Author: Ken Duenke

The University’s — Office of Human Resources has launched a ‘benefits initiative’ called the “Benefits Plan for the Future,” or simply “the Plan’s plan.” “The Plan is a ’80s combination of & benefit changes over a three-year period that will improve the University’s cost-containment position, provide a more flexible and complete benefits program and preserve […]

Breast cancer patients taking the drug Arimidex to prevent recurrence of their disease sometimes suffer from bone, muscle or joint pains. Giving these patients vitamin D supplements can make the pain go away in some cases, according to Washington University physicians who treat cancer patients at the Siteman Cancer Center and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Cervical cancers that take up a lot of blood sugar, or glucose, are more resistant to treatment than those that are less glucose-hungry, according to research at the School of Medicine. The researchers also found that the high glucose-uptake tumors can be identified with PET scans, which are already routinely used to determine tumor size and lymph node involvement in cervical cancer patients.

The University’s — Office of Human Resources has launched a ‘benefits initiative’ called the “Benefits Plan for the Future,” or simply “the Plan’s plan.” “The Plan is a ’80s combination of & benefit changes over a three-year period that will improve the University’s cost-containment position, provide a more flexible and complete benefits program and preserve […]

“Super Size Me” documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who was scheduled to give an Assembly Series presentation on Wednesday, March 29, has cancelled his appearance due to a production schedule change. At this time there is no plan to reschedule his appearance. The next Assembly Series lecture will feature acclaimed writer and essayist William Gass on Thursday, March 30. This talk is on “Metaphor.” For the most up-to-date information on the University’s Assembly Series, check the Web site at http://assemblyseries.wustl.edu

Reporting in the journal Science, Washington University researchers have reaffirmed a method for curing Type 1 diabetes in mice. They try to stop the immune system before it kills off all of the insulin-secreting cells in the pancreas. Read more of this article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The new Health & Wellness Center has been named for the Habif family, in honor of their dedication to and support of the University’s health and wellness initiative. The Center is located on the garden level of Forsyth House at the corner of Big Bend and Shepley Drive.

Organizers of a 20-year global effort to eliminate a parasitic infection that is a leading cause of disability have an early victory to savor: a five-year Egyptian elimination campaign has mostly succeeded, according to a new report in the March 25 issue of The Lancet. Infection with the parasites, threadlike filarial worms, can lead to the dramatic, disfiguring swelling known as elephantiasis.

Photo by Robert BostonOf the 119 students in the School of Medicine’s Class of 2006, 29 will stay in St. Louis to complete their residencies at WUSTL-affiliated hospitals.

He died in Miami Feb. 3 after a long illness; his research interest was in the myelination and de-myelination of the central nervous system.