Newsroom Stories

A key brain structure that regulates emotions works differently in preschoolers with depression compared with their healthy peers, according to new research at the School of Medicine. Brain scans of preschoolers with depression revealed elevated activity in the amygdala, the area shown in the red circle, when compared with scans of young children exhibiting no signs of depression.

WUSTL biologist Alan Templeton and colleagues in Israel and Germany received $2 million to look at the shifting patterns of gene expression, called the transcriptome, in two remarkably versatile species of fire salamander, one native to Israel and the other to Germany. The work may explain why this genus of salamanders is able to adapt to a wide variety of habitats when most salamander species live in one.

Thomas W. Ferkol, MD, the Alexis Hartmann, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine, has been installed as president-elect of the American Thoracic Society (ATS).

Julio E. Pérez, MD, professor of medicine, has received multiple honors this year for excellence in teaching. The American College of Cardiology, the American Society of Echocardiography and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis each have recognized Pérez as a gifted educator and mentor in the field of cardiology.

The Supreme Court today struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and rejected a challenge to a lower court ruling that invalidated California’s ban on same-sex marriage, known as Proposition 8. Gregory Magarian, JD, constitutional law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, says that the immediate effects of these decisions for same-sex couples will be profound. “The demise of DOMA means that the federal government must treat same-sex couples, legally married under state laws, just like opposite-sex married couples for purposes of federal benefits, tax status, etc,” he says. “The nullification of Proposition 8 appears to make marriage available to same-sex couples in the nation’s largest state, under a prior marriage law that Proposition 8 had purported to invalidate.”

F. Sessions Cole, MD, the Park J. White, MD, Professor and vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected to the March of Dimes National Board of Trustees.

Washington University in St. Louis is one of eight Association of American Universities (AAU) member campuses selected to serve as project sites for the association’s five-year initiative to improve the quality of undergraduate education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields at its member institutions, AAU officials announced today.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder effectively kills the most successful weapon our nation has ever produced against racial discrimination in voting, says constitutional and election law expert Gregory Magarian, JD, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. He says the Court’s decision reflects a victory for two big ideas: state power, at the expense of racial justice; and judicial power, at the expense of democracy.

Each year, about 431 million adults worldwide are victims of cybercrime, costing $388 billion based on time and monetary loss. The problem is so severe that President Barack Obama recently said, “cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation.” To address this growing need, the Washington University in St. Louis School of Engineering & Applied Science, partnering with WUSTL’s Olin Business School, is launching a master’s degree in cyber security management in Fall 2013 to provide area professionals and full-time students with the skills needed to prepare for and stop cyber attacks in their workplace.

A study of older adults has found that combining antidepressants with cognitive behavioral therapy appears to be effective as a treatment for anxiety. Pictured is Eric J. Lenze, MD, professor of psychiatry, discussing therapy options with Diana Simpson.