School of Medicine

Scientists report in this week’s Nature that they have linked the health of specialized gut immune cells to a gene associated with Crohn’s disease, an often debilitating and increasingly prevalent inflammatory bowel disorder. The link to immune cells intrigued researchers at the School of Medicine because they and others believe Crohn’s disease is caused by misdirected immune responses in the intestine that damage gut tissue.

A new School of Medicine study shows who M.D./Ph.D. students are and which students we need to support in these programs.

Futuristic nanotechnology has been teamed with a decades-old drug to beat atherosclerotic plaques in new School of Medicine research.

New research shows that in Missouri the disparity in cancer incidence and death between African-Americans and whites is declining.

Scientists used a direct monitoring grid of electrodes (left) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (right) to detect a low-frequency brain signal that doesn’t stop, even in sleep.Neuroscientists at the School of Medicine have taken one of the first direct looks at one of the human brain’s most fundamental “foundations”: a brain signal that never switches off and may support many cognitive functions. Their results are an important step forward for efforts to outline what neuroscientists call the functional architecture of the brain. Better understanding of this architecture will aid efforts to treat brain injury and mental disorders.

A protein that helps keep immune cells quiet is more abundant in the spinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), further boosting suspicion that the protein, TREM-2, may be an important contributor to the disease.

Calorie restriction, a diet that is low in calories and high in nutrition, may not be as effective at extending life in people as it is in rodents, according to scientists at the School of Medicine. Previous research had shown that laboratory animals given 30 percent to 50 percent less food can live up to 50 percent longer, but new research suggests the diet may not have the desired effect unless people on calorie restriction also pay attention to their protein intake.

Imran Zoberi, M.D., has been named medical director of radiation oncology at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital.

Kerri Morgan, instructor in the Program in Occupational Therapy, took fifth place in two events at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing Sept. 11 and 15.

An in-depth study of one-sided or unilateral hearing has now received a five-year, $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.