Medicine & Health

Michael Evan Hughes, a neuroscientist and chronobiologist highly respected for his research at the School of Medicine, died May 4 at his home in St. Louis after a six-year battle with brain cancer. He was 41. A public celebration of life will be held Saturday, May 8, in Olivette, Mo.

J. Gmerice Hammond, MD, a cardiologist and health policy research fellow in the Cardiovascular Division at Washington University School of Medicine, has received a Merck Fellowship Research Award from the Association of Black Cardiologists and the American College of Cardiology.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s proposed ban on menthol flavored cigarettes and all flavored cigars could be particularly beneficial for Black and young people, says an expert on tobacco control at Washington University in St. Louis.

Elliot Elson, of Washington University School of Medicine, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Election to the academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be awarded to a U.S. scientist or engineer.

David D. Limbrick, MD, PhD, the T. S. Park, MD, Professor of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the School of Medicine, has been appointed to the St. Louis Regional Health Commission as the representative from the School of Medicine.

New research in mice has shown that some investigational Alzheimer’s therapies are more effective when paired with a treatment geared toward improving drainage of fluid and debris from the brain, according to a study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine.

A first-of-its kind device that helps people disabled by stroke regain significant control over their arm and hand function by using their minds has received market authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. The system developed by Neurolutions Inc., a WashU startup, relied on innovative multidisciplinary research at the university.

The School of Medicine received a $1.3 million grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to support the work of Parakkal Deepak, MBBS, and Alfred H.J. Kim, MD, PhD. They will study antibody responses after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and other autoimmune diseases.

In the first clinical trial of nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), School of Medicine researchers have found that the compound previously demonstrated to counteract aspects of aging and improve metabolic health in mice also has clinically relevant effects in people.

A new study from the School of Medicine shows that even mild cases of COVID-19 increase the risk of death in the six months following diagnosis. The comprehensive study also catalogues the wide-ranging and long-term health problems often triggered by the infection, even among those not hospitalized.