School of Medicine

Jordan Teisher, a doctoral student in evolution, ecology and population biology, and Jeremy King, a doctoral student in plant biology, have been named the first Monsanto graduate fellows at Washington University.

The School of Medicine will present its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Lecture at 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16, in the Eric P. Newman Education Center.

High levels of tau protein in fluid bathing the brain are linked to poor recovery after head trauma, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Fondazione IRCCS Ca Granda-Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico in Milan, Italy. The results were reported online Nov. 23 in the journal Brain.

Scientists have uncovered a critical genetic mutation in some patients with myelodysplastic syndromes — a group of blood cancers that can progress to a fatal form of leukemia. The research team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis also found evidence that patients with the mutation are more likely to develop acute leukemia.

Jennifer K. Lodge, PhD, and Ernst Zinner, PhD, have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society. Lodge and Zinner are among 539 new fellows who will be acknowledged in the Dec. 23 issue of Science magazine.The 2011 AAAS Fellows also will be honored at a Feb. 18, 2012, ceremony at the organization’s annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada.

First-year medical students at Washington University School of Medicine have much to learn about the structure of the body and its cells. Soon, they will have new inspiration for that learning journey in the form of a series of detailed black-and-white electron micrographs of cells and their interiors created by John Heuser, MD, professor of cell biology and physiology.

At recent Board of Trustees meetings, the following faculty members were appointed with tenure or promoted with tenure: Randall J. Bateman, MD; Paul W. Hruz, MD, PhD; Catherine E. Lang, PhD; David Rudnick, MD, PhD; Sheila Stewart-Wigglesworth, PhD; Brad A. Racette, MD; and Chengjie Xiong, PhD.

James Fleshman, MD, is a highly regarded surgeon known for developing laparoscopic techniques for colorectal surgery. In a landmark clinical trial, his research helped to establish that laparoscopic surgery is as safe and effective as conventional surgery for removing colon tumors.

Faculty Achievement Award winners Wayne M. Yokoyama, MD, and Erik Trinkaus, PhD, listen before the award ceremony Dec. 3 at Simon Hall. The ceremony also honored Chancellor’s Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship winners Jonathan S. Turner, PhD, and Jerome R. Cox Jr., ScD. The recognition ceremony was followed by the annual Chancellor’s Gala at the Danforth University Center.

Washington University’s Genome Institute has received a $114 million grant to continue its groundbreaking genomic research. The four-year grant comes from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The university’s Genome Institute is one of only three large federally funded genome centers in the United States.