Longer Life Foundation awards five grants, seeks applications
The genetics of aging and the effects of calorie restriction on aging and longevity will be studied at the School of Medicine with funding from the Longer Life Foundation.
Altering brain’s lipid metabolism reduces Alzheimer’s plaques in mice
Increasing levels of a protein that helps the brain use cholesterol may slow the development of Alzheimer’s disease changes in the brain, according to researchers studying a mouse model of the disease at the School of Medicine.
Woman is first in region to receive new heart valve without open-heart surgery
John Lasala and Ralph Damiano Jr. work together on the first surgery in the PARTNER trial.
A 78-year-old St. Louis woman was the first patient in this region to receive an experimental device to replace her defective aortic valve without opening the chest wall or using a heart-lung machine. This procedure was performed by Washington University heart specialists at Barnes-Jewish Hospital on Jan. 15.
Eat less or exercise more? Either way leads to more youthful hearts
Overweight people who lose a moderate amount of weight get an immediate benefit in the form of better heart health, according to a study conducted at the School of Medicine. And the heart improvements happen whether that weight is shed by eating less or exercising more.
Disrupting common parasites’ ability to “talk” to each other reduces infection
*T. gondii* imaged just after reproduction inside a host cell. (Photo by Wandy Beatty.)One of the most common human parasites, Toxoplasma gondii, uses a hormone lifted from the plant world to decide when to increase its numbers and when to remain dormant, researchers at the School of Medicine have found. The scientists report this week in Nature that they successfully blocked production of the molecule, known as abscisic acid (ABA), with a plant herbicide. Low doses of the herbicide prevented fatal T. gondii infection in mice.
Insights into cell movement likely to aid immune study, cancer research
Scientists at the School of Medicine have used yeast cells to better understand a collection of proteins associated with the formation of actin networks, which are essential to cell movement. The cell’s ability to move is important to a broad range of biomedical concerns, including understanding how immune system cells pursue disease-causing invaders and how metastasizing cancer cells migrate from a tumor.
Apply now for Bear Cub Fund grants
The University Bear Cub Fund is soliciting grant applications from University researchers who want to move inventions from their laboratories toward commercialization.
School of Medicine establishes faculty recognition program
Eighteen School of Medicine faculty will be recognized Jan. 23 with the first Distinguished Faculty Awards.
Wolff commits $20 million for biomedical research
St. Louis businesswoman and philanthropist Edith L. Wolff has made a commitment of $20 million to support biomedical research at the School of Medicine. The funds will establish the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Institute, which will support biomedical research projects that lead to the prevention, treatment and cure of disease.
Randall, research patient coordinator at Siteman, 52
Gwendolyn Randall, research patient coordinator at Siteman Cancer Center, died Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital of complications from cancer. She was 52.
View More Stories