School of Medicine

A group of researchers from Washington University in St. Louis has created a new kind of fiber-optic device to manipulate neural activity deep in the brain.

Ganesh Chand, an assistant professor at WashU Medicine Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, will study why some Alzheimer’s patients experience neuropsychiatric symptoms such as apathy and depression.

Farrokh Dehdashti, MD, the Drs. Barry A. and Marilyn J. Siegel Professor of Radiology at WashU Medicine Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, has received the Radiological Society of North America’s 2025 Outstanding Researcher Award.

Researchers at WashU Medicine have identified central routes that two deadly viruses take to invade human cells and designed “decoy” molecules to block the infections.

WashU Medicine deans Eva Aagaard, MD, and Nichole Zehnder, MD, have been promoted to assume greater roles leading the Office of Education’s efforts to train the next generation of health and science professionals. Their promotions take effect Nov. 1.

Christopher D. Smyser, MD, a renowned pediatric neurologist specializing in neonatal neurology and infant brain development, has been appointed director of the Division of Pediatric & Developmental Neurology in the Department of Neurology at WashU Medicine.

In a study published in Nature Neuroscience, researchers at WashU Medicine showed in mice that Alzheimer’s disease upended the daily activity patterns of hundreds of genes in cells that regulate key functions in the brain.

Eva Klinman, MD, PhD, an instructor in the Department of Neurology at WashU Medicine, has been named a 2025 STAT Wunderkind by STAT News for her exceptional contributions to understanding the mechanisms of brain aging and neurodegeneration.

Pamela K. Woodard, MD, head of the Department of Radiology and director of Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at WashU Medicine, is among 100 new members elected this year to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in health and medicine.

At the Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees meeting Sept. 19, numerous faculty members were appointed, promoted or granted tenure, with most taking effect that day.