Author: Chris Amelung

John Lasala and Ralph Damiano Jr. work together on the first surgery in the PARTNER trial. A 78-year-old St. Louis woman was the first patient in this region to receive an experimental device to replace her defective aortic valve without opening the chest wall or using a heart-lung machine. This procedure was performed by Washington University heart specialists at Barnes-Jewish Hospital on Jan. 15.

*T. gondii* imaged just after reproduction inside a host cell. (Photo by Wandy Beatty.)One of the most common human parasites, Toxoplasma gondii, uses a hormone lifted from the plant world to decide when to increase its numbers and when to remain dormant, researchers at the School of Medicine have found. The scientists report this week in Nature that they successfully blocked production of the molecule, known as abscisic acid (ABA), with a plant herbicide. Low doses of the herbicide prevented fatal T. gondii infection in mice.

The University Bear Cub Fund is soliciting grant applications from University researchers who want to move inventions from their laboratories toward commercialization. After a two-year gap in funding, the University has re-established the Bear Cub Fund grant program through the Office of Technology Management (OTM). The fund supports innovative translational research not normally backed by federal grants. Any Washington University faculty member, post-doctoral fellow, graduate student or employee may apply.

A machine developed at Washington University to reveal the inner workings of brains and hearts is emerging as a premier tool for tracking cervical cancer. The device, called a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, is similar to MRI scanners but uses radioactivity instead of X-rays to create images of blood flowing through organs, brain activity and other processes.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have shown that a controversial phenomenon known as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of infection is suppressed by C1q, a blood-borne, immune system compound. Better understanding of ADE should help public health experts and clinicians working to control some viral disease outbreaks and aid efforts to design safe and effective vaccines.

When the alert goes out that a virus has invaded the body, cells that have yet to be attacked prepare by “armoring” themselves for combat, attaching specific antiviral molecules to many of their own proteins to help resist the invader. Scientists believe adding these molecules to cellular proteins, like putting on armor, changes the proteins in ways that make the cells resistant to the coming viral attack.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Protein increases average lifespan (week of Dec. 5) • Alcohol’s link to sex partners (week of Dec. 12) • Tantrum season (week of Dec. 19) • Antidepressants for Parkinson’s (week of Dec. 26)

As the holidays approach, toy store shelves are stocked with toys that make noise. While toys with sound may be appealing to children, William Clark, Ph.D., director of audiology and communication sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, cautions parents to be careful in choosing such toys.

The Washington University School of Medicine Arts Commission will open the annual student, faculty and staff art show on January 17th, 2008, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., in the first floor atrium of the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center (FLTC). The show will run through February 15th.

In most hospital emergency rooms, patients with head injuries typically receive computed tomography (CT) scans to assess the damage. But brain injuries that lead to concussions rarely show up as abnormalities on such scans. So Washington University physicians at Barnes Hospital’s Charles F. Knight Emergency and Trauma Center have decided to go one step further. They are the only doctors in the St. Louis area who give a simple neurocognitive test to head injury patients to quickly identify concussions.