School of Medicine

Ralph G. Dacey Jr., MD, the Henry G. and Edith R. Schwartz Professor and head of the Department of Neurosurgery, has been awarded the Harvey Cushing Medal by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. He was honored with the medal, the association’s most prestigious award, for his many years of outstanding leadership, dedication and contributions to the field of neurosurgery.

Children with mild to moderate persistent asthma are at greater risk of developing chronic lung disease as young adults and, therefore, may require lifelong treatment even if their asthma symptoms subside for extended periods, according to a major national study co-led by researchers at the School of Medicine.

Marvin E. Levin, MD, a renowned endocrinologist and teacher for many years at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, died of complications from pneumonia April 30, 2016, in St. Louis. He was 91.

Using a new imaging agent that binds to tau protein and makes it visible in positron emission tomography (PET) scans, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that measures of tau are better markers of the cognitive decline characteristic of Alzheimer’s than measures of amyloid beta seen in PET scans.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria most often are associated with hospitals and other health-care settings, but a new study from the School of Medicine indicates that chicken coops and sewage treatment plants also are hot spots of antibiotic resistance.

Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, director of Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected chairman of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) board of directors.

Two mouse models of Zika virus infection in pregnancy have been developed by a team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The models provide a basis to develop vaccines and treatments, and to study the biology of Zika virus infection in pregnancy.

Signaling a potential new approach to treating diabetes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Harvard University have produced insulin-secreting cells from stem cells derived from patients with type 1 diabetes.

Two School of Medicine scientists have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. They are Kenneth M. Murphy, MD, PhD, and Herbert W. “Skip” Virgin IV, MD, PhD, both of the Department of Pathology and Immunology. Election to the academy is among the highest honors that can be awarded to a U.S. scientist or engineer.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that some neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex assign value to options in everyday decision-making. The area’s neurons then can re-map to make different decisions when circumstances change.