Congrats to grad student Shannon Martello for receiving the Provost Pathbreaking Discovery Award!

Only a few months late...highlighting our awesome undergrads who presented their work at the Fall 2025 BME and ChBE research symposia!

Radiation-induced autophagy regulates fibroblast mitochondrial metabolism and crosstalk with triple-negative breast cancer cells Although radioresistant and circulating tumor cell survival has been attributed to altered metabolism, the metabolic impact of radiation therapy on stromal cells is unknown. Corn et al. demonstrate ra...

So happy to share that Dr. Kevin Corn's paper has been published in Cell Reports! www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Spotlight Publication: “Proteomics in Practice: A Case Study Highlighting Tandem Mass Tag-Based MS for Quantitative Profiling of Extracellular Vesicles and Application to Irradiated Fibroblasts” publi... Congratulations to Greg Berumen Sánchez! Greg’s article “Proteomics in Practice: A Case Study Highlighting Tandem Mass Tag-Based MS for Quantitative Profiling of Extracellular Vesicles and Appli...

Here is a great spotlight of our work! www.vanderbilt.edu/vinse/2026/0...

Proteomics in Practice: A Case Study Highlighting Tandem Mass Tag‐Based MS for Quantitative Profiling of Extracellular Vesicles and Application to Irradiated Fibroblasts Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are critical mediators of intercellular communication, and valuable sources of biomarkers for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. However, the complexity and heterog...

Excited to highlight our published paper in Proteomics! Grad student Greg Berumen Sanchez showcased the importance of carefully selecting isolation protocols and quantitative methodologies for robust extracellular vesicle proteomics: analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Congratulations to Dr. Greg Berumen Sanchez for successfully defending his PhD! We are proud of his accomplishments!

Lab costume contest with Kim Possible, pirate, popeye, a coach, a narwhal, and Pennywise

Happy Halloween!

Knowledge is Worth Your Time Folks who hang out on Bluesky/Twitter may have caught bits and pieces of the discussions amongst academics about what to do about today's university students...

NEW WRITING:

It's aimed at students, with some specific examples for astro/physics folks, but I think other people may find it useful too. 🔭⚛️🧪

"Knowledge is worth your time because of how it shapes your mind. And the authoritarians may take many things from us, but they cannot take our minds."

#nih #vinse #vinsevandy #vinse | Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (VINSE) Shannon Martello, a graduate student in Dr. Marjan Rafat’s lab, has been awarded an #NIH F31 predoctoral fellowship, a prestigious award designed to support promising doctoral candidates in biomedical...

We are so proud of grad student Shannon Martello who has just been awarded an NIH/NCI F31 fellowship!
www.linkedin.com/posts/vinse_...

We just concluded another successful summer of undergraduate research! #SMART #REU #VUSRP

Dr. Kevin Corn presenting his acknowledgments slide at the end of this defense presentation

The Rafat Lab members pose

The Rafat Lab members pose with double peace signs

Cake that says Congratulations Dr. Corn!

Another momentous occasion for our lab: Congratulations, Dr. Kevin Corn! Kevin successfully defended his impressive thesis today. We are amazed by his persistence, initiative, creativity, and dedication!

Grad student Shannon Martello excitedly presenting her poster

Grad student Shannon Martello giving a flash talk about her poster

Dr. Rafat and grad student Shannon Martello at the Jordan Hotel at Sunday River

Maine lobster dinner

Only a little late: grad student Shannon Martello and Dr. Rafat thoroughly enjoyed being immersed in cutting-edge research at the Mammary Gland Biology Gordon Research Conference!

We have a lot to celebrate!

Congrats to Dr. Tian Zhu and Dr. Logan Northcutt! We are proud of your accomplishments!

Not pictured: graduating seniors Abtin Ghelmansaraei, Kara Simmons, and Tatiana Eason who all did amazing work in the lab. Congrats to all!!

Preston Crase (Biochem '25!) defended his honors thesis and is heading to Yale for a clinical research position in the Knauert Laboratory! Congrats to all!

Holden Korbey (MCB '25!) showcased his work in poster and oral presentations--he will be missed as he moves on to a Research Assistant position in the Wainger Lab at MGH!

Long overdue post: Bridget Stevenson (BME) and Kirsten Stubenrauch (ChBE) presented awesome work at their respective undergraduate poster sessions

Not pictured: triple berry pie made by McKenzie and Ava!

A strawberry lemon pie and purple sweet potato pie cool on the kitchen counter

Happy pi day!

Body composition as a potential biomarker of recurrence risk in patients with triple-negative breast cancer - Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Background Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients are at increased risk for recurrence compared to other subtypes of breast cancer. Previous evidence showed that adiposity may contribute to wor...

Excited to share our new publication: Body composition as a potential biomarker of recurrence risk in patients with triple-negative breast cancer
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Congratulations to Dr. Tian Zhu for successfully defending her PhD thesis! Her hard work and dedication have paid off, and we are proud of her accomplishments!

Grad student standing in front of their qualifying exam proposal title slide, smiling because they passed

Congrats to our newest PhD candidate, McKenzie Mayeaux!

Ultrasound imaging of breast cancer tumors offers non-invasive monitoring of radiation and immunotherapy response effectiveness In the ongoing battle against triple negative breast cancer, Vanderbilt researchers have uncovered a promising non-invasive method to track how tumors respond to radiation and immunotherapy, which use...

See the profile of grad student Shannon Martello's Theranostics paper! This work was done w/ @cfcaskey.bsky.social 's lab!
Ultrasound imaging of breast cancer tumors offers non-invasive monitoring of radiation and immunotherapy response effectiveness
engineering.vanderbilt.edu/2025/01/28/u...

In aggressive form of breast cancer, response to therapy may contribute to tumor regrowth, according to Vanderbilt-led study A recent study by a team of researchers at Vanderbilt University found that response to radiation therapy for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC)—one of the most aggressive forms of the disease—may c...

Check out the profile of grad student Tian Zhu's Biomaterials paper!
In aggressive form of breast cancer, response to therapy may contribute to tumor regrowth, according to Vanderbilt-led study engineering.vanderbilt.edu/2024/11/14/i...

2024 NanoDay! Poster Award Winners Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 VINSE NanoDay! Poster Competition! The 24th annual Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Forum Welcomed over 250 registered participants, representing 24 departme...

Congrats to all the winners of the 2024 VINSE NanoDay! Poster competition, including Rafat Lab graduate student Shannon Martello who won 1st place! bit.ly/49oTqve

Our first time poster presenters did a wonderful job at the BME and ChBE undergraduate research symposia!

In case some mentors may want to read this. #Nature #PhD #scisky #student #mentor

Source:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Among the Cancer-related Starter Packs currently available, I didn’t find one on Tumor Microenvironment.

Here, the list of who I found until now… If you want to be added, please reply below!
go.bsky.app/CtQMJyW

Happy labsgiving from our lab to yours!