School of Medicine

It’s no laughing matter that older adults have a tougher time understanding basic jokes than do younger adults. It’s partially due to a cognitive decline associated with age, according to Washington University in St. Louis researchers Wingyun Mak, a graduate student in psychology in Arts & Sciences, and Brian Carpenter, Ph.D., Washington University associate professor of psychology.

Albert Roos, M.D., professor emeritus of anesthesiology and of cell biology and physiology, died Tuesday, June 5, 2007. He was 92.

School of Medicine staff were honored for their years of service at two June 4 ceremonies.

Photo by Robert Boston(From left) Rosemary J. Lueck, Marge Boyd and Linda Susan Day admire Lueck’s certificate for 41 years of service to the University at the First Annual Length of University Service award programs June 4 at the Eric P. Newman Education Center.At the First Annual Length of University Service Award programs June 4, employees were recognized for 10 years of service through the 53 years of service by Marge Boyd, who retired from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in December.

StanleySamuel Stanley, vice chancellor of research, has been named an Ambassador in Research!America’s Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research. Stanley is now one of 50 of the nation’s foremost global health experts who have joined forces to increase awareness about the critical need for greater U.S. public and private investment in research to improve global health.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • New treatment for obesity? (week of July 4) • Heading off vaccine side-effects (week of July 11) • Brain’s chain-of-command (week of July 18) • Repairing ‘sports hernias’ (week of July 25)

Lung transplants have been performed successfully for more than 20 years in humans but never before in mice – until now. Surgeons at the School of Medicine have developed the first mouse model of lung transplantation, and they’re hoping it will help explain why the success of the procedure in humans lags far behind other solid organ transplants.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have found that a protein absorbs lipids in the upper part of the intestine, and they believe its key role in this process may provide a novel approach for obesity treatment in the future. Principal investigator Nada Abumrad first identified the protein, CD36, that facilitates the uptake of fatty acids.

YokoyamaWayne M. Yokoyama, M.D., is the new director of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at the School of Medicine. The appointment went into effect July 1. Students in the program graduate with combined medical and doctoral degrees. The MSTP at Washington University is the largest M.D.-Ph.D. program in the nation with 183 students.

An antibody frequently used as a diagnostic marker for multiple sclerosis (MS) is present at greater levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of blacks with MS than Caucasians with the disease. The findings suggest that genetic differences among ethnic groups contribute to changes in the immune system, affecting susceptibility to MS. And they add another piece to a tantalizing but stubborn puzzle: Why do blacks get MS less often than other ethnic groups but suffer more serious symptoms when they develop the disease?