School of Medicine

Center for Advanced Medicine, home of Siteman Cancer CenterThe Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital has joined the highest ranking cancer research and treatment institutions with a designation by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. This distinction recognizes Siteman’s broad-based research, outreach and education activities, and provides $21 million for research funding.

Drugs used to treat the tumors common in people with a disorder called neurofibromatosis 1 rarely work, and scientists now know why. The chemotherapy drugs target a group of related proteins thought to be responsible for these tumors. But researchers at the School of Medicine found that the disease affects only the one member of the protein family that does not respond well to these particular treatments.

A recently developed mouse model of brain tumors common in the genetic disorder neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) successfully mimics the human condition and provides unique insight into tumor development, diagnosis and treatment, according to researchers at the School of Medicine.

Elderly women with cervical cancer face double jeopardy. Not only does their advanced age decrease chances of survival, it also decreases the likelihood that they’ll be given the most aggressive treatments for their disease, according to a study by researchers at the School of Medicine.

Mice missing a specific protein from their brains react to stress differently. The genetically engineered mice develop an imbalance in a hormone involved in stress responses, and during stressful situations, they behave as if they are depressed. Genetic variations in the same protein may be a significant cause of human depression, according to researchers at the School of Medicine.

MathewsFaith, formal education and life experiences have shaped the character of Katherine Jahnige Mathews, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the School of Medicine. A faculty member at the Siteman Cancer Center and a physician at ConnectCare, Mathews’ efforts have earned her the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Herbert W. Nickens, M.D., Faculty Fellowship for 2004.

Chimpanzees don’t need haircuts.Mammals have fur over most of their bodies, but at some point during evolution, we humans lost that fur covering. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis argue that hair on the head is somehow different from fur because fur stops growing when it reaches a certain length, but our head hair continues to grow.

Matthew DobbsAlmost 60 years after it was conceived, Washington University orthopaedic surgeon Matthew Dobbs, MD, has revived a nonsurgical technique to correct clubfoot, a congenital foot deformity. By combining the venerable procedure with the latest genetic science and translational research, Dobbs aims to drastically improve treatment and perhaps eventually reduce the incidence of the malady.

Researchers knew that prions, the misfolded proteins that cause mad cow disease and other brain disorders, were killing off a class of important brain cells in a transgenic mouse model. But when they found a way to rescue those cells, they were astonished to discover the mice still became sick.

Rendering of the new CORTEX buildingEfforts to develop a significant biotechnology industry in St. Louis got a major boost with the groundbreaking for a new laboratory and office building that will provide space for growing companies. The new building at 4300 Forest Park Avenue in midtown St. Louis is being developed by CORTEX, the Center of Research, Technology & Entrepreneurial Exchange.