Research Category
$1 million CZI grant bolsters VUIIS ‘deep tissue’ imaging research
Dec. 2, 2020—Researchers in the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science (VUIIS) have received a $1 million grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to develop “deep tissue” imaging methods that can peer into the furthest corners of the body. Through the application of magnetic resonance microscopy, VUIIS Director John Gore and colleagues Adam Anderson, Mark Does, and Junzhong...
Engineering professor Ndukaife wins award in Rising Stars of Light global competition
Nov. 30, 2020—Justus Ndukaife, assistant professor of electrical engineering, spent 20 minutes describing his optical nanotweezers to a panel of five distinguished professors from the United States, Australia, and China during a live online competition—Rising Stars of Light—that has drawn 260,000 viewers worldwide. After two sessions in which 10 finalists presented their research in a global campaign...
Imaging brain’s white matter is predictive “biomarker” for Alzheimer’s disease progression
Nov. 20, 2020—Measuring changes in functional connectivity of the brain’s white matter, which is made up of nerve fibers and their protective myelin coating, can predict Alzheimer’s disease progression, researchers in the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science have found. Previous studies have correlated variations in blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signals detected by functional magnetic resonance...
Vanderbilt researchers bring paradigm-shifting technology to endoscopic procedures
Nov. 19, 2020—A collaboration between international and Vanderbilt University researchers is helping to update a tried-and-true medical technology for the 21st century. The development of an intelligent and autonomous Magnetic Flexible Endoscope holds the promise of making colonoscopies safer, less painful, more widely available and less expensive. The article “Enabling the future of colonoscopy with intelligent and...
Rafat receives Conquer Cancer Award from Concern Foundation
Nov. 18, 2020—Marjan Rafat, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has received an award for young and innovative cancer researchers from the Concern Foundation. With it, she will investigate whether and how radiation therapy for triple negative breast cancer encourages circulating tumor cells to return to the original tumor site, creating conditions for relapse. She...
Engineering lab returns during Vanderbilt’s Research Ramp-up to advance research in neurodegeneration
Nov. 16, 2020—The lab of Ethan Lippmann, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and biomedical engineering, seeks to model, understand, and ultimately treat neurodegeneration, focusing primarily on the blood-brain barrier, a border of protective blood vessels found in the brain. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Lippmann’s team in the Neurovascular Engineering and Therapeutic Design Laboratory was firing...
Researchers create technique that corrects distortions in MRI images
Nov. 11, 2020—Perfecting MRI images with deep learning, Vanderbilt and VUMC researchers have created a technique that corrects image distortions, which provides more accurate information for researchers, radiologists and neuroscientists to better interpret brain scans. The work by Bennett Landman, professor of electrical engineering and computer science and radiology and radiological sciences, and Kurt Schilling, research assistant...
Wearable sensor algorithms powered by machine learning could be key to preventing runners’ injuries
Oct. 28, 2020—A trans-institutional team of Vanderbilt engineering, data science and clinical researchers has developed a novel approach for monitoring bone stress in recreational and professional athletes, with the goal of anticipating and preventing injury. Using machine learning and biomechanical modeling techniques, the researchers built multisensory algorithms that combine data from lightweight, low-profile wearable sensors in shoes...