School of Medicine

Peter Humphrey, M.D., Ph.D., has been named the Ladenson Professor of Pathology in the Department of Pathology & Immunology. Larry Shapiro, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, made the announcement. “Peter has a long history of service to the University and is a recognized leader in efforts […]

HammermanIn a new study with an eye on curing diabetes, senior investigator Marc Hammerman and a group of WUSM scientists successfully transplanted embryonic pig pancreatic cells destined to produce insulin into diabetic macaque monkeys – all without the need for risky immune suppression drugs that prevent rejection. The transplanted cells, known as primordia, are in the earliest stages of developing into pancreatic tissues. Within several weeks of the transplants, the cells became engrafted, or established, within the three rhesus macaque monkeys that received them. The cells also released pig insulin in response to rising blood glucose levels, as would be expected in healthy animals and humans.

Scientists believe they have found an explanation for a puzzling and serious complication of West Nile virus infection. Researchers showed that the virus can enter a nerve cell, replicate and move on to infect other nearby nerve cells. Viruses traveling this infectious pathway can break into the central nervous system, triggering a condition known as acute flaccid paralysis that leaves one or more limbs limp and unresponsive.

Studying efforts to combat obesity in children, a research team led by School of Medicine investigators has found that children who lose weight are able to keep it off more effectively if they participate in a maintenance-targeted treatment program, although the effectiveness of the maintenance program lessens over time.

Peter Humphrey, M.D., Ph.D., has been named the Ladenson Professor of Pathology in the Department of Pathology and Immunology. As the Ladenson professor, Humphrey becomes chief of the newly renamed Division of Anatomic and Molecular Pathology within the department.

Susan E. Mackinnon, M.D., has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

A memorial service will be held in honor of Daniel P. Schuster, M.D., Monday, Oct. 22, from 4-6:30 p.m. at the Eric P. Newman Auditorium.

Photo by Robert BostonDale Thuet, a second-year doctoral student in the Program in Physical Therapy, prepares the InBody body scanner to analyze Nikki Morilak, a first-year student.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is bringing together a distinguished group of scientists, legal scholars, jurists and philosophers from across the country to help integrate new developments in neuroscience into the U.S. legal system.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Bright tumors, dim prospects (week of Oct. 3) • New drugs for Parkinson’s (week of Oct. 10) • Heart disease in the mentally ill (week of Oct. 17) • Preventing plaque buildup (week of Oct. 24) • Helping children lose weight (week of Oct. 31)