Medicine & Health

Stroke experts at Washington University in St. Louis, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis are forming a collaborative group to ensure that clinicians share data to improve patient care and advance the development of new treatments.

Stroke is commonly thought of as a concern only for older adults, but pediatric strokes annually affect 13 of every 100,000 U.S. children. In the St. Louis area, many of these patients are seen by Washington University specialists at the Pediatric Stroke Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Robert K. Jackler, MD, spoke at the School of Medicine March 9 about his exhibit that shows how the advertising industry used medical science to promote cigarette smoking in the 20th century.

Nanocages that efficiently convert light to heat are the basis for a targeted form of phototherapy that would destroy tumors without making cancer patients sick.

For years, electronic surveillance has been used to track and capture a host of evil suspects — terrorists, mobsters and spies among them. Keith Woeltje, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine, relies on electronic surveillance, too. He is a modern-day microbe hunter, tracking bugs that are invisible to the naked eye but capable of causing mayhem in hospitals.

The School of Medicine hosted a sustainability leadership forum March 9 for corporate and regional facilities managers to share how the medical school is approaching sustainability. The forum, titled “Sustaining Sustainability,” was attended by about 75 area leaders.

The School of Medicine has received a $14.3 million grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to expand its high-powered data center for genomics. The facility’s sophisticated computer networks store massive amounts of genomic data used to identify the genetic origins of cancer and other diseases.

The Longer Life Foundation has awarded grants to six research projects on issues related to aging at Washington University School of Medicine. Over the last 10 years, the foundation has awarded more than $2 million to the university to fund independent research into improving methods for predicting long-term mortality.

Most people at risk for developing glaucoma due to high eye pressure do not need treatment, according to a large, multi-center study.

The Sixth Annual Postdoc Scientific Symposium Feb. 25 at the Eric P. Newman Education Center featured Gene Robinson, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois as keynote speaker; five postdoctoral researchers presenting research and more than 50 posters at a poster session.