Press

Two VUMC physician-scientists named to medical honor society

Two physician-scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have been elected this year to membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), one of the nation’s oldest and most respected medical honor societies. 

– Bill Snyder, VUMC News, Full Article Here

Potential treatment eyed for abnormal blood cell disorder

Research could lead to improved diagnosis and the first effective treatment for the disorder, called “clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminant potential,” or CHIP. 

– Bill Snyder, VUMC News, Full Article Here

Alexander Bick named head of Genetic Medicine

Alexander Bick, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who is internationally known for his research on the genetics of blood disorders, has been named director of VUMC’s Division of Genetic Medicine, effective Oct. 1.

– Bill Snyder, VUMC News, Full Article Here

‘Learning’ network will help move genomics into the clinic

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center believe the answer may involve a “learning” network that, by assessing the impact of genomic data and clinical informatics on medical practice, can demonstrate the power of precision medicine for doctors and patients. This week the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, awarded two five-year grants totaling $12 million to support VUMC’s participation in, and coordination of, a genomic-enabled learning health system (gLHS) network.

– Bill Snyder, VUMC News, Full Article Here

Research raises hope for treating potentially lethal blood condition

A multicenter study led by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has identified a set of circulating proteins and other factors associated with a common age-related and potentially life-threatening condition characterized by an “explosion” of abnormal blood cells. The discovery, reported June 4 in the journal Nature Aging, may aid in the development of therapeutic targets and improved outcomes for patients diagnosed with this condition, called “clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential” or CHIP, the researchers concluded.

– Bill Snyder, VUMC News, Full Article Here

VUMC’s Alexander Bick receives a “healthy aging” research award

Alexander Bick, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has received a Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Award in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research from the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) and Hevolution Foundation.

– Bill Snyder, VUMC News, Full Article Here

VUMC part of major step to achieving precision medicine

An analysis of genomic data from nearly 250,000 participants in the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program has identified more than 275 million previously unreported genetic variations, nearly 4 million of which have potential health consequences.

– Bill Snyder, VUMC News, Full Article Here

Kidney disease gene also has a protective mutation

African Americans have long been known to be at increased risk of kidney disease due to a dangerous genetic mutation that creates a hole in the kidney cells, but Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) researchers have now discovered a protective genetic mutation that covers the hole to eliminate the risk.

– Craig Boerner, VUMC News, Full Article Here

Research identifies new target that may prevent blood cancer

An international coalition of biomedical researchers co-led by Vanderbilt’s Alexander Bick, MD, PhD, has determined a new way to measure the growth rate of precancerous clones of blood stem cells that one day could help doctors lower their patients’ risk of blood cancer.

– Bill Snyder, VUMC News, Full Article Here

New view of mutations informs disease risk, treatment response

A transcontinental research effort led by scientists from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Michigan has upended some long-standing assumptions about mutations — how often they occur, what causes them and what they do.

– Bill Snyder, VUMC News, Full Article Here

Researchers clarify role of blood cell mutations in disease

Vanderbilt researchers have developed a new method to analyze mutations in blood stem cells that can trigger explosive, clonal expansions of abnormal cells.

– Bill Snyder, VUMC News, Full Article Here

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative grant supports single-cell study of rare inherited disease

A multidisciplinary team led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigator Alexander Bick, MD, PhD, has been awarded a $2 million, four-year grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to study inflammation at the single-cell level in the rare disease RUNX1-FPD. The team includes the RUNX1 Research Program, a nonprofit patient organization, and investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Oregon Health & Science University.

– Leigh MacMillan, VUMC News, Full Article Here

Bick receives NIH Director’s Early Independence Award

Alexander Bick, MD, PhD, a new faculty member in the Division of Genetic Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has received a 2020 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Early Independence Award. The award will provide $250,000 in direct research costs annually for up to five years. It is part of the NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program, which supports “highly innovative and unusually impactful biomedical or behavioral research proposed by extraordinarily creative scientists.”

– Bill Snyder, VUMC News, Full Article Here

Bick receives Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists

Alexander Bick, MD, PhD…is a recipient of the 2020 Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) Career Award for Medical Scientists. The award provides $700,000 over five years to young physician-scientists committed to academic careers as they transition from fellowship and postdoctoral positions to faculty service. Recipients benefit from participating in biennial meetings and mentoring networks.

– Bill Snyder, VUMC Reporter, Full Article Here

Studies reveal mutations that boost blood stem cell growth and increase leukemia and heart disease risk

…two teams of scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have each discovered a set of inherited gene variants that increase the risk of accumulating these mutations in HSCs over people’s lifetimes. These mutations lead to one of two age-related blood disorders: myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) and clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP).

– Sarah C.P. Williams, Broad Institute News, Full Article Here

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Renewal Drives Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

Complementary studies by Bick, Weinstock, and colleagues and Bao, Nandakumar, Liao, and colleagues identified genetic factors and biological mechanisms underlying the heritability of CHIP and MPNs. Bick, Weinstock, and colleagues performed germ- and somatic-cell whole-genome sequencing of 97,691 people, identifying 4,229 participants with CHIP, whereas Bao, Nandakumar, Liao, and colleagues performed a genome-wide association study including 3,797 people with known MPNs and 1,152,977 control participants.

– American Association for Cancer Research Publications, Full Article Here