Facilities management employees set national record through training
Eighty-one staff members in the Facilities Management Department at Washington University School of Medicine recently earned the title of Facility Management Professional (FMP) from the International Facility Management Association. The department set a national record by having so many employees earn this title in less than four months. Professionals who become FMPs complete a series of comprehensive exams covering four areas: operations and maintenance, project management, finance and business, and leadership and strategy.
Bruchas, Gereau receive DECODE grant
Anesthesiology researchers Robert Gereau, PhD, (left) and Michael Bruchas, PhD, (right) have received one of only 11 DECODE (Deciphering Circuit Basis of Disease) grants to be awarded. The awards were announced at a ceremony featuring Thomas Insel, MD, (center) director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
Wickline receives chancellor’s innovation award
Samuel A. Wickline, MD, has been chosen to receive the Chancellor’s Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis. He will receive the honor Saturday, Dec. 6. Faculty achievement awards will be presented to David A. Balota, PhD, and Steven L. Teitelbaum, MD.
Genetic errors linked to more ALS cases than scientists had thought
Genetic mutations may cause more cases of amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS) than scientists previously had realized, according
to researchers. Shown are study authors Janet Cady, a PhD candidate, and Matthew Harms, MD, assistant professor of neurology at the School of Medicine.
Prather heads North American Spine Society
Heidi Prather, DO, professor and chief of physical medicine and rehabilitation, has been named president of the North American Spine Society (NASS). She is the first woman elected to the position.
Occupational sitting among women linked to obesity
You might want to stand up for this. Occupational
sitting is associated with an increased likelihood of obesity,
especially among black women, independent of occupational and leisure
time physical activity, finds a new study from the School of Medicine and the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
Breast cancer vaccine shows promise in small clinical trial
A breast cancer vaccine developed at the School of Medicine is safe in patients with metastatic breast cancer, results of an early clinical trial indicate. Preliminary evidence from the small clinical trial, led by William Gillanders, MD, also suggests that the vaccine primed the patients’ immune systems to attack tumor cells and helped slow the cancer’s progression.
The human eye can see ‘invisible’ infrared light
Science textbooks say we can’t see infrared light. Like X-rays and radio waves, infrared light waves are longer than the light waves in the visual spectrum. But an international team of researchers co-led by Frans Vinberg, PhD, (left) and Vladimir J. Kefalov, PhD, has found that under certain conditions, the retina can sense infrared light after all.
Vaccines may make war on cancer personal
In the near future, physicians may treat some cancer
patients with personalized vaccines that spur their immune systems to
attack malignant tumors. New research led by scientists at the School of Medicine including senior author Robert Schreiber, PhD, has brought the approach one
step closer to reality.
Finding features that support exercise in workplace neighborhoods
Neighborhood features such as bike facilities and low
crime rates are associated with increased leisure and workplace-related
physical activity, according to a new study from the Prevention Research Center at Washington University in St. Louis.
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