Medicine & Health

Andrey Shaw, M.D., has been named the Emil R. Unanue Professor of Immunobiology in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at the School of Medicine. The announcement will be made by Larry Shapiro, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, at a symposium in honor of Unanue held on April 27 at the School of Medicine.

UnanueImmunology researchers from across the United States and as far away as Sweden are coming to the School of Medicine to discuss some of the latest scientific insights into the immune system. The general public is welcome to attend.The symposium, “Immunology at the Horizon of the New Millennium,” is being held in honor of Emil Unanue, M.D., the Paul and Ellen Lacy Professor of Pathology. Unanue served as head of the Department of Pathology and Immunology for 21 years, stepping down last summer.

Scientists have linked a protein to regulation of the body’s use of the sugar glucose. In the process, they illustrated the protein’s potential as a target for new drugs to treat diabetes and obesity.

Yoel Sadovsky, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named president-elect of the Perinatal Research Society. The international society fosters scientific interchange and collaboration among established investigators whose research interests are in the area of perinatal-neonatal medicine and developmental biology.

Discussions of memory lapses often focus on a failure to recall past events, but equally important to our daily lives is a form of memory that helps us remember to do something in the future — drop a child at daycare, go to the dentist or pick up bread on the way home. “Memory is fallible, even for tasks that are very important,” suggests WUSTL psychologist Mark A. McDaniel, Ph.D., co-author of a new book exploring how the brain processes memories critical to planning and other forward-looking activities. “As soon as intention leaves awareness, there’s no guarantee that it’s going to be retrieved again.” More…

A study of how the brain of a premature infant responds to injury has found vulnerabilities similar to those in the mature brain but also identified at least one significant difference, according to neuroscientists and neonatologists at the School of Medicine.

Developing brain tumors can coax assistance from nearby cells known as microglia, according to a new study from scientists at the School of Medicine. The researchers have identified one protein made by microglia that helps accelerate tumor growth and are looking for others.

An international consortium of researchers, including scientists at the Genome Sequencing Center, has decoded the genome of the rhesus macaque monkey and compared it with the genomes of humans and their closest living relatives – the chimps – revealing that the three primate species share about 93 percent of the same DNA. Washington University scientists also recently completed the raw sequences for the orangutan and marmoset genomes.

Scientists have untangled two similar disabilities that often afflict stroke patients, in the process revealing that one may be treatable with drugs for Parkinson’s disease. Researchers at the School of Medicine showed that stroke damage in a brain region known as the putamen is strongly linked to motor neglect, a condition that makes patients slow to move toward the left side.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • ADHD risk factors (week of Apr. 4) • Fixing flat feet (week of Apr. 11) • Nanoparticle tracking system (week of Apr. 18) • DHA and Alzheimer’s (week of Apr. 25)