Medicine & Health

Explosive devices are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries in veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. A new study shows that military personnel with brain trauma related to such blasts had outcomes similar to those with brain injury from other causes, according to researchers at the School of Medicine.

Children with newly identified rare mutations in two genes are about four times more likely to develop severe scoliosis than their peers with normal versions of the genes, scientists have found.

A provocative study links prolonged episodes of sepsis — a life-threatening infection and leading cause of death in hospitals — to the reactivation of otherwise dormant viruses in the body. Pictured is the Epstein-Barr virus.

Barry Siegel, MD, professor of radiology at the School of Medicine, was awarded the Benedict Cassen Prize for Research in Nuclear Medicine during the annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. The meeting was June 7-11 in St. Louis.

Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, has been elected to the American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin for the purpose of “promoting useful knowledge.”

New research from School of Medicine scientists may help explain why millions of malnourished children suffer from stunted growth and fail to thrive after treatment with nutrient-rich therapeutic foods.

Gammon Earhart, PhD, professor of physical therapy, has been named director of the Program in Physical Therapy at Washington University School of Medicine, effective July 1. Also a professor of neurobiology and neurology, Earhart joined the faculty in 2004.

Studying mice, researchers have found a way to prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Blocking a path that delivers dietary fructose to the liver prevented mice from developing the condition, according to investigators at the School of Medicine.

Todd P. Margolis, MD, PhD, head of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, has been named the new Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology. Margolis (right) is shown with Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.

Marcus E. Raichle, MD, a Washington University professor internationally renowned for his contributions to advancing the frontiers of cognitive neuroscience, is one of three scientists awarded this year’s prestigious Kavli Prize in Neuroscience.