School of Medicine

John P. Boineau, MD, professor of surgery, of medicine and of biomedical engineering, died Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital after a long battle with leukemia. He was 78.

Increased complexity in health care demands a greater body of knowledge for health social workers. The newly released Handbook of Health Social Work, Second Edition is a key resource for social workers, offering a comprehensive and evidence-based overview of social work practice in health care. “Social workers in health care are active problem solvers who must draw from knowledge at the social, psychological and biological levels to work constructively with other members of the health-care team,” says Sarah Gehlert, PhD, co-editor and the E. Desmond Lee Professor of Racial and Ethnic Diversity at the Brown School and the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. “The Handbook covers practice and research areas ranging from chronic disorders to infectious disease, physical and mental disorders, and all areas in between.” US News & World Report listed medical and public health social work in their “Best Careers: 2011” article.

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified four proteins that supervise bone demolition, directing the destructive work of cells known as osteoclasts. The finding will help efforts to prevent bone loss and weakening caused by osteoporosis, cancer and other conditions.

Scientists exploring a potential cure for diabetes have shown that transplanting insulin-producing cells from embryonic pigs into diabetic monkeys can dramatically lower blood sugar levels, though not quite to normal levels.

Rochelle Smith has a knack for recruiting underrepresented graduate students in the sciences to Washington University. As director of diversity, summer programs and community outreach for the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, she is known for her magnetic personality that puts students, faculty and staff at ease.

J. Neal Middelkamp, MD, professor emeritus of pediatrics, died Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, at his home in St. Louis following a brief illness. He was 86. “Dr. Middelkamp has been a pillar of the academic pediatric community at Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital since his graduation from our School of Medicine in 1948,” says Alan L. Schwartz, PhD, MD, the Harriet B. Spoehrer Professor and head of the Department of Pediatrics.

A new study indicates that many patients undergoing spine surgery have low levels of vitamin D, which may delay their recovery. Vitamin D helps with calcium absorption, and patients with a deficiency can have difficulty producing new bone, which can, in turn, interfere with healing following spine surgery.

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that a protein may help prevent the kind of brain damage that occurs in babies with cerebral palsy.

Washington University in St. Louis has licensed to Castle Biosciences Inc. the exclusive use of a gene to detect the spread of cancer in melanoma patients. A link between the BAP1 gene and cancer metastasis was discovered by Washington University scientists J. William Harbour, MD, an ophthalmologic oncologist, and Anne Bowcock, PhD, a geneticist.

Workers unwrap the world’s first superconducting synchrocyclotron proton accelerator at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The device is part of a proton therapy system being installed at Washington University Medical Center at the Kling Center for Proton Therapy,