Medicine & Health

The Division of Emergency Medicine is offering a two-year fellowship designed to allow emergency medicine trainees and others interested in clinical, translational or basic research careers to develop the skills to become successful, independent investigators. The program, which is coordinated through the Clinical Research Training Center, culminates in a master’s degree of science in clinical investigation.

David J. Murray, MD, chose pediatric anesthesia as a way to gain the confidence that  he could manage the very worst that might happen, no matter how bad it got. Now, he uses clinical simulation to help students and residents learn to confront emergencies.

The same gene mutations linked to inherited, early-onset Alzheimer’s disease have been found in people with the more common late-onset form of the illness. The discovery by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis may lead doctors and researchers to change the way Alzheimer’s disease is classified.

People of all ages can develop winter blues or seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of clinical depression which occurs typically during the fall and winter and resolves itself by spring. Eric Lenze, MD, professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, says bright light therapy, sometimes called phototherapy, is the treatment of choice for seasonal affective disorder.

School-age children whose mothers nurtured them early in life have brains with a larger hippocampus, a key structure important to learning, memory and response to stress. The new research, by child psychiatrists and neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is the first to show that changes in this key region of children’s brain anatomy are linked to a mother’s nurturing.

Interested in getting a glimpse into your health for 2012? Visit the Health Happening health and wellness fair from 7:30 a.m.–3 p.m. Feb. 3 in the Eric P. Newman Education Center for a variety of free health screenings and informational booths.

People with HIV often develop blood sugar and lipid problems and other metabolic complications that increase heart disease risk. New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that the HIV virus and the drugs used to treat it don’t worsen heart metabolism and function in these patients. p, , {margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Cambria;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;}

Between Sept. 28, 2011, and Jan. 5, 2012, Washington University School of Medicine employees walked to the moon and back, then around the equator 10 times. That adds up to nearly 1.3 billion steps walked in the 100-day Tread the Med “Be A Walk Star” walking campaign, sponsored by the School of Medicine Wellness Council and managed by the Department of Human Resources. 



Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) tend to be preoccupied with screen-based media. A new study by Paul Shattuck, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, looks at how children with ASDs spend their screen time. “We found a very high rate of use of solitary screen-based media such as video games and television with a markedly lower rate of use of social interactive media, including email,” Shattuck says.

Second-year students at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis discuss the painting “The Last Supper” by Andrew Loza, an MD/PhD student. The painting is one of many pieces of art done by faculty, staff and students at the School of Medicine on display through Feb. 17 in the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center Atrium.