School of Medicine

New research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that as much as 10 percent of individual differences in intelligence can be explained by the strength of neural pathways connecting the lateral prefrontal cortex to the rest of the brain. Findings establish “global brain connectivity” as a new method for understanding human intelligence.

Steven Strasberg, MD, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award/Gold Medallion of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (IHPBA) for his numerous contributions to the field of hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery.

New research suggests that patients whose mobility has been limited by stroke may one day use their imagination and a computer link to move their hands.

Three hundred and eighty physicians at Washington University in St. Louis have been named to the Best Doctors In America for 2012. One of every three physicians in St. Louis is a Washington University physician.

Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis who were decoding the activity of populations of neurons in the motor cortex discovered that they could tell how a monkey was planning to approach a reaching task. By chance the two monkeys chosen for the study had completely different cognitive styles. One was a hyperactive type, who kept jumping the gun, and the other was a smooth operator, who waited for the entire setup to be revealed before planning his next move. The difference is clearly visible in their decoded brain activity, allowing the scientists, in effect, to read their minds.

Gerald Andriole, MD, chief of urologic surgery at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is a co-author of new research showing that many men with prostate cancer do not need immediate treatment, especially if they have low PSA scores or low-risk tumors that are unlikely to grow and spread.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded more than $2 million to a team of scientists from Washington University in St. Louis and InvivoSciences, a biotechnology startup with WUSTL roots, to construct artificial tissue models that will allow the rapid testing of new drugs for heart failure.

A unique summer research program is providing 11 students who attend Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., with invaluable experience at the School of Medicine. The program offers the Meharry students the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research with the School of Medicine’s renowned physicians and scientists.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has created the Alan Permutt Career Development Award in honor of the late M. Alan Permutt, MD, who died June 10, 2012.

Vikas Dharnidharka, MD, an award-winning specialist in pediatric kidney disease and transplantation, has been named director of the Division of Nephrology in the Department of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.