School of Medicine

School of Medicine faculty recently presented about 20 ideas to Washington University students during IDEA Labs’ inaugural ‘Problem Day’ in hopes that they might be able to devise solutions. IDEA Labs — which stands for Innovation, Design & Engineering in Action — is a bioengineering design incubator founded last year as a joint venture of the schools of Medicine and Engineering & Applied Science and the Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences.

Athletes with concussions aren’t allowed to compete again right away, and a Washington University concussion expert advises that children with concussions also may not be able to go back to the classroom right away. Pictured is an image of the brain.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have identified changes in the brains of children growing up in poverty. Those changes can lead to lifelong problems like depression, learning difficulties and limitations in the ability to cope with stress. But the study showed that the extent of those changes was influenced strongly by whether parents were attentive and nurturing. Pictured is principal investigator Joan L. Luby, MD.

The final results of a stroke-prevention study in patients with narrowed brain arteries confirm earlier findings: Medication plus lifestyle changes are safer and more effective for preventing stroke than a surgical technique called stenting. Pictured is a narrowed brain artery kept open with a stent.

As America’s longest war comes to an end, WUSTL panelists join author/journalist Fariba Nawa to bring their perspectives on the future of Afghanistan.

Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, will host the annual Dean’s Update for all employees Nov. 8 and 22.

A team of Washington University in St. Louis engineers and physicians is combining areas of expertise to prevent hospitalized patients from deteriorating while in the hospital and from being readmitted soon after discharge.

Roberto Civitelli, MD, the Sydney M. and Stella H. Schoenberg Professor of Medicine, has been elected president of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), the world’s leading scientific organization for bone health research.

Utility work for the Campus Renewal Project on the Medical Campus will require the temporary closure of Parkview Place Friday, Nov. 1, starting at 11 a.m. The work is expected to continue for eight to 10 hours.

Studying spinal fluid from people at risk for Alzheimer’s disease, School of Medicine researchers have found that a gene variation that had not been considered risky actually can increase the chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease when it occurs in tandem with another gene variant known to elevate risk. Shown is an image of a brain with a buildup of amyloid deposits (highest amounts in yellow and red) that collect to form senile plaques in patients with Alzheimer’s.