School of Medicine

PeckThe National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine has named William A. Peck, M.D., a member of a national committee that will address ways to redesign health insurance benefits, payment and performance improvement programs.

Millions of people with severe tinnitus currently have little hope for quick relief from the unrelenting ringing or buzzing noises the disorder produces. But WUSM scientists suspect a drug already approved for seizure disorders and chronic nerve pain also can help silence the noises that plague tinnitus patients.

The Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, a non-profit organization working to protect the rights and welfare of research participants, recently awarded full accreditation to Washington University in St. Louis, one of only a few organizations in the nation to gain this recognition.

Cervical cancer is one of the easiest cancers to detect early. It’s also one of the easiest to treat, if caught early. WUSM researchers even developed a method for gauging the effectiveness of treatment to determine the best therapy for each patient, but many insurance companies and Medicaid won’t pay for the process – a routine PET scan. Kay Quinn provides more details in the following St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.

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.