Research

Beckman Scholar Charu Balamurugan, an undergraduate researcher in the Rokas lab at Vanderbilt University, has shed light on the intricate evolutionary patterns governing secondary metabolite biosynthesis in fungi. Balamurugan delved deep into the genom... Read More

According to the 2024 Vanderbilt Poll–Nashville, a majority (53 percent) of Nashvillians believe the city is on the right track, which represents a nine-point increase from last year. It is the first time in four years the measure has increased. Read More

The highly selective Beckman Scholars Program is celebrating 15 years of partnership with the College of Arts and Science. Over the years, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation has provided more than $543,000 in support of 23 undergraduate Beckman Scholars at Vanderbilt who engage in unique, hands-on,… Read More

Vanderbilt University has been awarded a prize from the National Institutes of Health for its creation of the LGBTQ+ Policy Lab, which advances a culture of inclusion for sexual and gender minority individuals through interdisciplinary research and col... Read More

John A. McLean, Stevenson Professor of Chemistry and dean of graduate education and research in the College of Arts and Science, has been named the winner of this year’s Charles H. Herty Medal by the Georgia Section of the American Chemical Society. The award… Read More

Two leading scholars in the College of Arts and Science Department of Psychology were recognized by the Vision Sciences Society, the leading international society for vision science research. Randolph Blake, Centennial Professor of Psychology, won the 2024 Ken Nakayama Medal for Excellence in Vision Science Award for… Read More

Brandt Eichman and Walter Chazin, professors of biochemistry, have worked together to provide a better understanding of how exactly DNA replication is initiated in eukaryotes. Using Vanderbilt’s state-of-the-art instrumentation in the Center for Struct... Read More

Kyle David, an NSF postdoctoral fellow in the Rokas lab, and co-authors published a new paper, “Saccharomycotina yeasts defy longstanding macroecological patterns” in the high-impact journal PNAS. This paper, which looks at the ecology of 186 species o... Read More

Kyle David, an NSF postdoctoral fellow in the Rokas lab, and co-authors published a new paper, 'Saccharomycotina yeasts defy longstanding macroecological patterns' in the high-impact journal PNAS. This paper, which looks at the ecology of 186 species o... Read More

Jenny Davis, professor of sociology in the College of Arts and Science, and Pamela Wisniewski, associate professor in human-computer interaction and Flowers Faculty Fellow in the School of Engineering, join 22 other distinguished scholars from a wide a... Read More

  As a child, Shaniya Jarrett was fascinated by space and science fiction, but didn’t believe that pursuing the big scientific questions of the universe was a viable career option. Now a second-year astrophysics graduate student in the Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program, Shaniya is creating opportunities for young women… Read More

A new Vanderbilt University study challenges traditional views on childhood, emphasizing the role of cultural, social and historical factors in shaping policies on children’s health and well-being. Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in collab... Read More

Credit: Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation/Kaerie Ray 2022 Beckman Scholar Sarah Hourihan. Photo credit: Wesley Dong College of Arts and Science senior Sarah Hourihan is eagerly awaiting journal publication of a first-author manuscript featuring results of research on the dark-eyed junco songbird completed as a Beckman Foundation… Read More

The Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Center for the American Presidency has launched, with the goal of exploring the presidency through an innovative, comprehensive lens. Housed within the College of Arts and Science, the center will serve as a nationally recognized hub for innovative scholarship about… Read More

Julie Gamble, assistant professor of gender and sexuality studies, shares her experience biking through Quito, Ecuador with a women’s cyclist group to understand first-hand how urban mobility and infrastructure can help reduce gender inequality. Read More

Steven Wernke, associate professor and chair of anthropology, has developed GeoPACHA (Geospatial Platform for Andean Culture, History and Archaeology), a web application that allows researchers to map archaeological sites in the Andes at a greater scale than ever before. GeoPACHA has enabled new discoveries about past human… Read More

Adapted from article written by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office 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… Read More

Patrick Trent Greiner, assistant professor of sociology and C. Family Dean’s Faculty Fellow in Grand Challenges: Climate and Society, studies the intersection of environmental justice and sustainability. He investigates how public policy has created social inequality in the past, increasing environmental risk to marginalized… Read More

Lars Plate, assistant professor of chemistry and biological sciences, has received a $2.76 million collaborative grant to investigate medical therapy for people with cystic fibrosis. The interdisciplinary project brings together teams with varied expertise in computational structural biology, proteomics, biophysics, and physiology in hopes of improving the quality of life… Read More

A fresh political news site has just launched with John Sides, William R. Kenan Jr. Chair and professor in political science, at its helm. Goodauthority.org draws on the expertise of leading political scientists to provide the public with evidence-based, non-partisan information about the most… Read More