Medicine & Health

College eating habits can pack on extra pounds.College students talk about the “Freshman 15.” That’s the typical number of credit hours a full-time student takes during a semester. Some also claim it’s the number of pounds students gain eating dorm food and studying all night. New work from researchers at Washington University in St. Louis confirms that most students do, indeed, gain weight in college. Reporting in the Journal of American College Health, the research team found that about 70 percent of students gained a significant amount of weight between the start of college and the end of sophomore year.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Daydreaming and Alzheimer’s (week of Sept. 7) • New insight into arthritis (week of Sept. 14) • Preventing wrong-site surgery (week of Sept. 21) • Intense hip fracture therapy (week of Sept. 28)

Anthony H. Guarino, M.D., instructor of anesthesiology, is joining scientists from around the country to test the drug called CC-5013.

Research has shown that the compound 17AAG has the unusual ability to simultaneously affect multiple proteins implicated in human cancers.

Researchers have found that the areas of the brain that young people use when daydreaming are the same areas that fail in people with Alzheimer’s.

Clint’s DNA was used to sequence the chimp genome.Comparing the human genome to the chimpanzee genome has allowed scientists to identify changes in the human genetic code that were so advantageous that they rapidly became the norm throughout humanity. The areas of human DNA where these changes occurred are currently the subject of follow-up investigations to identify the potentially vital contributions they now make to human health and development.

Deborah C. Rubin, M.D., has been named director of the Master of Arts and Doctor of Medicine Program (M.A./M.D.) at the School of Medicine.

Taking into account that each of us has unique physical characteristics partly determined by variations in our genes, pharmacogenetics researchers at the School of Medicine are finding ways to personalize cancer treatments.

The National Cancer Institute has awarded the center a five-year, $1.25 million grant to support its Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities.

However, Medicaid, Medicare and many private insurers specify CT (computed tomography) for diagnosing and monitoring this cancer.