School of Medicine

An unexpected finding led School of Medicine researchers to propose a new treatment approach for a rare, deadly neurodegenerative disorder.

School of Medicine scientists have found that some of the bacteria that plague women with urinary tract infections (UTIs) are entrenched inside human bladder cells.

Scientists at the School of Medicine have linked a mutation in a gene known as TDP-43 to an inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the neurodegenerative condition often called Lou Gehrig’s disease. Researchers found the connection intriguing because studies by other groups have revealed abnormalities in the TDP-43 protein in both sporadic and inherited ALS, as well as in several other neurodegenerative disorders.

Below is a link to the Washington University news release about the U.S. News & World Report undergraduate rankings for 2004-05: http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/3627.html To view a full listing of U.S. News magazine, book and Web-only rankings for 2004-05, please visit the U.S. News & World Report site: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

Below is a link to the Washington University news release about the U.S. News & World Report undergraduate rankings for 2004-05: http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/3627.html To view a full listing of U.S. News magazine, book and Web-only rankings for 2004-05, please visit the U.S. News & World Report site: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

Subtle malformations in the brains of patients with schizophrenia also tend to occur in their healthy siblings, according to investigators at the Silvio Conte Center for the Neuroscience of Mental Disorders at the School of Medicine. Shape abnormalities were found in the brain’s thalamus. The researchers performed brain MRI scans in 25 patients with schizophrenia and their non-affected siblings and compared the scans with those of 40 healthy volunteers and their siblings.

Experts in alcoholism and suicide from around the United States will present their research Feb. 21 at the 8th Annual Samuel B. Guze Symposium on Alcoholism at the School of Medicine. This year’s event focuses on “Alcohol, Suicide and Suicidality.” The program is intended for physicians, psychologists, social workers, teachers, policy makers, other health professionals and members of the community.

A gene linked to pediatric brain tumors is an essential driver of early brain development, School of Medicine researchers have found. The study, published recently in Cell Stem Cell, reveals that the neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) gene helps push stem cells down separate paths that lead them to become two major types of brain cells: support cells known as astrocytes and brain neurons.

Therapists and eating disorders specialists at the School of Medicine are joining investigators at a handful of sites around North America to evaluate anorexia nervosa treatments. Only 25 percent of anorexia patients recover completely, and the goal of this study is to improve those odds.

Walter C. Bauer, M.D., a retired professor of pathology at the School of Medicine, died Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008. He was 82.