
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 leaders in filling the biomedical research pipeline shine at national meeting
VUSM played a major role in a national conference that showcased the critical need to train biomedical researchers to advance medical care.
news.vumc.org
October 21, 2025 at 5:30 PM
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...
Read more 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...
Promising new drug combination may help melanoma patients resistant to treatment respond once again to the body’s immune defenses
Vanderbilt researchers led by Ann Richmond have identified a promising drug combination that targets three key pathways in advanced melanoma, potentially restoring the immune response in patients r…
medschool.vanderbilt.edu
October 19, 2025 at 5:30 PM
💊 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...
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...
Read his full Q&A here 👉 medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...
Alum Answers with Chase Spurlock
A Middle Tennessee native, Chase Spurlock, PhD’14, was drawn to Vanderbilt University for its excellence in healthcare and science. A project he completed in graduate school ignited in him a desire…
medschool.vanderbilt.edu
October 18, 2025 at 4:50 PM
🎓 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...
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 👉
Vanderbilt scientist tackles key roadblock for AI in drug discovery
Vanderbilt’s Dr. Benjamin P. Brown is improving the way the field of drug discovery creates machine learning algorithms to predict a protein’s interactions with a small molecule. These improvements…
medschool.vanderbilt.edu
October 17, 2025 at 4:09 PM
💻 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...
The emperor of all oncogenes
Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology William Tansey and Professor of Biochemistry Stephen Fesik are rewriting the playbook for defeating cancer. After ten years of research, the two School o…
medschool.vanderbilt.edu
October 16, 2025 at 7:30 PM
🧬 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...
Reposted by Vanderbilt School of Medicine Basic Sciences
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...
@vubasicsciences.bsky.social
medschool.vanderbilt.edu/basic-scienc...
September 26, 2025 at 2:30 PM
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...
@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
Fall Incentive 2025
Join me and make a gift to Vanderbilt
Vu.edu
October 14, 2025 at 7:40 PM
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