Quantum Potential

In this episode of Quantum Potential, Craig Lindsley, William K. Warren, Jr. Professor of Medicine, University Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacology and executive director of the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, joins Provost C. Cybele Raver to discuss transformative research exploring how subtle tweaks to brain chemistry could change the way we treat neurodegenerative diseases and chronic pain. Read More

Josh Clinton, Abby and Jon Winkelried Chair and professor of political science, and co-director of the Vanderbilt Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, joins Provost C. Cybele Raver to discuss how transparency and increasing public literacy about statistics—including an awareness of limitations—can disrupt Americans’ mounting distrust in polling data. Read More

In this live performance turned Quantum Potential episode, Provost C. Cybele Raver hosts an extraordinary musical collaboration between Ji Hye Jung, associate professor of percussion at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music, and the multi–Grammy Award–winning Attacca Quartet—Amy Schroeder and Domenic Salerni (violins), Nathan Schram (viola), and Andrew Yee (cello). The result? A rich exploration of what it means to be a classical musician in the 21st century. Read More

See how historian Jane Landers and her team are rescuing enslaved Africans’ stories from oblivion and honoring thousands of lives. Read More

Mariam Adam puts a priority in her work on innovative musical collaborations that benefit her students while building a legacy to be discovered by future generations. The assistant professor of clarinet is a fierce advocate for music education who has performed with such greats as Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock. Read More

Bennett Landman who holds a Stevenson Chair, has more than 2,000 collaborations globally that look at all sorts of different diseases, from the head down to the shins. But the heart of his work remains medicine and the promise of a world where AI-driven imaging leads to earlier diagnoses and better patient outcomes. Read More

In this episode of Quantum Potential, Felipe Barrera-Osorio joins Provost C. Cybele Raver to discuss his groundbreaking research—comparing the impact of need-based versus merit-based micro-scholarship programs in rural, low-income communities in Cambodia, Colombia and Mexico. He explains how these programs were so successful that national governments around the world expanded investments in education. Read More

Read the stories of what motivates members of Vanderbilt's faculty to pursue excellence as researchers, professors, experts and innovators. Read More

Stephanie Wankowicz, Assistant Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and Principal Investigator at the Wankowicz Lab (Submitted photo) When proteins are on the move, the way they wiggle, jiggle and form shapes within a cell informs the jobs they perform. From simple interactions, to making chemical reactions happen, to helping… Read More

As Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Physics and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Julia Velkovska studies the tiny particles that form our universe. She focuses on how nuclear matter behaves when confronted with extreme density and temperatures (think trillions of degrees)—similar to the conditions existing microseconds after the big bang, right as the universe was starting to take shape. Just this year, Velkovska and her team of physicists were awarded the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, along with 13,508 colleagues across four landmark CERN experiments. The prize honors decades of work expanding our understanding of the physical universe. Read More

Dean Pamela Jeffries of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing does research around innovative instruction using technology and simulations that give student nurses a way to begin learning how to make clinical decisions without putting patients at risk. Read More

Charles G. Finney Professor of Homiletics and Liturgics Eunjoo Kim does research that focuses on new perspectives and methods of preaching and worship that are relevant to changing cultural contexts. Read More

Learn about the women who inspire Steven Townsend in his breakthrough research that puts a spotlight on women, their health and discoveries around the healing powers of breast milk. Read More

What does the way we learn have to do with drug addiction? In our fourth episode, Erin Calipari, associate professor of pharmacology and director of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, joins Provost C. Cybele Raver for an enlightening conversation. In this episode, they discuss nucleus accumbens—the part of our brain that helps us link cues and outcomes—and dissect how it affects the ways we make decisions that can lead to addictions, from food or drugs to behaviors. Read More

Learn about the inspiration that drives biomedical engineer Audrey Bowden in her work using light towards breakthroughs in medical issues from cancers to jaundice to ADHD. Read More

In this thought-provoking fourth episode of Quantum Potential, Vanderbilt University Provost C. Cybele Raver hosts renowned developmental psychologist David Yeager, professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, co-founder of the Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute, and author of 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People, for a closer look at how older adults can connect with and empower the next generation. Read More

In the third episode of the Quantum Potential podcast, Provost C. Cybele Raver welcomes chemist Brian Bachmann, who is the principal investigator for the Vanderbilt Laboratory for Biosynthetic Studies. Read More

Learn about the path that brought dynamic engineering duo Dan Work and Jonathan Sprinkle together and how they're using AI to prevent traffic jams and make highways safer. Read More

Major Jackson, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities, has been awarded the inaugural Patricia Cannon Willis Prize for American Poetry by Yale Library. Jackson was recognized for his acclaimed collection Razzle Dazzle: New and Selected Poems 2002–2022, published by W.W. Norton in 2023.   Read More

See how art collector turned immunologist James Crowe combines abstract thinking with game-changing technology to prevent infectious disease. Read More