In the News

Memory complaints in younger postmenopausal women are associated with differences in brain structure and may serve as an early marker for risk of future cognitive decline, according to a study published June 22 in Menopause by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers. The study, conducted in collaboration with the University of Vermont, looked at the impact of self-reported memory and attention complaints on brain structure in women ages 50-60 who were in the early years after menopause.

Patricia S. Andrews, M.D., Assistant Professor of Geriatric Psychiatry within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, recently published an article titled "Relationship Between Intensive Care Unit Delirium Severity and 2-Year Mortality and Health Care Utilization" for the American Journal of Critical Care.  Click here to read the article.

Jo Ellen Wilson, M.D., MPH, Instructor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, has published a new paper, titled "The Association Between Brain Volumes and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Intensive Care Unit Survivors: A Preliminary Study," in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.  Wilson is also a Ph.D. candidate in the Epidemiology program with VUMC's Institute for Medicine and Public Health and specializes in psychosomatic medicine.

The Vanderbilt Center of Excellence for Children in State Custody (COE) launched a 12-week series, titled "Roots of Resiliency," in partnership with Tennessee Department of Children's Services in response to a request from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee's office to provide support for families across the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Warren D. Taylor, M.D., MHSc, and Jennifer U. Blackford, Ph.D., professors of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, have written a new publication detailing the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of front-line clinicians.  The manuscript, published in The Annals of Internal Medicine, describes physiological changes that occur with stress that lead to burnout and mental health disorders.  It challenges many providers' reluctance to seek treatment and proposes strategies to maintain mental health.

Jenni Blackford, PhD and Meg Benningfield, MD published a viewpoint in JAMA psychiatry along with Kristy Allen, PhD from University of Tennessee, highlighting the need for a greater emphasis on childhood anxiety in psychiatry research and practice.  Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health conditions among youth and contribute to significant costs for society.  In this piece, Drs.

Researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center are investigating whether participation in a specially designed theatre program can improve so

High levels of stress and anxiety can be debilitating, especially for health care providers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. But there are ways they can protect themselves and their ability to provide the best and most compassionate care.

M.D./Ph.D. student Elizabeth Flook spearheaded a paper published in the journal Addiction Biology. The review paper, titled "Anxiety during abstinence from alcohol: A systematic review of rodent and human evidence for the anterior insula's role in the abstinence network," was a joint collaboration between Jennifer Blackford and Danny Winder's research labs describing the role of the anterior insula in abstinence. 

A Nicholas Hobbs Discovery Grant and a Director’s Strategic Priorities Grant have been awarded to Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC) investigators for 2020-21. The grants aim to further our understanding of the neurocognitive effects of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome and to explore the brain function of comorbid reading comprehension and math problem solving learning disabilities.