Author: Ken Duenke

Researchers at the School of Medicine are seeking volunteers with Parkinson’s disease for two studies. One is investigating the effects of antidepressant drugs on depression and motor function. The second study is assessing the safety and effectiveness of a drug for Parkinson’s patients who also have psychotic symptoms. In the NIH-funded depression study, investigators are evaluating paroxetine (Paxil) and venlafaxine XR (Effexor) for their success in alleviating depression and for their potential effect on motor function in Parkinson’s patients.

An innovative cancer imaging center at the School of Medicine has received a five-year, $10 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The grant will fund a second cycle of research at the Washington University Molecular Imaging Center, where scientists from many different specialties collaborate on advanced imaging projects.

Researchers at the School of Medicine are seeking volunteers who are slightly overweight or who have elevated blood pressure. They want to see whether it’s possible to reduce the progression of atherosclerosis in healthy people by giving low doses of the malaria drug chloroquine.

• Various lane closures are scheduled through Nov. 16.

Go to BearSports The No. 10 women’s soccer team closed the regular season with a 2-1 loss at the University of Chicago Nov. 3 at Stagg Field in Chicago. Despite the loss, WUSTL finished at 15-3 overall and won the University Athletic Association title, earning its second consecutive postseason berth. The 2007 NCAA Division III […]

Photo by Mary ButkusMary Matalin and James Carville stopped by May Auditorium to meet informally with students and comment on the current state of American politics.

Werner Ploberger, Ph.D., was installed as the first Thomas H. Eliot Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences on Oct. 30 in Holmes Lounge. Ploberger, who joined the Department of Economics last year, is internationally renowned for his contributions to the fields of econometrics and the theory of estimation.

British historian Janet Browne, Ph.D., an expert in examining the life, times and work of Charles Darwin,will present the Thomas Hall Lecture “Charles Darwin and the Economy of Nature: Money, Metaphor and Adaptive Capital” at 4 p.m. Nov. 15 in the Laboratory Sciences Building auditorium.

Normal lung air passage (left) and asthmatic lung air passage after viral infectionBabies who get severe respiratory viral infections are much more likely to suffer from asthma as they get older. Now researchers at the School of Medicine have pinpointed a key step in the development of asthma in mice after a severe respiratory infection. They suggest that medications designed to interfere with this mechanism could potentially prevent many cases of childhood asthma.

ImaiThe body’s fat cells help the pancreas do its job of secreting insulin, according to research at the School of Medicine led by senior author Shin-Ichiro Imai. This previously unrecognized process ultimately could lead to new methods to improve glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetic or insulin-resistant people.