School of Medicine

Courtesy PhotoThe frame of the BJC Institute of Health at Washington University continues to rise and expand across the two-acre construction site.

Military physicians treating solders with nerve injuries will soon be guided by a multimedia Web site under development by the School of Medicine.

Washington University faculty physicians assumed responsibility for providing medical care in the Emergency Department at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital July 1. The addition of Washington University emergency medicine physicians continues the enhancement of clinical services at Barnes-Jewish West County.

The Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the School of Medicine will lead a six-year, $16 million international research collaboration dedicated to understanding inherited forms of Alzheimer’s disease.

Allyson Gibson, a doctoral student in physics in Arts & Sciences, has received a prestigious P.E.O. Scholar Award for the 2008-09 academic year. She was one of 85 recipients selected from more than 640 applicants from the United States and Canada. The $15,000 merit-based award is given to women who are either pursuing a doctoral-level degree or engaged in postgraduate study or research who show potential to make significant contributions to their fields of study.

A mutation that causes a childhood tumor syndrome also impairs growth hormone secretion, researchers at the School of Medicine have found. The discovery provides new insights into an old mystery, revealing why patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 are frequently shorter than their peers. The surprising details have led scientists to consider modifying their search for treatments for the inherited disorder, which is caused by a mutation in the neurofibromin 1 (NF1) gene and is characterized by an increased risk of cancer.

Providing fruits for snacks and serving vegetables at dinner can shape a preschooler’s eating patterns for his or her lifetime. To combat the increasing problem of childhood obesity, researchers are studying how to get preschoolers to eat more fruits and vegetables. According to researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, one way is early home interventions — teaching parents how to create an environment where children reach for a banana instead of potato chips.

Injuries are a fact of life for football players. A torn knee ligament, ruptured Achilles tendon or a serious concussion can end a season or even a player’s career. New research from sports medicine specialists at the School of Medicine shows arm injuries are also causing NFL players to miss significant game and practice time.

Scientists testing sleep’s effects on learning have devised a model that presents fruit flies with a simple choice: fly into a lighted vial or a darkened one.Staying awake slows down our brains, scientists have long recognized. Mental performance is at its peak after sleep but inevitably trends downward throughout the day, and sleep deprivation only worsens these effects. For the first time, researchers at the School of Medicine have found a way to stop this downward slide. When scientists genetically tweaked a part of the brain involved in learning and memory in fruit flies, the flies were unimpaired even after being deprived of sleep.

More than 300 physicians at the School of Medicine have been named to The Best Doctors In America for 2008. The number is twice that of any other physicians’ group in St. Louis and more than any other physicians’ group in the Midwest.