Medicine & Health

Keith Hengen, assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, received a three-year $1.8 million grant to study the role of sleep and waking behavior in shaping the brain’s neural dynamics. His research will help scientists understand how sleep contributes to healthy cognition and shed light on the mechanisms by which disrupted sleep worsens neurodegenerative and mental health disorders.

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded Oct. 5 to three scientists for groundbreaking research that led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. One of those scientists — virologist Charles M. Rice — conducted his seminal work while on the faculty of Washington University School of Medicine.

School of Medicine researchers have received renewed National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center. The center’s researchers study genetic and environmental factors that contribute to developmental disabilities.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and their colleagues at other institutions have identified mutations in single genes that can be responsible for at least some cases of cerebral palsy.

Researchers have identified two antibodies that protect mice against lethal infections of influenza B virus. Together with an antibody that targets influenza A, the antibodies potentially could contribute to a drug to treat almost all flu cases.

A consortium of 17 U.S. cancer centers, including Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, are working together to better understand the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in delaying cancer detection, care and prevention.

School of Medicine researchers have discovered that a molecule produced by the immune system acts on the brain to change the behavior of mice. The findings help illuminate a surprising mind-body connection.

Older people without cognitive problems who experience a fall may have undetected neurodegeneration in their brains that puts them at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine.

School of Medicine scientists have created a PET imaging agent that detects signs of inflammation. Such a tracer could aid diagnosis and study of diseases ranging from cardiovascular disease to cancer to COVID-19.

More than 1,200 students enrolled in “The Pandemic: Science and Society,” an online two-credit course featuring experts from across disciplines and across the country. The entire university may benefit from the lessons learned.