Andrew Flick

Please consider your laboratory’s interest and ability to host a high school student for a research internship. These academically motivated students have a demonstrated interest in STEM research and participate in the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt (SSMV) and the Research Experience for High School Students (REHSS) programs. Read More

Sam Smith just finished his Ph.D. at Brown University in the lab of Sohini Ramachandran. He spent 2016-2017 as an undergraduate researcher in the lab of Antonis Rokas. He is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas, Austin, in the lab of Arbel Harpak. Sam took time for… Read More

By Andy Flick Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator With the funding of seven pilot grant projects last year, there are numerous new research avenues across evolutionary studies. Check out the precursor to this story here. Arner experiences anthropological field research for the first time The sole graduate student recipient last year… Read More

Graduate student in Earth and Environmental Sciences Kat Turk recently published a paper about life in the Ediacaran. Along with her advisor, assistant professor Simon Darroch, and colleagues at the University of Toronto, Mississauga, she found we might need to change when we believe some complex animal behaviors evolved. Predatory… Read More

Vanderbilt biologists have discovered the genetic pathways that link the immune and circulatory systems of mosquitoes during the fight against infection. A mosquito fighting infection of malaria or bacteria attracts immune cells to its heart that filter microbes that are flowing in its blood, called hemolymph. The discovery of two… Read More

By Andy Flick Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Evolutionary Studies at Vanderbilt selected four exciting, new proposals for pilot grants. Graduate students Samantha Schaffner (BSCI, Patel Lab), Taiye Winful (ANTHRO, Benn Torres Lab), and Katie McCormack (ANTHRO, Benn Torres Lab) have all been awarded funding, along with new professor in EES,… Read More

By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Larisa DeSantis – associate professor of the biological sciences & Earth and environmental sciences departments – will be giving the Royal Irish Academy Discourse Lecture on Monday, July 18th at 2pm central time. The Royal Irish Academy is good company to keep… Read More

By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Science is an inherently collaborative endeavor. When a respected colleague courteously disagrees with your point of view, it can lead to great new papers, perspectives and collaborations. In that same vein, feedback from editors and reviewers of academic journals is an often-understated driver… Read More

Benjamin Bratton is a new assistant professor at VUMC in the pathology, microbiology, and immunology department. He studies single cell microbial biology. Ben Bratton “I’m really excited about how bacteria thrive. Most people want to kill the bacteria, but I want to know why they don’t die,” he explained. “Bacteria… Read More

Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies Initiative scientific coordinator Bacteria, not unlike humans, can take up more resources than necessary. When this happens, synthesized byproducts can leak into the environment. This allows the nearby bacteria to evolve cooperative behaviors, such as using the byproducts as nutrients. Cooperation in bacterial communities has also… Read More