Author: Chris Amelung

Camp HOPE lives up to its name. The three-day camp, part of a larger outreach called Project ARK, gives HIV-positive children a chance to swim, ride horses and simply have fun. Kim Donica, director of Project ARK and research administrator for pediatric infectious disease, discusses the project in the following interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Neurotransmitter linked to cancer (week of Aug. 3) • ATV safety (week of Aug. 10) • Biomechanics of men and women (week of Aug. 17) • College can add pounds (week of Aug. 24) • Chimp genome sequenced (week of Aug. 31)

How exactly does the human brain react to a fall or an automobile accident? Researchers at Washington University are working to answer that question through a new computer model based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Learn more in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.

New hope for Marfan Syndrome patients has sprung from a mouse model of the genetic disorder. Alan Braverman, WUSM professor of medicine and director of the Barnes-Jewish Marfan Clinic, tells the Suburban Journals about the great promise of understanding and treatment the mouse model holds.

WrightWashington University and the St. Louis Cardinals have appointed Rick W. Wright, M.D., as the new head team physician. Wright, who has been an assistant team physician with the Cardinals since l998 and covers many of the team’s home games, replaces George A. Paletta Jr., M.D.

A baby’s first relationship is the most important.A child’s first relationship can begin in the womb as a parent reads or talks to the unborn baby. An infant’s first relationship is the most important because it begins the foundation for all future relationships, says School of Medicine child psychiatrist John Constantino.

Living inside each human intestinal tract are more microbes than there are human cells in the rest of the body. A poor relationship between these single-celled organisms and the intestines in which they reside could be the cause of irritable bowel syndrome, say School of Medicine researchers.

Hydration is crucial during summer activities.The number of heat-related illnesses is rising as fast as the thermometer. Dehydration is the key component in most cases of sun-induced sickness. Barnes-Jewish Hospital and School of Medicine physicians Mark Levine and Matthew Matava discuss the symptoms and means for prevention in the following St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.

With the heat of summer upon us, kids everywhere are flocking to the pool. With that in mind, Kim Quayle, St. Louis Children’s Hospital emergency physician and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine, provides a list of water safety tips in the following St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.

An experimental device implanted into a Missouri man’s chest hopes to do what maximum doses of four medications can’t — lower his blood pressure. The electrical implant was activated at Barnes-Jewish Dialysis Center July 11. Marcos Rothstein, center director and associate professor of medicine, comments about the procedure in the following St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.