School of Medicine

The School of Medicine shows how much its employees are appreciated at a variety of events in June, including the annual dean’s awards for outstanding contributions.

T.S. Park, M.D., has received the H. Richard Winn, M.D., Prize, the highest honor of the Society of Neurological Surgeons.

Michael R. DeBaun, M.D., has been named the Ferring Family Chair in Pediatric Cancer and Related Disorders at the School of Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The endowed chair was established by John and Alison Ferring of St. Louis through the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation.

School of Medicine researchers found the compounds in female mouse urine activate nerve cells in the male mouse’s nose with unprecedented effectiveness.

Jeffrey D. Bradley, M.D., associate professor of radiation oncology, has been named the first director of the Kling Center for Proton Therapy.

WooleyAn interdisciplinary team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, led by Karen L. Wooley, Ph.D., James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences, is a step closer to delivering cancer-killing drugs to pediatric brain tumors, similar to the tumor that Senator Ted Kennedy is suffering from. Such tumors are often difficult to completely remove surgically; frequently, cancerous cells remain following surgery and the tumor returns. Chemotherapy, while effective at treating tumors, often harms healthy cells as well, leading to severe side effects especially in young children that are still developing their brain functions. In an effort to solve this problem, the Wooley lab has developed polymeric nanoparticles that can entrap doxorubicin, a drug commonly used in chemotherapy, and slowly release the drug over an extended time period.

Children with sickle cell disease often face severe pain, organ damage, recurrent strokes and repeated, prolonged hospital stays. Although there are medical interventions that can lessen the symptoms, there is no cure. Researchers at the School of Medicine are leading a nationwide, multicenter clinical trial to determine the effectiveness of transplanting blood stem cells from unrelated donors into children with severe sickle cell disease.

The sound of a noisy Chicago restaurant during the breakfast rush — the clang of plates and silverware and the clamor of many voices — was the crucial test of new hearing aid technology in a study conducted by researchers at the School of Medicine. The study showed that the hearing aids worked well in a noisy environment — the most challenging test for a hearing aid.

The School of Medicine will receive approximately $9 million over 5 years to investigate new ways to diagnose and treat stroke. The new research center will become part of a national network of stroke centers.

Medical science may be a significant step closer to climbing into the driver’s seat of an important class of immune cells, researchers at the School of Medicine report in Nature Immunology.