School of Medicine

The Graduate Student Senate of Arts & Sciences honored seven faculty members with Outstanding Faculty Mentor Awards during its 13th annual awards ceremony and reception April 11 in the Women’s Building Formal Lounge. The awards recognize faculty members whose dedication to mentoring PhD students and commitment to excellence in graduate training have made a significant contribution to the quality of life and professional development of students in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Special recognition for excellence in mentoring went to nine other faculty members at the ceremony.

Led by Jasvindar Singh, MD, doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are seeking volunteers for a clinical trial testing an investigational device in patients with severe high blood pressure that can’t be controlled with aggressive medical treatments.

Michael J. Welch, PhD, a pioneering radiochemist who was the author of more than 550 papers on the use of radioactive drugs in diagnosis and treatment of disease, died Sunday, May 6, 2012. He was 72.

William A. Peck, MD, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Medicine and director of the Center for Health Policy at Washington University in St. Louis, will be the keynote speaker at Washington University School of Medicine’s 2012 Commencement at 3 p.m. May 18 in the Ferrara Theater at the America’s Center, 701 Convention Plaza, St. Louis, Mo.

Brain networks may avoid traffic jams at their busiest intersections by communicating on different frequencies, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, including Maurizio Corbetta, MD, and at other institutions have learned. Examining the temporal structure of brain activity from this perspective may help in understanding depression and schizophrenia.

​Training in England gives Jane Garbutt, MBChB, a unique perspective on medical issues in the United States and how care can be provided differently. Garbutt strives to help pediatricians in private practice find the most effective treatments for everyday medical problems.

Results of a new study from Washington University’s Drug Discovery Center demonstrate the feasibility of a novel strategy in drug discovery: screening large numbers of existing drugs — often already approved for other uses — to see which ones activate genes that boost natural immunity.

Results of one of the largest studies of heart failure to date show that warfarin is no better than aspirin in reducing the combined risks of brain hemorrhage, stroke and death in most heart failure patients. Clinicians now have reassurance that aspirin is safe for heart failure patients with a normal heart rhythm, according to study co-author Douglas L. Mann, MD.

Nigar Kirmani, MD, and Douglas Larsen, MD, have been selected to receive the 2012-14 Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb Teaching Fellowships at Washington University School of Medicine. The fellowship program was established in 2004 by a gift from the Loebs to advance clinical education and to honor local physicians committed to clinical excellence.

A combination of two diabetes drugs was more effective in treating 10-17-year-olds with recent-onset type 2 diabetes than one, according to researchers at Washington University in St. Louis who participated in a multicenter clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Washington University School of Medicine segment of the trial was led by Neil H. White, professor of pediatrics and of medicine and director of the Pediatric Clinical Research Unit and a diabetes specialist at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.