School of Medicine

Steven E. Petersen is congratulated by Chancellor Mark Wrighton and William A. Peck.Steven E. Petersen, a pioneering brain imaging researcher, is the first James S. McDonnell Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience.

Ralph S. Quatrano will serve as co-chair until June 30, 2005, at which point he will take over as chair of the division.

Ralph G. Dacey Jr. has been named this year’s recipient of the prestigious Grass Foundation Award from the Society of Neurological Surgeons.

School of Medicine Employee Appreciation Day Picnic held June 13.

Sometimes two shots are better than one. Washington University pediatrician, Robert M. Kennedy, M.D., professor of pediatrics, and other Emergency Department researchers at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, have developed an “ouchless” IV technique. Before inserting a big IV needle into the hand of a child, the physicians first apply numbing gel. Then, they use a tiny needle to inject a local anesthetic into the area before they finally introduce the bigger IV needle. By the time an IV is started, the injection site is numb, and patients who already are in an emergency department, don’t have to face even more pain.

Sophisticated brain imaging reveals that several brain regions can become overactivated when people with Tourette Syndrome perform tasks related to memory.Neuroscience researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are studying the brains of patients with Tourette Syndrome (TS) to see whether they can use sophisticated imaging techniques to identify differences in the dopamine system of people with the tics that characterize TS. A team of researchers, led by Kevin J. Black, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, neurology and radiology at Washington University School of Medicine, is using PET imaging to see what the brain does in response to levodopa, a natural amino acid that has been used for many years to treat movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease. With PET imaging, the researchers can measure the boost in the brain’s dopamine levels in response to the drug both in people with Tourette Syndrome and in those who do not have tics. By identifying differences, they hope to isolate the causes of tics and to help people with TS control or eliminate them.

Carrying backpacks the right wayAs parents and kids make their lists for the August back-to-school sales, one item to consider should be a backpack — on wheels, says Nancy J. Bloom, Ph.D., a physical therapy instructor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Kids backs are primarily bearing the weight of their schoolbooks. Bloom says that because young bones are growing all the way through high school, heavy backpacks need to be a major concern. She notes that there are a few important things that kids can do to avoid injury, including carrying their backpacks over both shoulders to balance the load.

Cells afflicted with SARS.Rapid and accurate diagnosis is critical for providing optimum care for patients with SARS and for helping contain the disease and protecting the community. If someone with a severe respiratory illness comes to Barnes-Jewish Hospital or St. Louis Children’s Hospital, emergency department physicians now should be able to tell whether the disease is SARS within a few hours. A team of researchers, led by Michael J. Holtzman, M.D., the Selma and Herman Seldin Professor of Medicine and professor of cell biology and physiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, developed a diagnostic tool that allows for quick identification of whether a person with respiratory disease has SARS. They also can determine the severity of the infection, and the test can detect the SARS virus even if very few virus molecules make it into the test sample.

ThoelkeIn today’s era of managed care, most physicians have fewer inpatients, and that makes it hard for many to justify spending time at the hospital with those patients. Mark S. Thoelke, M.D., clinical director of the hospitalist service at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, says because hospitalist physicians do not maintain outpatient practices, they can spend all of their time in the hospital and are available to treat a wide range of patients. That also allows for improvements in outpatient care because with their inpatients cared for by hospitalists, primary care physicians can focus even more of their time on the needs of the outpatients who make up the vast majority of their practices.

A new state-of-the-art building nestled in the heart of the Medical Campus will be called The Farrell Learning and Teaching Center.