Medicine & Health

The brain appears to synchronize the activity of different brain regions to make it possible for a person to pay attention or concentrate on a task, scientists at the School of Medicine have learned. Pictured is the study’s first author, graduate student researcher Amy Daitch.

Four Washington University in St. Louis researchers are being honored as outstanding scientists by the Academy of Science of St. Louis.

Beginning at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, each of about 30 contenders for Bear Cub grants will present a two-minute elevator pitch outlining innovative ideas in neurology, cardiology, engineering, plant science, software development or other disciplines.

The School of Medicine’s 10th Annual Art Show — featuring artworks of students, faculty and staff — will be held in the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center atrium, 520 S. Euclid Ave., from Jan. 21 through Feb. 21.

A new study provides details that will help scientists design better vaccines and drug treatments for Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) a dangerous form of malaria common in India, Southeast Asia and South America.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are studying whether fasting from food a few days a week provides some of the same health benefits as severely limiting calories every day of the week.

The St. Louis region has experienced a sharp uptick in flu cases in recent weeks, according to Washington University physicians at Barnes-Jewish Hospital who say they are dealing with a severe flu outbreak that includes deaths from the illness. The deaths primarily were of otherwise healthy young and middle-aged adults not vaccinated against influenza, according to the physicians.

An international team of researchers has sequenced the genome of the elephant shark, a curious-looking fish with a snout that resembles the end of an elephant’s trunk. Pictured is lead researcher Byrappa Venkatesh, PhD, of A*STAR in Singapore, holding an elephant shark.

The School of Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital are part of a new multi-institutional project that aims to create a national pediatric “learning health system” that will feature an extensive clinical data research network. Feliciano “Pele” Yu Jr., MD, is the project’s principal investigator on the Washington University Medical Campus.

Some brain regions in adults retain a childlike ability to establish new connections, potentially contributing to our ability to learn new skills and form new memories as we age, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Allen Institute for Brain Sciences in Seattle.