Newsroom Stories

HarbourJ. William Harbour has been named the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. Washington University Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton joined Larry J. Shapiro, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, in announcing the appointment.

WUSM researchers believe a vitamin vitamin natually found in carrots and tomatoes can protect skin from sunburns. The vitamin. zeaxanthin, is a natural pigment found in fruits and vegetables.

Photo courtesy of WUSTLIt’s very important to get sunglasses with UV protection and to wear them at an early age.We all know the importance of using sunscreen to protect our skin from the sun’s harmful rays, but what about protection for our eyes? July is UV Safety Month and prolonged exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays without protection may cause eye conditions that can lead to vision loss, such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Sunglasses and wide-brimmed hats are your best protection against UV-related vision problems, but be careful when you’re shopping for sunglasses — the wrong kind of lenses might do more harm than good.

GephardtThe George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis announces the new Richard A. Gephardt Public Service Scholarship. Recognizing the need for trained social work professionals who engage in public service roles and who promote civic inclusion, this two-year full-tuition award will help advance the education of individuals committed to making a difference through service with a focus on stimulating volunteerism and political engagement. Applications for the Gephardt Public Service Scholarship are available at http://gwbweb.wustl.edu/academic/msw/admission.asp. For more information about the School of Social Work or to find out about additional scholarship opportunities for the fall, call 935-6676.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Low-calorie diet may slow aging (week of June 7) • One hump or two? (week of June 14) • Second chance transplants (week of June 21) • Erotic images get brain’s attention (week of June 28)

The newest concept for treating coronary artery disease is to induce hearts to grow their own new blood vessels to bypass damaged tissue or clogged arteries. Unfortunately, clinical trials of two important blood-vessel growth factors have not produced stellar results. Now researchers at the School of Medicine have investigated a third signaling molecule that could overcome problems associated with the previous two.

Histamine in the small intestine responds to bacteria.Mice infected with a bacterium related to the plague sharply increase production of an enzyme that makes the inflammatory hormone histamine, researchers at the School of Medicine have found. The increased production, which occurs in the intestine, appears to be an important part of the mouse’s successful efforts to control the infection.

Charles Huddleston performs a pediatric lung transplant.A team of researchers at the School of Medicine has found that using lobes of lungs from living donors improves the chances of short-term survival for children who require a second lung transplant. Living-donor lung retransplantation involves removing a lower lobe, or about one-third of a lung, from each of two healthy adult donors and then transplanting the lobes as replacement lungs into a child.

The answer to a 50-year-old question has been found by scientists at the School of Medicine. The question: Is it possible to accurately measure the intrinsic filling function of the heart?

Researchers have found that two common organisms collude and collaborate to increase the amount of calories harvested from a class of carbohydrates found in food sweeteners. In the study, conducted in previously germ-free mice, colonization with two prominent human gut microbes led to fatter mice. Scientists at the School of Medicine called the results an illustration of how understanding the menagerie of microorganisms that live in our guts can provide new insights into health.