Vanderbilt University

===Research===
According to the [[National Science Foundation]], Vanderbilt spent $1 billion on research and development in 2021, ranking it 24th among American universities.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rankings by total R&D expenditures |url=https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingBySource&ds=herd |access-date=May 16, 2023 |website=ncsesdata.nsf.gov |publisher=[[National Science Foundation]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Zalaznick |first=Matt |date=2023-01-06 |title=Billion-dollar business: These are higher ed's top 30 R&D performers |url=https://universitybusiness.com/r-d-research-and-development-billion-dollar-top-30-college-university-higher-ed-spenders/ |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=University Business |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2013, Vanderbilt University was ranked 12th in the country in funding from the National Institutes of Health.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 31, 2022 |title=Vanderbilt ranks 12th in annual survey of NIH funding; 2021 awards topped $445M |url=https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2022/03/31/vanderbilt-ranks-12th-in-annual-survey-of-nih-funding-2021-awards-topped-445m/ |access-date=May 16, 2023 |publisher=Vanderbilt University}}</ref> Its [[Institute for Space and Defense Electronics]], housed in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, includes the largest academic facility in the world involved in radiation-effects research.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ieee-npss.org/distinguished-lecturers/ron-schrimpf-ph-d/|title=Nuclear & Plasma Sciences Society|access-date=August 3, 2015}}</ref>

[[File:The Wond'ry.png|thumb|right|The Wond'ry is Vanderbilt's Center for Innovation and Design]]
[[File:Olin Hall.png|thumb|right|Olin Hall, adjacent to The Wond'ry]]

Among its more unusual activities, the university has institutes devoted to the study of coffee and of [[contract bridge|bridge]].<ref name="bridge">{{cite web|url=http://www.vanderbilt.edu/bridge/hsvanderbilt.htm|title=Harold Stirling Vanderbilt|access-date=August 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306192906/http://www.vanderbilt.edu/bridge/hsvanderbilt.htm|archive-date=March 6, 2016}}</ref> Indeed, the modern form of the latter was developed by [[Harold Stirling Vanderbilt]], a former president of the university's Board of Trust and a great-grandson of the Commodore.<ref name="bridge" /> In addition, in mid-2004 it was announced that Vanderbilt's [[chemical biology]] research may have serendipitously opened the door to the breeding of a [[blue rose]], something that has long been coveted by [[horticulture|horticulturalists]] and rose lovers.<ref>{{cite news |last=Harrison |first=David |title=A true scientific breakthrough: the blue rose |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/3340712/A-true-scientific-breakthrough-the-blue-rose.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/3340712/A-true-scientific-breakthrough-the-blue-rose.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |date=May 23, 2004 |access-date=June 30, 2011 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 2010, the Center for Intelligent Mechatronics at Vanderbilt began testing a [[powered exoskeleton]] intended to assist [[paraplegic]]s, [[stroke]] victims and other paralyzed or semi-paralyzed people to walk independently.<ref name=Vanderbilt2>{{cite web|url=http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2012/10/exoskeleton/|title=Advanced exoskeleton promises more independence for people with paraplegia|publisher=Vanderbilt University|date=October 30, 2012|access-date=November 29, 2012}}</ref> The [[Vanderbilt exoskeleton]] received funding from [[Parker Hannifin Corporation]] in 2012 and has since gone to market internationally.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.popsci.com/indego-exoskeleton-gets-fda-approval/|title=Lightweight Robotic Exoskeleton Approved By FDA|website=Popular Science|date=March 12, 2016}}</ref>

Vanderbilt is a discovering institution of [[Tennessine]], [[atomic number]] 117 on the [[periodic table of elements]] with the [[Symbol (chemistry)|symbol]] '''Ts''', collaborating with the [[Joint Institute for Nuclear Research]] in [[Moscow Oblast]], Russia and the [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]].<ref>{{Cite web|publisher=U.S. DOE Office of Science|title=Nations Work Together to Discover New Element|url=http://science.energy.gov/news/featured-articles/2011/127004/|website=[[U.S. Department of Energy]]|year=2011|access-date=2020-01-05}}</ref> It was officially named after the state of [[Tennessee]] by the [[International Union of Pure and Applied Physics]] in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 8, 2016 |url=https://apnews.com/bd44f5cccba04d4fbaec96273e06fb45|title=Periodic table elements named for Moscow, Japan, Tennessee|work=Associated Press News}}</ref>

The university's research record is blemished, however, by a study university researchers, in conjunction with the Tennessee Department of Health, conducted on [[iron]] [[metabolism]] during [[pregnancy]] in the 1940s.<ref>{{cite news |title=$10 Million Settlement In Radiation Suit |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 29, 1998 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9801EEDD1138F93AA15756C0A96E958260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fOrganizations%2fV%2fVanderbilt%20University |access-date=September 20, 2007}}</ref> Between 1945 and 1949, over 800 pregnant women were given [[radioactive]] iron. Standards of [[informed consent]] for research subjects were not rigorously enforced at that time,{{efn|See article on the [[Declaration of Helsinki]].}} and many of the women were not informed of the potential risks. The injections were later suspected to have caused cancer in at least three of the children who were born to these mothers.<ref>{{cite news |last=Schneider |first=Keith |title=Scientists Share in Pain Of Experiment Debates |work=The New York Times |date=March 2, 1994 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903E0D8153AF931A35750C0A962958260&sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=1
|access-date=July 5, 2007}}</ref> In 1998, the university settled a [[class action]] lawsuit with the mothers and surviving children for $10.3 million.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=[[Lieff Cabraser]] |title=Vanderbilt University Radiation Class Action |date=July 27, 1998 |url=http://www.lieffcabraser.com/Personal-Injury/Accidents-Recalls/Vanderbilt-University-Radiation-Exposure-Class-Action-Lawsuit.shtml |access-date=April 22, 2014  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140405212342/http://www.lieffcabraser.com/Personal-Injury/Accidents-Recalls/Vanderbilt-University-Radiation-Exposure-Class-Action-Lawsuit.shtml |archive-date=April 5, 2014 }}</ref>