Latest IMPH Community News

Study to explore how COVID affects cognition over time

The Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship Center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center is following patients who have been hospitalized for COVID-19 over time to see if they develop long-term cognitive impairment, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These disabling features suffered by millions of ICU survivors are called Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS).

Health, well-being and food security of families deteriorating under COVID-19 stress

The ongoing disruptive changes from efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 are having a substantial negative impact on the physical and mental well-being of parents and their children across the country, according to a new national survey published today in Pediatrics.

Investigational glaucoma drug studied to prevent respiratory distress in COVID-19 patients

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is evaluating razuprotafib, a drug being investigated for the treatment of glaucoma, in a new randomized, investigational trial for the prevention and treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in adult patients with moderate to severe COVID-19. “We urgently need to find effective treatments for COVID-19, especially for patients who develop severe lung injury from the virus,” said co-principal investigator Wesley Self, MD, an emergency medicine physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

What does health care look like after COVID-19 pandemic?

In a new perspective piece published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Assistant Professor of Health Policy Sayeh Nikpay, PhD, joins fellow researchers and economists in projecting what health care delivery could look like after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two experts discuss parallels with new COVID-related syndrome.

“It’s important for all of us to be patient and to be thoughtful in thinking about a new illness,” Natasha Halasa, MD, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics at VUMC, said. “As scientists, we need to work together, to collaborate, and to approach these ideas in a multidisciplinary manner.”

VUMC faculty receive grant to expand LGBTQ voices in biomedical research

Center for Biomedical Ethics & Society researchers were awarded a grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes for Health (NIH) to explore LGBTQ+ perspectives on a range of issues related to biomedical research.

Study finds zinc doesn’t reduce mortality, other health risks, for heavy alcohol users living with HIV/AIDS

Zinc supplementation did not reduce mortality, cardiovascular risk, levels of inflammation or microbial translocation among people with heavy alcohol use living with HIV/AIDS, according to a Vanderbilt-led study.