VU BreakThru

Diagnostic Imaging and Image-Guided Interventions (DIIGI) Laboratory

Written by Yuankai (Kenny) Tao, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering The Diagnostic Imaging and Image-Guided Interventions (DIIGI) Laboratory develops novel optical imaging systems for clinical diagnostics and therapeutic monitoring in ophthalmology and oncology. Biomedical optics enable non-invasive, subcellular visualization of tissue morphology, biological dynamics and disease pathogenesis. Our ongoing research primarily focuses on clinical translation of therapeutic…

Posted by anderc8 on September 11, 2017 in News, TIPs 2015

Introducing Virtual Reality for Interdisciplinary Applications

Written by Ole Molvig, Assistant Professor of History The opportunity to co-teach a University Course on virtual reality (VR) with computer science professor Bobby Bodenheimer (someone with years of experience in the field) is tremendously exciting to me. You see, I am a historian – not exactly a field synonymous with cutting-edge computer technologies. Then…

Posted by anderc8 on September 11, 2017 in News, Virtual Reality for Interdisciplinary Applications

Vanderbilt Center for Autism and Innovation Hosts Launch Event at Wond’ry

Introduction Blog (Aug. 1, 2017) The Vanderbilt Center for Autism and Innovation launched its showcase at the Wond’ry on Tuesday, August 22. The launch event featured remarks from individuals involved with the project and several demos highlighting some of the research being conducted by center team members. The showcase event kicked off with an introductory video,…

Posted by anderc8 on August 28, 2017 in News, TIPs 2017

The Ice Water Phantom Cometh

Written by Vishwesh Nath, PhD Student, MASI lab, and Colin Hansen, PhD Student, MASI lab A quick look at this device brings an unforgettable memory, and an initial reaction might leave one wondering: Is that dangerous? It is not. Known as diffusion phantoms, these spherical devices serve as a benchmark for assessing the performance of…

Posted by anderc8 on August 23, 2017 in News, TIPs 2015

Did they practice what they preached? The “father of bioethics” tells all

Written by Laura Stark, Associate Professor at the Center for Medicine, Health and Society Dr. Henry K. Beecher was a powerbroker of the American medical establishment in the decades after World War II. He was the head of anesthesiology at Harvard and well-connected at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), but Beecher is perhaps…

Posted by anderc8 on August 21, 2017 in News, Research Scholar Grants

Billy and Jennifer Frist's visit to Maithilee Kunda's lab. They have a son with autism and are starting a local nonprofit to put people on the autism spectrum to work!.(John Russell/Vanderbilt University)

Introducing the Center for Autism and Innovation

Written by Dr. David Caudel, Executive Director – Center for Autism and Innovation The Center for Autism and Innovation, a collaborative project that brings together engineers, scientists, disabilities researchers and business scholars from across Vanderbilt’s campus, was recently named a recipient of one of the university’s 2017 Trans-Institutional Programs (TIPs) awards. Many adults on the…

Posted by anderc8 on August 1, 2017 in News, TIPs 2017

What do you know about HPV infection and the cancers HPV causes?

Written by Ronald D. Alvarez, Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology Infections cause more than 2 million cases of cancer worldwide annually, accounting for approximately 15 percent of all new cancer cases. HPV is second only to Helicobacter pylori as one of the most cancer-causing pathogens, resulting in more than 600,000 cases of cancer worldwide each year. In…

Posted by anderc8 on July 26, 2017 in News, TIPs 2017

VISE Project Vault – Manual Surgical Tools with Robot-like Dexterity

Written by Patrick Anderson, Vanderbilt University doctoral candidate in Mechanical Engineering In the Medical Engineering and Discovery (MED) Lab, we work with surgeons to design surgical robots and medical devices that make surgery less invasive, more accurate and more effective. One project that I have worked on in the MED Lab is a laparoscopic tool…

Posted by anderc8 on July 19, 2017 in News, TIPs 2015

Symposium on Modeling Immunity Recap

Written by Heather Darling, Laboratory Manager – Meiler Lab The second annual Symposium on Modeling Immunity was held April 27, 2017. The symposium focused on modeling and designing antibodies, and was hosted by Dr. Jens Meiler and Dr. James Crowe, Jr. within the Vanderbilt Center for Structural Biology and Vanderbilt Vaccine Center. Over 100 people…

Posted by anderc8 on July 17, 2017 in News, TIPs 2016

An infrared photo of a top-heated aluminum sponge coated with PNIPAM. A temperature gradient from 44.3 °C (top) to 32.7 °C (bottom) can be observed.

Innovative Water Collection Project Could Help Create More Drinking Water in Developing Countries

Written by Shihong Lin, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering “Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” This line by a 19th century English poet vividly describes the paradox in water scarcity that many regions of our world still face. However, thanks to advances over the past few decades, we now have powerful…

Posted by anderc8 on June 22, 2017 in Discovery Grants, News