Medical scientists know this about glioblastoma multiforme: the malignant brain tumor is aggressive, it is elusive, and it appears in different permutations.

Vanderbilt University researchers have identified a new gene that can influence a person's risk for developing epilepsy. The findings, reported in the March 29 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could improve molecular diagnostic tools and point to novel therapeutic targets for epilepsy.

In the largest study of its kind, researchers from a consortium of 44 universities and research institutions in the United States, including Rush University Medical Center, identified four new genes linked to Alzheimer's disease.