School of Medicine

William M. Landau, MD, a professor emeritus of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, died in his sleep Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, at his home in University City. He was 93.

John F. DiPersio, MD, PhD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received a $6 million outstanding investigator award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support research aimed at improving therapies for leukemia.

The School of Medicine has received a $10 million commitment from longtime benefactors George and Debra Couch to support research that advances personalized medicine. In recognition of their generosity, the research building at 4515 McKinley Ave. has been named the Debra and George W. Couch III Biomedical Research Building.

Milton J. Schlesinger, professor emeritus of molecular microbiology at the School of Medicine, died of heart failure Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, at his home in Berkeley, Calif., after a long period of illness. He was 89.

A defective gene linked to autism influences how neurons connect and communicate with each other in the brain, according to a study from the School of Medicine. Rodents that lack the gene form too many connections between brain neurons and have difficulty learning.

A new study at the School of Medicine suggests that being penny wise and pound foolish is not so much a failure of judgment as it is a function of how our brains tally the value of objects that vary widely in worth.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently awarded a team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis a five-year, $1.6 million grant to develop a combined treatment option using drug treatment and physical therapy to better restore range of motion following injury.

Geetika Khanna, MD, a professor of radiology, has been named chief of pediatric radiology for Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Khanna, who served as interim chief for the past year, also assumes the role of radiologist-in-chief at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

School of Medicine researchers have identified a pathway in the brain that seems to connect exposure to adverse experiences during early childhood with depression and problems with physical health in teens and preteens.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have identified how the malaria parasite gets into and out of red blood cells, and chemical compounds that block the process. The findings could lead to desperately needed new drugs for the deadly mosquito-borne disease.