Medicine & Health

Lihong Wang, PhD, the Gene K. Beare Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has received a three-year, $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study oxygen consumption rates of individual cells using photoacoustic microscopy, a novel imaging technology he developed that uses light and sound to measure change.

Studying gene activity in tissue removed from injured knees, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that genes related to obesity and aging may contribute to the development of osteoarthritis, the most common knee disorder and the most common disorder in all of the joints.

Those interested in participating in a national study to help the American Cancer Society understand how lifestyle, genetics and the environment affect cancer may enroll in the study April 30 or May 1 on the Washington University Medical Campus.

March 15 was Match Day for 120 soon-to-be physicians in this year’s Washington University School of Medicine graduating class. They and medical students across the country learned where they will do their residency training. Shown are students Ignacio Becerra-Licha and Somalee Banerjee after they learned where their residencies will take them.

People with HIV have an elevated risk of heart attacks, diabetes and insulin problems, and there are not many drug options to prevent those problems due to concerns that they will weaken the immune system. But a new study by researchers at the School of Medicine has shown that a diabetes drug appears to be safe in patients and does not dampen their immunity.

Teens who were depressed as children are far more likely than their peers to be obese, smoke cigarettes and lead sedentary lives, even if they no longer suffer from depression. The research, by scientists at the School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh, suggests that depression, even in children, can increase the risk of heart problems later in life.

A documentary-style series highlighting patients, faculty physicians and other staff at St. Louis Children’s Hospital will debut Saturday, March 16, on KSDK. “The Frontline for Hope” will air Saturday nights for the next six weeks. Shown is one of the camera crew taping outside the hospital.

A new food-service area on the north campus of Barnes-Jewish Hospital will open at 6 a.m. Wednesday, March 13. It will replace the Kingshighway Building’s north cafeteria, which will close permanently Tuesday evening, March 12.

Sleep is disrupted in people who likely have early Alzheimer’s disease but do not yet have the memory loss or other cognitive problems characteristic of full-blown disease, researchers at the School of Medicine report. Shown is first author of the study, Yo-El Ju, MD,  an assistant professor of neurology.

Carl Rovainen, PhD, professor emeritus of cell biology and physiology, died of cancer March 1, 2013, in Brookings, Ore. Rovainen retired from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis in 2001, after 34 years as a faculty member.