Medicine & Health

The City of Clayton and the Clayton Fire Department awarded Life Saver Awards to Nikoleta Kolovos, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, and Robert Barrack, MD, (shown) the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Distinguished Professor of Orthopedic Surgery.

Two events focused on disparities in health care will be held on the Washington University Medical Campus — a symposium June 15 and a fast-paced “Ignite” event July 11.

Timothy J. Wolf, OTD, an assistant professor in the Program in Occupational Therapy and in neurology at Washington University School of Medicine, has been elected to the board of directors of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA).

In an effort to learn why some viruses such as influenza, Ebola and West Nile are so lethal, a team of U.S. researchers plans an $18.3 million comprehensive effort to model how humans respond to these viral pathogens. Participants include Washington University’s Michael Diamond, a West Nile expert.

Cancer cells’ appetite for sugar may have serious consequences for immune cell function. Scientists have shown that in low-sugar environments immune T cells start using energy-making structures known as mitochondria (highlighted in this image in yellow and orange). This switch can prevent T cells from making an inflammatory compound important for fighting cancers and some infections.

​Washington University will be the anchor tenant in a $73 million laboratory and research facility projected to open at the end of the year in the CORTEX bioscience district. Pictured is Hank Webber, executive vice chancellor for administration,​ who described the University’s role in the new building at a recent event there.

Jeanne M. Nerbonne, PhD, the Alumni Endowed Professor of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology, has been named director of the Center for Cardiovascular Research.

For many older adults, the aging process seems to go hand-in-hand with an annoying increase in clumsiness. New research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests some of these reaching-and-grabbing difficulties may be caused by changes in the mental frame of reference that older adults use to visualize nearby objects.

Jeffrey I. Gordon, whose groundbreaking research has linked the trillions of microbes living in the gut to obesity and severe childhood malnutrition, will receive the 2013 Robert Koch Award, the leading international prize in microbiology.

Thomas B. Ferguson, MD, professor emeritus of cardiothoracic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, died Sunday, May 26, 2013, of complications following a heart valve procedure. He was 90.