Neuroscience

For graduate students and postdoctoral fellows contemplating their next career steps, the possibilities can seem both exciting and overwhelming. The Vanderbilt University Office of Biomedical Research Education and Training’s 2026 Annual Career Symposium offered a roadmap to those possibilities, bringing together alums and professionals from across the biomedical enterprise to demonstrate the breadth of careers available to scientists beyond the traditional academic pathway. Read More

In a groundbreaking study published recently in the journal Nature, researchers at Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Health have created the first growth charts for white matter in the brain over a human lifetime. The work brings together nearly two decades of Vanderbilt research collaborations, the university’s extensive MRI data collections, and an advanced AI-enabled computing platform. Read More

Researchers at the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, a clinical stage biotech within the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences, have detailed the successful drug discovery of a Phase I Single Ascending Dose clinical trial of VU319, a drug for memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. Read More

Researchers from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences have uncovered the first example of activity-dependent development of hypothalamic neural circuitry. Read More

Erin Calipari, director of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research and associate professor of pharmacology and molecular physiology and biophysics, has been recognized with the Society for Neuroscience’s 2024 Jacob P. Waletzky award. Read More

Randolph Blake, Centennial Professor of Psychology, won the 2024 Ken Nakayama Medal for Excellence in Vision Science Award for lasting, high-impact contributions to vision science. Isabel Gauthier, David K. Wilson Professor of Psychology, won the 2024 Davida Teller Award for exceptional scientific achievements, commitment to equity, and a strong history of mentoring. Read More

An $8.9 million grant from the NIH will establish the Vanderbilt AUD Research and Education Center, enhancing Vanderbilt University’s national leadership in neuroscience and addiction research. This initiative aims to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, advance understanding and treatment of alcohol use disorder, and engage the public through education and outreach efforts. Read More

Throughout the brain’s cortex, neurons are arranged in six distinctive layers, which can be readily seen with a microscope. André Bastos, assistant professor of psychology, is senior author on a study published in Nature Neuroscience detailing that these layers also show distinct patterns of electrical activity, which are consistent over many brain regions and across several animal species, including humans. Read More

Erin Calipari works to understand how drugs like opioids and cocaine alter learning circuits and neurochemistry in one of the country's epicenters of substance use disorder and addiction. Read More

Researchers in the labs of Laurie Cutting and Bennett Landman recently published a study in Magnetic Resonance Imaging exploring a new tool for imaging the brains of neurofibromatosis type 1 patients and its significance in assessing their symptoms.  Read More