Vanderbilt University Medical Center Facilities and Resources
Vanderbilt University (VU):
VU is a privately supported, independent, internationally recognized research university located on a 305-acre campus near downtown Nashville, TN, with strong partnerships among its 10 schools, neighboring institutions and the community. There are 12,592 students and 4,716 full-time faculty in the 10 schools, among which are: Divinity School, Peabody College of Education, School of Medicine, and School of Nursing. The computer and infrastructure resources at Vanderbilt are complex enough to support the various missions, including advanced research applications.
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing (VUSN)
https://nursing.vanderbilt.edu
The School of Nursing, which opened in 1909 as the Vanderbilt Hospital Training School for Nurses, is committed to research and practice efforts among faculty and staff. The School offers the Master of Science in Nursing, Doctorate of Nursing Practice, and PhD in Nursing Science degree options (the last through the VU Graduate School).
VUSN is located between the Jean and Alexander Heard Library and Medical Research Building IV. Godchaux Hall comprises 34,395 square feet with 1 state-of-the-art IP-based video conferencing classroom, 4 research interview rooms with video and audio recording options, 1 research observation room with video and audio recording controls, 4 class/conference rooms, 1 class laboratory, and the Center for Research Development and Scholarship (CRDS).
Center for Research Facilitation and Innovation
The mission of the CRDS at VUSN is to facilitate scholarly activity and thereby promote new knowledge that improves care to the community and the nation while serving as a good steward of research resources. The PI has full access to CRDS resources. Among the available services are: assistance with Institutional Review Board (IRB) applications; brown bags and seminars on topics of interest; circulation of funding opportunities and bulletins about research policy; database development and management; faculty travel associated with research development and presentations; grant preparation and support; instrument development; literature searches; manuscript preparation; paper and poster preparation; peer reviews and critiques; postdoctoral fellowship program; recognition of scholarly achievements; research assistants; research supply purchase and procurement; and statistical consultation.
Four overlapping work teams (pre-award grant and post-award grant management, research support, scholarship support and CRDS administration) meet the needs of the users of these services. The research support areas of the CRDS include offices, conference space, and computer facilities. Access to the CRDS computer laboratory for research assistants to enter study data is offered. Led by Dr. Mariann Piano, Senior Associate Dean for Research, the CRDS provides PI mentorship, networking with established researchers, and research career development.
Office Space
The PI and Co-Investigators have private offices at their respective departments. The PI’s private office at VUSN is equipped with a telephone with voicemail, desktop computer, printer, internet access, necessary software (e.g. SPSS, EndNote, Nudist), and shared copier and fax machine. The PI has office space allocated to store research data and supplies. The research coordinator and assistant will have available office space equipped with a telephone, desktop computer, internet access, and shared printer. In addition, VUSN will provide the PI access to one large conference room as needed for research meetings.
Computer Resources
Computer resources at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing (VUSN) include wireless Web access. Network connections are password protected and authenticated for use. Encryption is standard for all computers, including laptops. As a result, the PI has full access to all university electronic resources, including the innovative Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library (EBL). All computers are placed on a three year rotation cycle. The PI has been provided a personal desktop computer with internet access and necessary software (e.g., SPSS, EndNote, Nudist). The Frist Nursing Informatics Center (FNIC) provides a full range of software for document, PowerPoint, web casting, and overhead preparation. Instructional software also are available should these be needed. Consultation and trouble-shooting activities include assistance with design and development of instructional strategies, development of specialized interactive computer-based programs, design and maintenance of databases, and design and development of instructional materials. Academic Computing and Information Services (ACIS) maintain Vanderbilt’s computer network resources (e.g., Internet electronic mail, news server, World Wide Web server, anonymous ftp server). ACIS also offers computer software (e.g., BMDP, EQS, IMSL, LIMDEP, LISREL, MINITAB, SAS) and statistical and research support to faculty of the Vanderbilt community. In addition, the EBL provides 54 publicly available computers which are connected to the VUMC network, and 15 wireless laptop computers can be used in the library. Full access to these computer resources will allow the PI to successfully complete the activities of the proposed research.
Behavior Laboratory
The 5
th
floor of Godchaux Hall contains behavioral labs in the rooms 506, 508, and 509. This series of rooms provides a comfortable interview area for study participants with a two-way mirror that allows for observation in a separate audio-visual station with recording controls, located in room 507, for documenting raw research data. Room 506 has a table with chairs and a sink. Rooms 508 and 509 can be one large room or divided with an accordion door and one table with chairs, two sinks, a couch, two sitting chairs, and a small end table are provided. This space has been funded by the National Center for Research Resources for the purpose of research-related activities.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC)
The separate, nonprofit, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, shares a respected name and enjoys close collaboration with the Vanderbilt University through education and research. VUMC is an academic health sciences center that serves as a regional referral center for the state of Tennessee. The VUMC and VUSN hold a long history of significant and successful collaboration and are in close proximity on the Vanderbilt campus. The VUMC campus is located near downtown Nashville, TN, and consists of the 650-bed Vanderbilt University Hospital (VUH), the 350-bed Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, the Psychiatric Hospital at Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital, Nashville Veterans Administration Medical Center, The Vanderbilt Clinic, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Ann and Roscoe R. Robinson Research Building, Preston Research Building, and Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library. The VUMC Office of Life Long Learning delivers programs, conferences, and web-based courses for nurses and other health care professionals leading to continuing education credit. The mission of the program is to provide the highest quality of educational opportunities directed to current topics in practice, education, and research settings. The VUMC is a holder of a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), and the Department of Biostatistics provides for consultation. These clinical resources enable VUSN faculty to carry out the activities in the proposed research.
VU Library Resources
http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu
VU faculty are well served by the libraries of the University, collectively referred to as the Jean and Alexander Heard Library system. The total resources of the University’s libraries exceed 2 million volumes. Collections are housed in the Central, Divinity, Education, Law, Management, and Music. Science and Biomedical libraries.
The Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library (EBL)
The EBL is a modern 78,000 net square feet facility that collects and provides access to materials to support the teaching, research, and service missions of UMC. The EBL’s comprehensive, multidimensional Digital Library offers access to online books, journals, databases and websites, including over 3,725 full-text electronic journal titles. It makes available seminal online texts (e.g. Harrison's Online and Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics) in a wide range of biomedical specialties. Database access includes MEDLINE, CINAHL (nursing and allied health), Ovid Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews, and HaPI (health/psychosocial instruments). Print resources include a collection of over 203,028 volumes. A distinctive collection of rare books, photographs and historical items can be found in the Historical Collections Room. EBL assistance to researchers includes comprehensive literature reviews and IRB development. Other services include circulation of books, management of reserve materials, document delivery to obtain needed material held by other institutions, reference and research services, and guidance in the use of new information technologies. EBL staff work in partnership with researchers to deliver health information to Vanderbilt and to the larger regional community.
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) (Primary recruitment location)
VICC was established in 1993 and is a matrix center within VUMC. It integrates the cancer-related expertise and resources of the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering, and Peabody School of Education, as well as, the fully integrated Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC). The Center earned its initial National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation as a clinical cancer center in 1995, only two years after its creation and joined the elite group of NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in 2001 (only 39 nationwide). Currently, competitive NCI grant funding is more than $66 million per year and total annual cancer research funding, including private sources, tops $135 million. VICC is home to three Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPOREs) in breast, gastrointestinal and lung cancers, a Clinical Proteomic Technology Assessment for Cancer consortium grant, a Minority Institution/Cancer Center Partnership with Meharry Medical College, a Tumor Microenvironment Network grant, the Southern Community Cohort Study, a Mouse Models of Human Cancer Consortium grant and NCI Phase I and Phase II Clinical Trial Agreements. The mission of the VICC is to bring together the best and brightest scientists, clinicians and caregivers to lead the worldwide effort to alleviate suffering from cancer through pioneering research, compassionate care, prevention, outreach, and education. The VICC's specific authorities and responsibilities are: 1) to conduct coordinate and integrate the cancer and cancer-related activities of Vanderbilt University; 2) to conduct, support and enhance cancer research and to integrate cancer-related activities throughout the University; 3) to integrate, develop and conduct cancer education programs; and 4) to coordinate and integrate the care of cancer patients at VUMC and VAMC.
Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research Center
The Clinical/Translational Research Center provides space, hospitalization cost, laboratories, equipment, and supplies for clinical research. The Center also serves as a resource for teaching students and a site for research in the methodology of patient care systems and apprenticeship for young clinical investigators. It is equipped and staffed to care for hospitalized patients, with special examination and procedure rooms available for outpatient studies and for scientific protocols requiring a great deal of equipment. Scientific facilities include an assay development laboratory, a body composition and energy balance laboratory, a bio nutrition unit with metabolic kitchen, energy and nutrient intake assessment capabilities, a locked medicine room, a specimen procedure room, centrifuges, and freezers for temporary sample storage. The Community Engagement Research Core offers assistance to researchers and community partners on all phases of community engaged research including project planning, study design, implementation, data collection, data analysis, translation and dissemination. Consults available on:
- Strategies for identifying and engaging communities in the development and implementation of a research project
- Community needs assessment using existing data sets and planned data collection Research designs best suited for community settings
- Measurement strategies and tools for testing hypotheses in community settings
- Evaluation research methods
- Strategies for tracking individual or systems level changes when applied in community settings
- Monitoring the delivery or fidelity of interventions in community settings
- Navigating administrative obstacles to carrying out research in community settings
Translating and disseminating research findings in community settings
The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) and will provide next-generation support to faculty working to translate fundamental scientific discoveries into clinical practice with innovative training programs, state of the art informatics and biostatistical methods. A few of the services and resources provided as a part of VICTR include:
- Consolidated resources and one-stop shopping supported by dynamic informatics systems through the StarBRITE, (Biomedical Research Integration, Translation and Education) portal -- a shared data infrastructure for human research programs with workflow tracking and checklist support and a unified system for tracking research education, mentoring, conduct, collaboration, utilization and productivity. Researchers and study personnel can identify resources, find experts, obtain regulatory support, access templates for research preparation and study conduct, obtain database development software, learn about educational requirements and opportunities, and more. StarBRITE also provides institutional application and research approval process support.
- REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture), a secure, web-based application designed exclusively to support data capture for research studies. REDCap provides: 1) an intuitive interface for data entry (with data validation); 2) audit trails for tracking data manipulation and export procedures; 3) automated export procedures for seamless data downloads to common statistical packages (SPSS, SAS, Stata, R); and 4) procedures for importing data from external sources.
- Voucher requests (up to $2,000) for generating pilot and preliminary data.
- Direct one-to-one expert consultation and studios to develop research proposals from hypothesis generation to translational impact.
- Access to core services devoted to clinical epidemiology, behavioral research, implementation science research and surveillance epidemiology.
Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt (MCJCHV)
https://www.childrenshospital.vanderbilt.org
The MCJCHV is a component of VUMC. The free-standing Children’s Hospital has 226 patient beds, 850,000 square feet of clinical care space and state-of-the-art informatics, technical support and equipment. There are eight inpatient patient care areas, 22 operating and procedure rooms, a 27-room emergency department and 30,000 square feet of imaging and radiology equipment. Also contained within the Children’s Hospital are 11 floors of outpatient facilities and physician office space for pediatric medical and surgical subspecialties. This includes our 6300 square foot outpatient hematology/oncology clinic with 12 patient rooms and 14 infusion chairs. The pediatric palliative care team currently consists of two attending physicians. In the first year of re-establishing the pediatric palliative care team in 2016, 180 new consults were seen. Of those, 124 were inpatient consults and 56 were outpatient consults. The pediatric palliative care team currently provides 24/7 coverage and works closely with hospital child life specialists and social workers to provide support to the families they serve.
Vanderbilt Diabetes Center
https://labnodes.vanderbilt.edu/drtc
The Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center (DRTC) is a NIH-sponsored Diabetes Center that facilitates the discovery, application, and translation of scientific knowledge to improve the care of patients with diabetes involving more than 120 faculty distributed among 15 departments in 3 schools and 4 colleges at Vanderbilt and neighboring Meharry Medical College. The DRTC’s weekly DRTC Seminar Series brings distinguished scientists to Vanderbilt and its annual Diabetes Day gathers all scientists conducting diabetes-related research at Vanderbilt and Meharry. The diabetes-related research base at Vanderbilt builds on the longstanding, broad-based excellence of basic and clinical research at Vanderbilt and encompasses a wide range of scientific disciplines and specialties related to the physiology of carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism, the pathogenesis and treatment of diabetes, the complications of diabetes, and the translation of new knowledge to the clinic and the community.
Vanderbilt Genetics Institute
The mission of the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute is to promote genomic discovery and advance understanding of the human genome. Application of new discoveries will ultimately translate into improved patient care through better diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of human disease. The Vanderbilt Genetics Institute (VGI) was established in January 2015 to foster scientific interactions at the clinical, molecular, and analytical levels by providing state-of-the-art resources to Vanderbilt scientists involved in genetic and genomic research. In essence, the VGI serves as the hub around which the highest caliber genomic scientists, staff, and trainees coalesce to collaborate, interact, and exchange ideas. The major goals of the VGI are to
- encourage innovative, multi-disciplinary collaborations and enhance current research efforts that either focus on genomic science or would benefit significantly from the addition of a genetic component;
- leverage existing resources and expertise at Vanderbilt to develop a world-class program that continues to attract the highest caliber of faculty, staff, and trainees working in genomic science;
- provide support and infrastructure for implementing emerging technologies and novel discoveries at the cutting edge of genomic science;
- create and sustain a continuous pipeline of investigators by training the next generation of genomic scientists.
The VGI founding Director, Dr. Nancy Cox, was recruited to lead the VGI initiative in early 2015. Dr. Cox is a quantitative human geneticist with a long-standing research program in identifying and characterizing the genetic component of common human diseases. Her current research is focused on large-scale integration of genomics with other “-omics” data, as well as biobank and electronic medical records data. The unparalleled resources at Vanderbilt provide the optimal foundation for advancing this work. Researchers in the VGI are working to decipher the genetic basis of both rare and common human traits by adapting traditional genetics approaches to establish new paradigms for genomic science. These new paradigms will enable widespread application of novel findings to precision medicine and personalized health care. By developing and applying state-of-the-art methods to a large and diverse set of traits implicated in disease – neurological, cardiovascular, ophthalmological, endocrine, and cancer – our efforts to probe the complexities of the human genome will translate into increasingly straightforward medical determinations and clinical decision-making tailored to the individual patient and his/her subset of unique genetic predictors, thus optimizing the effectiveness of disease treatment and prevention. Using genomic information to predict a patient’s response to treatment is the future of therapeutic intervention, and the VGI is uniquely positioned to lead the way.
BioVU
https://victr.vanderbilt.edu/pub/biovu
BioVU is Vanderbilt's biorepository of DNA extracted from discarded blood collected during routine clinical testing and linked to de-identified medical records in the Synthetic Derivative. The goal of BioVU is to provide a resource to Vanderbilt investigators for studies of genotype-phenotype associations. Planning for BioVU began in mid-2004 and the first samples were collected in February 2007. As of mid-2012 BioVU contains 150,000 samples with over 16,000 pediatric samples. Approximately 600-800 BioVU samples are accrued each week. Acceptance of a sample triggers the encryption program to assign a unique research ID number to the sample. The unique research ID is generated by a Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA-512, National Security Administration). SHA-512 generated a unique 128 character (512 bit) code that serves as the unique research ID that links the DNA samples to the de-identified clinical data and resulting genotype data. DNA samples or genotyping data may be requested after a proposal for the study is received, approved by the BioVU Review Committee and a user agreement is signed. BioVU applications, amendments and data use agreements for BioVU and the Synthetic Derivative are tracked through REDCap databases.
Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research
https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/vcar
Alcohol and drug abuse are major public health issues. Here in middle Tennessee and throughout the US, addiction devastates public health in many different ways, ranging from the immediate toll it takes on the lives of individuals and families through overdoses, loss of jobs and ways of life to more delayed impacts on health through increased cancer rates, cardiovascular issues, etc. These impacts on the addicted individual, family and friends then spiral out into the larger community through driving while impaired incidents, transmission of communicable diseases, and domestic and sexual violence amongst other things. We in the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research (VCAR) think that to effectively curb this problem, we must gain a better understanding of the detailed molecular events that happen inside the brain to drive addictive behavior, and seek to develop treatment strategies based on this empirical knowledge.
Addiction is a uniquely frustrating disease since the problems it produces are brought on by the individual’s intake of a substance or performance of a behavior despite understanding at least some of the negative consequences. Thus the apparent “cure” seems so tantalizingly simple…just stop. For many years research and rehabilitative medicine focused on the initial negative consequences of cessation of intake, withdrawal. Increasingly however, addiction is understood as a long-lasting brain disease that long outlasts acute withdrawal. Relapse driven by learned associations (cue, context) as well as by mental state transitions (stress, anxiety) can occur long after obvious negative consequences of cessation of drug intake have stopped. Thus, intense focus is being placed on neural mechanisms driving drug “craving” sensation and initiation of relapse to intake after extinction. The VCAR is heavily invested in developing an understanding of these mechanisms so that needed novel strategies can be developed to intervene. The VCAR recognizes that progress to reduce the problem of addiction will come from findings gleaned across multiple disciplines, including basic neuroscientists, physiologists, pharmacologists, engineers, psychiatrists and others. The VCAR seeks to have a positive impact on the disease of addiction both locally and globally through research, education and outreach.
Vanderbilt Brain Institute
https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/brain-institute
The Vanderbilt Brain Institute (VBI) was founded in 1999 as a trans institutional entity to oversee and facilitate the extensive neuroscience-related endeavors carried out at Vanderbilt University. As such, the primary missions of the VBI are to promote research, education and training in the brain-related disciplines at Vanderbilt, with the stated goal of fostering excellence in each of these arenas. The scope of research conducted by scientists within the Vanderbilt Brain Institute encompasses nearly all of contemporary neuroscience. The breadth of the research carried out within the VBI is captured in the twelve research themes that represent areas of established and emerging excellence and expertise. These 12 research themes span the spectrum from molecules to mind, and encompass laboratories carrying out basic, translational and clinical research. Although each of the themes in founded in a fundamental process, all have strong clinical emphases in areas that overlap with Vanderbilt's strong focus on neurological and psychiatric illness.
Center for Child Development
https://www.vanderbilt.edu/child-family-center
The Child & Family Care Center is based on the child development model that incorporates the theories of Piaget, Montessori, Erikson, and others. Learning through play is viewed as the cornerstone of the curriculum. Children are free to choose from age-appropriate activities including: art; music; language development; pre-math skills; science and nature; and dramatic play. Children develop self-esteem, independence and problem-solving skills as they make choices and assist in planning the environment and activities. Our primary goal is that children will feel safe and secure. Prior to being independent, children must know that they can depend on adults and that they can depend on having a predictable environment.
Lamb Center for Pediatric Research
www.pediatrics.mc.vanderbilt.edu
The Lamb Center for Pediatric Research is an interdisciplinary research unit combining interests in infectious diseases, microbiology, and immunology. The Center, established in 1990 through the generous support of Mr. and Mrs. George C. Lamb, Jr., is dedicated to basic research in the molecular pathogenesis of pediatric infectious diseases. Lamb Center investigators study how viruses target distinct tissues in the infected host, enter into host cells, reprogram the cellular environment to allow viral replication, and antagonize host defense mechanisms to cause disease. A current thrust of Lamb Center efforts is to use model viruses as platforms to develop new viral vaccines and virus-based therapeutics. See below to learn more about our investigators.
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Institutional Shared Resources and Core Facilities
www.vumc.org/oor/research-cores-and-other-shared-resources
VUMC Biostatistics Collaboration Center
Provides, enhances, and/or facilitates statistical collaborations involving the design, conduct, analysis or publication of biomedical research at the university. The BCC is comprised of biostatisticians and computer systems analysts from the Department of Biostatistics who are available to work with faculty on a variety of projects. They offer a wide range of highly trained experts with unique expertise for almost any collaboration. The BCC has considerable expertise in the design, conduct, and analysis of large scale clinical trials and research design for basic biomedical research. Varying levels of expertise are also available for consultation, from bachelors and master’s level trained biostatisticians and computer systems analysts to full professors.
VUMC BioVU DNA Databank
Provides enabling resource for exploration of the relationships among genetic variation, disease susceptibility, and variable drug responses, and represents a key first step in moving the emerging sciences of genomics and pharmacogenomics from research tools to clinical practice. A major goal of the resource is to generate datasets that incorporate de-identified information derived from medical records and genotype information to identify factors that affect disease susceptibility, disease progression, and/or drug response.
VUMC Clinical Research Center (CRC)
The purpose of the Vanderbilt Clinical Research Center is to provide the resources needed by clinical and translational investigators to carry out their research in an environment optimized for safety, comfort and convenience of the patient or volunteer, with the facilities and expertise to provide the most advantageous milieu in which to address the investigator's experimental requirements. This includes outpatient space, inpatient beds, laboratories, equipment and supplies for clinical research by the faculty of Vanderbilt University, Meharry Medical College, and their collaborating investigators. In the process of achieving its primary objective, the Clinical Research Center can also serve as a resource for teaching medical, graduate, and other multidisciplinary students, a site for research on the methodology of patient care systems, and a unique environment for the apprenticeship of young clinical investigators. The center is a component of the Vanderbilt Institute of Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) organized under a Clinical and Translational Award (CTSA) made in 2007 by the National Center for Research Resources and the National Institute of Health.
VUMC Hormone Assay and Analytical Services Core
Assists investigators in the measurement of amino acid profiles and hormones in biologic fluids as related to diabetes and endocrine and metabolic research. The core provides space, equipment, and personnel for sample analysis and method development.
