Medicine & Health

The Danforth Foundation has granted the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders at the School of Medicine a $10 million endowed gift for research into a range of conditions that cause injury and impairment to the brain and central nervous system. The funds will be used to support innovative and groundbreaking new ideas for research with clear potential to improve diagnosis and treatment of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, stroke, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and other disorders.

Pear-shaped people who carry weight in the thighs and backside have been told for years they are at lower risk for high blood pressure and heart disease than apple-shaped people who carry fat in the abdomen. But in two studies, School of Medicine researchers report that body shape isn’t the only marker of risk. Excess liver fat appears to be the key to insulin resistance, cholesterol abnormalities and other problems that contribute to diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Barack Obama will need to act swiftly in his first 100 days as president to resolve the domestic crises facing the nation, but concerns about the economy mean that health care reform will not be the highest priority during that time, says leading public health experts at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL). Debra Haire-Joshu, Ph.D., professor of social work and medicine at WUSTL, and Timothy McBride, Ph.D., associate dean for public health at WUSTL’s George Warren Brown School of Social Work, are available to discuss health care legislation under Obama. Haire-Joshu served in Obama’s congressional office and McBride is part of the nationally representative Rural Policy Research Institute’s Health Panel.

Trillions of microbes make their home in the gut, where they help to break down and extract energy and nutrients from the food we eat. Yet, scientists have understood little about how this distinctive mix of microbes varies from one individual to the next. Now, researchers at the School of Medicine have discovered that each individual carries a unique collection of bacteria, although the communities are more similar among family members.

ElginWashington University in St. Louis is in the spotlight for its pivotal role in the Genomics Education Partnership, a collaborative effort to provide research experience in genomics to undergraduate classrooms across the country. At the helm of this mission is Sarah C.R. Elgin, Ph.D., WUSTL professor of biology and professor of education in Arts & Sciences, as well as professor of biochemistry & molecular biophysics and professor of genetics in the School of Medicine.

Current estimates for head and neck cancer survival are largely inaccurate because they widely disregard many of the most common diseases such patients have in addition to their primary cancer, says Jay Piccirillo, M.D., a head and neck specialist at the School of Medicine, the Siteman Cancer Center and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Historically, scientists have regarded itching as a less intense version of the body’s response to pain, but researchers at the School of Medicine have determined that pain and itch actually are regulated by different molecular mechanisms. Researchers report they have separated itch and pain sensations in mice, a finding that could have important implications for treating both pain and chronic itching.

New research from the School of Medicine suggests cooling the brain may prevent the death of nerve cells that has been observed in infant mice exposed to anesthesia. The effects of anesthesia on human infants and young children have been debated among neuroscientists, but growing evidence suggests exposure to anesthetic drugs during brain development may contribute to behavioral and developmental delays.

A class of drugs that are used in premature infants to treat chronic lung damage can cause damage in the brain. New research at the School of Medicine suggests the drugs may cause cognitive and motor-control problems even when they are given before birth.

Even seasoned doctors have a difficult time diagnosing pneumonia in hospitalized patients breathing with the assistance of a ventilator. That’s because a patient’s underlying illness often skews laboratory test results and masks pneumonia’s symptoms. Now, researchers at the School of Medicine report they have validated the use of gene chip technology to rapidly and accurately detect pneumonia associated with ventilator use in hospitalized patients.