Medicine & Health

A multidisciplinary team at Washington University led by Hong Chen has developed a new brain stimulation technique using focused ultrasound that is able to turn specific types of neurons in the brain on and off and precisely control motor activity without surgical device implantation.

A $10.7 million five-year grant will support a comprehensive study in which whole-genome sequencing will be used to address critical gaps in knowledge about Alzheimer’s disease. The project is led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh.

New research in mice has shown that some investigational Alzheimer’s therapies are more effective when paired with a treatment geared toward improving drainage of fluid and debris from the brain, according to a study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have received three grants totaling more than $10 million to study the factors that contribute to deterioration in driving skills in older adults and to determine ways to identify people whose driving skills have begun to decline or are on the verge of slipping.

A worldwide clinical trial aimed at finding treatments for Alzheimer’s disease has expanded to include investigational drugs targeting a harmful form of the brain protein tau. The trial is led by Washington University School of Medicine.

Rohit Pappu and collaborator Tanja Mittag received $3.1 to study RNA-binding proteins that are mutated in patients with familial forms of ALS

Gregory Bowman, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at the School of Medicine, received a three-year $1,763,634 grant award from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his research titled “Structural basis for ApoE4-induced Alzheimer’s disease.”

Alzheimer’s researchers David M. Holtzman, MD, and Celeste Karch, PhD, at the School of Medicine, have been recognized by the Rainwater Charitable Foundation for scientific achievements that could lead to new, effective treatments for neurodegenerative diseases associated with the accumulation of tau protein in the brain. Alzheimer’s is the best known such disease.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have identified an antibody that, in mice, removes amyloid plaques from brain tissue and blood vessels without increasing the risk of brain bleeds.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have discovered a protein that links the amyloid-removal process to the circadian clock. The protein, YKL-40, could help explain why people with Alzheimer’s frequently suffer from sleep disturbances — and provide a new target for Alzheimer’s therapies.