Medicine & Health

Artist’s rendering of the new buildingThe largest building ever constructed on the campus of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will be the home base for BioMed 21 — the University’s innovative research initiative designed to speed scientific discovery and apply breakthroughs to patient care rapidly. The building is supported by a $30 million gift to Washington University’s medical school from BJC HealthCare and will be named the BJC Institute of Health at Washington University.

An important component of BioMed 21, the Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University in St. Louis is a gene-sequencing powerhouse and one of the four such centers in the world. It specializes in large-scale, high-throughput genome sequencing, supplying data that helps researchers at the School of Medicine identify the genetic factors that contribute to disease.

Images of brain cells taken before (above) and after seizures in live mice reveal loss of spines, small bumps on the surfaces of brain cell branches.For some epilepsy patients, the side effects of epilepsy can be as troubling as the seizures. One pressing concern is the cognitive impairment seizures often inflict, which potentially includes memory loss, slowed reactions and reduced attention spans. Now scientists at the School of Medicine have directly observed seizure-induced structural changes in brain cells in laboratory animals. They report in The Journal of Neuroscience that the insights they gained allowed them to use a drug to block those changes in the brain.

WUSTL researcher Stanton Braude, Ph. D., lecturer in biology in Arts & Sciences, says the secret to a long life in humans might exist in the wrinkled body of one of the world’s ugliest animals — the naked mole rat.

Six faculty from the School of Medicine have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society. The highest honor awarded by AAAS, the rank of fellow is bestowed upon members by their peers in recognition of scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

Washington University researcher Stanton Braude, lecturer in biology in Arts & Sciences, says the secret to a long life in humans might exist in the wrinkled body of one of the world’s ugliest animals — the naked mole rat.

“An Impending Influenza Pandemic? What has been learned from 1918?” is the focus of a St. Louis community forum from 7:45-11:45 a.m. Nov. 9 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom in Anheuser-Busch Hall. The program features discussions by city, county and national health directors and explores how St. Louis can use lessons from past flu outbreaks to prepare for a global bird flu pandemic that some experts see lurking on the horizon.

Diane Damiano has been elected president of the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. Damiano is research associate professor of neurology and adjunct associate professor of physical therapy at the School of Medicine. The American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine is a multidisciplinary scientific society devoted to the study of cerebral palsy and other childhood onset disabilities.

“An Impending Influenza Pandemic? What has been learned from 1918” is the focus of a St. Louis community forum from 7:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Nov. 9 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom, Anheuser-Busch Hall, Washington University in St. Louis.

HammermanIn a new study with an eye on curing diabetes, senior investigator Marc Hammerman and a group of WUSM scientists successfully transplanted embryonic pig pancreatic cells destined to produce insulin into diabetic macaque monkeys – all without the need for risky immune suppression drugs that prevent rejection. The transplanted cells, known as primordia, are in the earliest stages of developing into pancreatic tissues. Within several weeks of the transplants, the cells became engrafted, or established, within the three rhesus macaque monkeys that received them. The cells also released pig insulin in response to rising blood glucose levels, as would be expected in healthy animals and humans.