Shedding light on childhood cancer
Cancer is the second leading cause of death among children ages 1-14 and will affect over 12,000 families in the United States this year alone. To increase awareness, September is designated Childhood Cancer Awareness Month with Wednesday, Sept. 12, pegged as Childhood Cancer Awareness Day. WUSTL researchers Kimberly J. Johnson, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School and Todd Druley , MD, PhD, pediatric oncologist and assistant professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine, are working to alleviate childhood cancer.
Wang receives $3.8 million NIH Director’s Pioneer Award
Lihong Wang, PhD, the Gene K. Beare Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering has received an National Institutes of Health Director’s Pioneer Award to explore novel imaging techniques using light that promise significant improvements in biomedical imaging and light therapy.
Children taking steroids for asthma are slightly shorter than peers
Children who use inhaled steroid drugs for asthma end up slightly shorter at their full adult height than children who don’t use the drugs, new results from a comprehensive asthma study show. The study’s senior author is Robert C. Strunk, MD, the Donald Strominger Professor of Pediatrics.
Cohen, Mitra named Goldfarb professors
Barak A. Cohen, PhD, and Robi D. Mitra, PhD, have been named Alvin Goldfarb Distinguished Professors of Computational Biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Human and soil bacteria swap antibiotic-resistance genes
Soil bacteria and bacteria that cause human diseases
have recently swapped at least seven antibiotic-resistance genes,
researchers at Washington University School of Medicine report on Aug.
31 in Science.
Chapman named as Bricker chair
William Chapman has been named as the Eugene Bricker Chair of Surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Fraser to head Department of Medicine
Victoria J. Fraser, MD, has been named head of the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Fayanju honored for breast cancer research
Oluwadamilola “Lola” Fayanju, MD, MPHS, a clinical research fellow at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, has been named one of 16 recipients of the 2012 Breast Cancer Symposium Merit Award.
New imaging test aids Alzheimer’s diagnosis
Washington University physicians at Barnes-Jewish Hospital are the first in Missouri to offer a new type of PET scan for patients being evaluated for Alzheimer’s disease. The test detects neuritic plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
Immune system uses heart channel to select powerful defenders
When the body makes immune T cells, it relies on a
molecular channel more commonly seen in nerves and heart muscles to
ensure that the powerful T cells have the right mixture of
aggressiveness and restraint, researchers at Washington University
School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered.
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