Newsroom Stories

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Protein increases average lifespan (week of Dec. 5) • Alcohol’s link to sex partners (week of Dec. 12) • Tantrum season (week of Dec. 19) • Antidepressants for Parkinson’s (week of Dec. 26)

Courtesy Edward LifesciencesIn a nationwide clinical trial, physicians are testing an investigational device that allows them to insert replacement aortic valves without opening the chest or using a heart-lung machine, making the procedure available to high-risk and formerly inoperable patients. The School of Medicine has been selected as a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigative site in the trial evaluating this technique, which uses a far less invasive procedure than the standard open-heart surgery.

Thaddeus Strode, *Absolutes and Nothings*Since the late 1980s Los Angeles-based painter Thaddeus Strode has created wild, vibrantly colored mash-ups in which California surf and skateboard culture collide with Zen philosophy, rock music, literature, film, comic books and other popular motifs, all mixing freely with the artist’s own inventions. In February, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will present the first major museum exhibition dedicated to Strode’s work as part of its Contemporary Projects series.

Thaddeus Strode, *Absolutes and Nothings*Download high-resolution press images for *Thaddeus Strode: Absolutes and Nothings,* the first solo museum show for the acclaimed Los Angeles painter, on view at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum Feb. 8 to April 21.

As the holidays approach, toy store shelves are stocked with toys that make noise. While toys with sound may be appealing to children, William Clark, Ph.D., director of audiology and communication sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, cautions parents to be careful in choosing such toys.

The executive faculty of the School of Medicine unanimously approved changing the name of the Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology to the Department of Developmental Biology. The change reflects a shift that has already occurred in the department’s research focus and coincides with the search for a department head.

School of Medicine researchers are seeking volunteers to see whether it’s possible to reduce the progression of atherosclerosis with the malaria drug chloroquine. The human study follows a mouse study that found chloroquine could blunt the progression of plaque buildup in mice that had a genetic predisposition to atherosclerosis.

The Department of Music in Arts & Sciences will conclude its fall season with a series of December concerts.

School of Medicine researchers are seeking volunteers with Parkinson’s disease for studies investigating the effects of two drugs.

Volleyball head coach Rich Luenemann was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coach of the Year Nov. 26. The Bears finished the season with a 33-5 overall record and won the ninth Div. III volleyball title in school history. It is the second time in nine seasons at WUSTL that Luenemann has earned the […]