Medicine & Health

Harvey A. Friedman, a supporter of aging research at Washington University, died Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010. He was 90. Donations from Friedman and wife Dorismae Hacker Friedman enabled the creation of the Center for Aging at Washington University in St. Louis in 2000.

A new study shows that the environment interacts with DNA in ways that are difficult to predict, even in simple organisms like single-celled yeast, which complicates the prospects for personalized medicine. 

Mary C. Dinauer, MD, PhD, has been named the first Fred M. Saigh Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Alan Pestronk’s experience with neurodegenerative disease helps him tune in to the patient and the caregivers.

Washington University School of Medicine has opened a clinic for patients with treatment-resistant depression that targets those who haven’t responded to standard therapies. When at least two therapies have been tried, and a patient still hasn’t responded, that patient is said to have treatment-resistant depression, according to clinic director Charles R. Conway, MD.  

Try to imagine an environmentally friendly science lab that reduces, reuses and recycles. That’s the challenge posed by the second annual Olin Sustainability Case Competition at Washington University in St. Louis. Students who devise the best plan for green labs will be seeing green — a $5,000 first prize — when the winners are announced in February.

Neuroscientists using a new brain imaging technique could see an investigational drug for Parkinson’s disease get into a patient’s brain and affect blood flow in several key structures, an indicator the drug may be effective. In the future, similar brain scans could speed the development of new drugs and help clinicians learn whether established drugs are working.  

The School of Medicine’s Infectious Diseases Clinic will offer extended hours for free, confidential testing in recognition of World AIDS Day, which is observed annually on Dec. 1. Testing will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 6 – 9. No appointment is necessary.

In a study of heavy smokers, fewer screened with low-dose CT scans died, compared with similar smokers screened with standard chest X-rays. The National Cancer Institute ran the 33-center National Lung Screening Trial to learn whether more sensitive screening could have an impact on lung-cancer deaths, and Washington University researchers involved in the study say it did.

The same powerful drugs that have extended the lives of countless people with HIV come with a price — insulin resistance that can lead to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Now, Paul Hruz, MD, PhD, and his team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have determined why that happens.