School of Medicine

Time is the most important factor when dealing with stroke, the third leading cause of death in the U.S. But before a person can get a loved one crucial medical treatment in time, he or she must know what signs to heed. WUSM physicians and stroke experts Mark Goldberg and Maurizio Corbetta discuss stroke and its symptoms in the following St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.

RossWill Ross, M.D., associate dean and director of the Office of Diversity at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received the 2005 Distinguished Community Service in Medicine Award by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. State Celebration Commission.

It is now significantly easier to search long stretches of DNA for genetic changes associated with disease, thanks to scientists at the School of Medicine.

Charles F. Knight and Joanne Knight have donated $5 million to the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. The commitment will endow and establish the Joanne Knight Breast Health Center and Breast Cancer Program.

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.