School of Medicine

Researchers at the School of Medicine are seeking volunteers with Parkinson’s disease for two studies. One is investigating the effects of antidepressant drugs on depression and motor function. The second study is assessing the safety and effectiveness of a drug for Parkinson’s patients who also have psychotic symptoms. In the NIH-funded depression study, investigators are evaluating paroxetine (Paxil) and venlafaxine XR (Effexor) for their success in alleviating depression and for their potential effect on motor function in Parkinson’s patients.

An innovative cancer imaging center at the School of Medicine has received a five-year, $10 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The grant will fund a second cycle of research at the Washington University Molecular Imaging Center, where scientists from many different specialties collaborate on advanced imaging projects.

An estimated one million smokers will attempt to kick the habit this month as part of the annual Great American Smokeout. The Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital will offer its annual “Siteman Smokeout for Life,” Thursday, November 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Center for Advanced Medicine at the corner of Euclid and Forest Park.

Researchers at the School of Medicine are seeking volunteers who are slightly overweight or who have elevated blood pressure. They want to see whether it’s possible to reduce the progression of atherosclerosis in healthy people by giving low doses of the malaria drug chloroquine.

Arthur Kornberg, M.D., former chair of microbiology at the School of Medicine and a Nobel Prize winner, died Oct. 26. He was 89.

School of Medicine scientists have used a drug to block seizure-induced structural changes in brain cells in laboratory animals.

School of Medicine scientists have found an approach to diabetes that has promise for curing the disease in humans.

Photo by Robert BostonResearchers presented posters of their basic, clinical and translational research at the Research Training Symposium and Poster Session Oct. 25.

F. Sessions Cole, M.D., has been awarded a nearly $2 million, five-year grant to establish a career development program in the genetics and genomics of lung disease.

School of Medicine researchers have shown that a vaginal progesterone gel may improve infant outcomes in high-risk pregnancies.