About the EBC

The Epithelial Biology Center (EBC), founded in 2009, currently has 40 members from multiple departments within Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt University. The mission of the EBC is to better understand and more effectively treat acute and chronic diseases of epithelial origin with a special emphasis on cancer. It brings together investigators from diverse disciplines to address complex issues in epithelial physiology and pathophysiology. Areas of investigation include establishment and maintenance of epithelial polarity, vesicle trafficking, epithelial defense against pathogens, identification and manipulation of selected adult stem cell populations, the process of metaplasia, and isolation and characterization of extracellular vesicles and nanoparticles. There is a biennial symposium that alternates with a highly popular epithelial pathobiology course. A goal of the EBC is to advance new technologies, including single cell RNA-sequencing and multiplex immunofluorescence. The EBC hosts the Digital Histology Shared Resource.