School of Medicine

The School of Medicine’s Tobacco-Free Policy has been approved and will go into effect April 2, 2007.

School of Medicine researchers have found that our gut microbes are biomarkers, mediators and potential therapeutic targets in the war against obesity.

Leonard Berg, founder and former director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, died Monday, Jan. 15, following a stroke. His early work formed the foundation for the systemized assessment of dementia and detection of early onset of Alzheimer’s disease now in common use.

School of Medicine researchers suggest that eating less protein may help protect against certain cancers that are not directly associated with obesity. Lean people on a long-term, low-protein, low-calorie diet or regular endurance exercisers have lower levels of growth factors and hormones linked to cancer.

Joseph T. Strong, a research engineer in the Genome Sequencing Center at the School of Medicine, died Saturday, Dec. 23, 2006.

Photo by Tim ParkerPete and Jenny Ferrill of Danville, Ill., hold Kieran, one of their quintuplets born Dec. 21 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and talk with Michael Paul, M.D., the physician who delivered the quints.The “Ferrill Five” quintuplets born in December were the first quints to be delivered through the Washington University Center for Multiple Births.

The pink color in the image on the right highlights cells producing excess mucus, a symptom of COPD. The image on the left shows normal lung tissue. Physicians say that smoking is by far the biggest cause of emphysema, but why doesn’t every smoker get the disease? If you asked WUSM physician Michael Holtzman that question, he might answer that for most cases of emphysema you need a mix of genes, viruses and cigarettes. Emphysema and the associated condition of chronic bronchitis are both disorders that contribute to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.

The AIDS Clinical Trials Unit (ACTU) at theSchool of Medicine has received a $10 million grant to find new treatments for AIDS and HIV-related complications, such as dementia, neuropathy and cardiovascular disease. The seven-year grant is from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

An immune system gene that flunked its first tryout as an antiviral factor has triumphed in its second, proving that it can help fight the flu, herpes and the Sindbis virus. Picking the right opponents for interferon stimulated gene 15 (ISG15) to square off against proved to be key to uncovering its potential.

The growth factor G-CSF caused bone tumors to increase in size in lab mice. The mouse on the left did not receive G-CSF. The mouse on the right did.In laboratory tests on mice, researchers found that a medication often used to reduce toxic side effects of chemotherapy induced bone loss and helped tumors grow in bone. So the researchers are recommending increased awareness of bone health during cancer treatments. The medication studied is a growth factor commonly used to help cancer patients recover healthy blood counts after chemotherapy, which can destroy white blood cells.