Andrew Flick

By: Danielle Bowden, Evolutionary Studies Administrative Specialist Carl Bergstrom, Professor of Biology at the University of Washington will deliver this year’s J. T. Scopes lecture on March 6th. The lecture is titled “Information foraging in a social media world” and will be hosted by Vanderbilt University’s Evolutionary Studies Initiative. The… Read More

By Sarah Ward, Evolutionary Studies graduate communications assistant Climate change may weaken mosquitoes by speeding up aging and slowing down their immune system. Lindsay Martin and Julián Hillyer A study published January 10, 2024 in PLOS Pathogens by Vanderbilt biology graduate student Lindsay Martin and Centennial Professor of Biological… Read More

By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator On January 17, 2024, the Evolutionary Studies Initiative (ESI) was honored to receive a visit from Chancellor Daniel Diermeier. Chancellor Diermeier’s visit included an introduction to ESI’s mission and the research of select members, an open-ended discussion on investing in… Read More

By: Andy Flick Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator The Zuckerlandl Prize is given to the top paper published in the Journal of Molecular Evolution. The honor of the 2023 Zuckerlandl Prize belongs to a paper by first-author Sarah Worthan, a postdoctoral researcher in the Behringer lab in Biological… Read More

By: Andy Flick Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Neil Shubin, a trailblazing evolutionary biologist known for his groundbreaking research, including the discovery of Tiktaalik, a pivotal transitional fossil, is set to deliver the highly anticipated 2024 Darwin Day Lecture on February 7th. Finding Your Inner Fish: Genes, Embryos, and Fossils… Read More

By: Bryce Emanuel, Evolutionary Studies undergraduate communications assistant Sergei Boudko, a research assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, recently published a paper, Collagen IV of basement membranes: IV. Adaptive mechanism of collagen IV scaffold assembly in Drosophila. Boudko earned his Master’s degree in Applied Physics… Read More

By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Jay Clayton, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of English, first received funding from the National Institutes of Health to study genetics in literature, film and popular culture in 2003. According to the application, this first grant funded, “a working group of scholars… Read More

By: Sarah Ward Evolutionary Studies graduate communications assistant Picture a thriving marine environment. Perhaps you envision a community as colorful and lively as “Finding Nemo,” where massive schools of fish are flanked by sharks and sea turtles. What about sponges? While perhaps less popular than their flamboyant counterparts, these organisms… Read More

In the space below, find our stories about the pilot grants that were awarded in Summer of 2023. We are excited to be able to support work in 11 labs with this funding call! Uropathogenic Bacterial Evolution (Hadjifrangiskou Lab) Jamisha Francis is a new Ph.D. student in the lab… Read More

By: Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Monica Keith, assistant professor of Anthropology, recently published insights into the complex factors contributing to maternal hypertension and health disparities in a paper titled, “Social Determinant Pathways to Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Among Nulliparous U.S. Women” in the journal Women’s Health… Read More