Medicine & Health

Burton E. Sobel, MD, internationally known leader in cardiovascular medicine, prolific scientist and former longtime director of the Cardiovascular Division at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, died Friday, May 3, 2013, at his home in Vermont, after a long illness. He was 75.

Washington University alumnus Mark Wronkiewicz (BS ’12) developed BrainCopter, one of the first brain-controlled applications for the iPad, while studying biomedical engineering at the university. His mentor, the School of Medicine’s Eric Leuthardt, MD, tries the application, which challenges players to use their thoughts to manipulate a flying brain icon past obstacles.

Many medical conditions destroy nerve axons, the long wires that transmit signals to other parts of the body. Now, researchers have found a way the body can remove injured axons, identifying a potential target for new drugs that could prevent the inappropriate loss of axons and maintain nerve function.

Timothy Eberlein, MD, director of the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, has been named vice chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network board of directors.

Kelle Moley, MD, the James P. Crane Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected president of the Society of Gynecologic Investigation (SGI).

For nearly a decade, doctors have used implanted electronic stimulators to treat severe depression in people who don’t respond to standard antidepressant treatments. Now, preliminary brain scan studies conducted by School of Medicine researchers are revealing that vagus nerve stimulation brings about changes in brain metabolism weeks or even months before patients begin to feel better.

Scientists’ picture of how a gene strongly linked to Alzheimer’s disease harms the brain may have to be revised, researchers at the School of Medicine have found. Washington University’s David M. Holtzman, MD, says leading researchers recently agreed that targeting this gene is a promising approach for gaining a better understanding of and improving treatments for the disease.

Three Washington University in St. Louis scientists are among the 84 members and 21 foreign associates elected to the National Academy of Sciences this year. Election to the academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer.

School of Medicine researchers have discovered why breast cancer patients with dense breasts are more likely than others to develop aggressive tumors that spread. The finding opens the door to drug treatments that prevent metastasis. Shown are collagen fibers at the boundary of a tumor. Fibers that tend to be perpendicular to the tumor’s surface indicate a poor prognosis.

Several Washington University School of Medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital nurses received the 2013 Excellence in Nursing Award from St. Louis Magazine. The award honors nurses who have made a difference in the lives of their patients and colleagues.