School of Medicine

Photo by Robert BostonThe School of Medicine unveiled the Gerty Cori U.S. Postal Service stamp March 17 in Moore Auditorium.

Women over age 65 have a harder time preserving muscle than men of the same age, which probably affects their ability to stay strong and fit, according to research conducted at the School of Medicine and the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. For the first time, scientists have shown it is more difficult for older women to replace muscle that is lost naturally because of key differences in the way their bodies process food.

Current treatments allow most HIV-infected individuals to live healthy, productive lives, but they can also increase risk for cardiovascular problems. Now researchers at the School of Medicine have found a possible explanation. They discovered that the heart doesn’t slow down as quickly after exercise in patients taking highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for HIV.

MichalskiJeff Michalski, professor of radiation oncology, has been named interim head of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, effective April 1. Michalski is replacing Simon Powell, who has taken a position as head of radiation oncology at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Michael Avidan, M.D.; William Clutter, M.D.; and Stanley Misler, M.D., Ph.D., were named the winners of the 2007 Samuel R. Goldstein Leadership Awards in Medical Student Education. The annual awards, which recognize outstanding teaching, are among the highest honors that School of Medicine teachers can achieve. They were established in 2000 in honor of Goldstein, […]

Among the approximately 23,000 genes found in human DNA, scientists currently estimate that there may be as few as 50 to 100 that have no counterparts in other species. Expand that comparison to include the primate family known as hominoids, and there may be several hundred unique genes.

School of Medicine anesthesiology researchers have found that a device to ensure surgery patients have no memories of their operations may not lower the risk of the phenomenon known as anesthesia awareness.

ZebrafishBy injecting a customized “genetic patch” into early stage fish embryos, researchers at the School of Medicine were able to correct a genetic mutation so the embryos developed normally. The research could lead to the prevention of up to one-fifth of birth defects in humans caused by genetic mutations, according to the authors.

Don’t miss the Health Happening ’08 health and wellness fair Friday, March 28, in the first floor atrium of the McDonnell Pediatrics Research Building. All School of Medicine employees are welcome.

Using gene chip technology, School of Medicine scientists have distinguished pneumonia associated with ventilator use from other serious illnesses.