School of Medicine

Extending supervised outpatient rehabilitation by six months helps elderly patients more fully recover from hip fractures, according to the first controlled study of its kind. The study also showed for the first time that these patients, previously thought to be too frail for weight training, can benefit from progressive resistance exercise training.

It wasn’t a fashion show, but more than 120 incoming students donned new attire Aug. 13 during the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine’s annual White Coat Ceremony. The ceremony welcomes incoming medical students, and the white coat is symbolic of their transition into the study of medicine and their role as care givers.

A page entitled, “Rankings of WUSTL by News Media.”

A test being developed by WUSM researchers could more definitively tell doctors whether or not a patient has Alzheimer’s disease. Read more about the procedure in this St. Louis Post-Dispatch article written by Kay Quinn.

Blood from umbilical cords can treat a wide range of life-threatening illnesses in children, from leukemia to sickle cell disease. Cynthia L. Price, a WUSM pediatric research coordinator at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, describes the benefits of donating cord blood in the following St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.

A protein linked to increased lifespan in yeast and worms can also delay the degeneration of ailing nerve cell branches, according to WUSTL researchers. Scientists report in the Aug. 13 issue of Science that their findings might open the door to new treatments for a wide range of neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Administrative records indicate that she is the first woman to hold this position at Washington University.

The findings may help clinicians better understand how otherwise harmless viruses can cause severe disease among some patients.

Photo by Bob BostonThe radio station known as “The River” held a benefit event for the nonprofit Children’s Miracle Network; more than $650,000 was raised.

“This isn’t the answer to everything in terms of finding these links, but it’s an important breakthrough,” says senior investigator Howard McLeod.