Medicine & Health

Just a few days after the Affordable Care Act’s mandatory insurance component becomes law, the principal architect of the Massachusetts health care system and chief advisor to President Obama’s plan will be on campus to explain how it works and how it will benefit society. MIT economist and renowned health care expert Jonathan Gruber will deliver an Assembly Series lecture on “Health Care Reform: What It Is, Why It’s Necessary, How It Works” at 6 p.m. Friday, October 4 in Brown Hall Room 100 on the Washington University Danforth Campus.

The Department of Psychiatry is hosting a celebration Tuesday, Oct. 1, to mark the official launch of the Taylor Family Institute for Innovative Psychiatric Research. The institute, dedicated to advancing the science underlying the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric illnesses, was created with a $20 million gift from Andy and Barbara Taylor and the Crawford Taylor Foundation. Pictured are institute investigators.

Doctors at the School of Medicine are investigating a new minimally invasive procedure to open blocked carotid arteries in patients whose poor health or advanced age makes the traditional open surgery too risky. Pictured are carotid arteries, which feed blood to the brain.

​​A new study shows that girls ages 9 to 15 who regularly ate peanut butter or nuts were 39 percent less likely to develop benign breast disease by age 30. Benign breast disease, although noncancerous, increases risk of breast cancer later in life.

A long-term study of older adults led by Anne Fagan (right) has helped validate a new system for identifying and classifying older adults with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. Many researchers think this stage of the disease, which can last a decade or more, is critical window for slowing or stopping Alzheimer’s treatments.

Researchers at the School of Medicine and Imperial College London are the first to identify the site where the widely used anesthetic drug propofol binds to receptors in the brain to sedate patients during surgery. Shown is a photoanalogue of propofol to identify where it binds to receptors. The small green circles show the site.

Daniel Coyne, MD, specializes in the treatment of patients on dialysis. He’s a strong believer in seeing that patients’ interests are put first. That philosophy spurred him to fight against the overuse of the anti-anemia drug Epogen in dialysis patients. The drug increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes and at one time was one of the top-selling prescription medicines in the United States. 

The Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences (PACS) at the School of Medicine has received a five-year, $1.18 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to prepare graduate-level teachers of children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Breast cancer that spreads to other organs is extremely difficult to treat. Doctors can buy patients time, but a cure remains elusive. Now, researchers at the School of Medicine have shown that human breast tumors transplanted into mice are excellent models of metastatic cancer and could be valuable tools in the search for better treatments. Shown are human breast cancer cells (red) growing amid mouse cells (green).

Faculty members manned posters highlighting their research at a recent Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences event geared toward helping graduate students meet faculty and learn about research before signing up for laboratory rotations. The event is an engaging step for students earning their PhDs or MD/PhDs through the Medical Scientist Training Program. Pictured is student Allyson Mayer visiting with Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi, MD, at the event.