School of Medicine

New lens replacement material may aid cataract patientsA gel-like material eventually could replace diseased and aging lenses in the eyes of patients with cataracts. The material also might eventually mean the end of bifocals and contact lenses for millions of people who suffer from presbyopia — literally “old vision” — a condition that makes it difficult for people over 40 to read without magnification. Researchers from the Veterans Affairs (VSA) Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine reported on the gel in New York at the 226th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society. The technology could represent a totally different approach to the treatment of cataracts and presbyopia.

Not long ago, Diana L. Gray, M.D., gently told a young teacher expecting her first child that without fetal interventive surgery, her unborn baby boy most likely would not survive. Gray was faced with the most difficult aspect of being an obstetrical geneticist. She had to explain that an expanding cyst was compressing the baby’s […]

“This study helps us better understand how these parasites are transmitted and how they establish infections,” said principal investigator Stephen M. Beverley.

New evidence found by School of Medicine researchers marks significant progress in understanding a critical nervous system pathway.

The award recognizes Stahl’s outstanding efforts to promote the careers of women in science; he’s the first man to win the recognition.

He will study a protein called nucleophosmin, which may have a role in promoting tumor growth.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services announced today that Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will anchor a multi-institutional Midwest Regional Center for Excellence in Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (MRCE). The center will be funded by a five-year, $35 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

David GutmannJust as films or plays feature both stars and a supporting cast, in the brain the cells called neurons have “starring roles.” But a team of epilepsy researchers led by David H. Gutmann, M.D., Ph.D., the Donald O. Schnuck Family Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine, has found that a type of supporting cell in the brain is responsible for some epileptic seizures. Studying mice that develop a genetic disorder called tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), which affects about 50,000 Americans and causes debilitating epileptic seizures in half of them, Gutmann’s team found that cells called astrocytes played a critical role in the development of seizures. The researchers found that mice that lack a particular gene developed seizures, and they say that gene, combined with the knowledge that the “supporting” astrocyte cells are responsible for the seizures, provides new targets for treating epilepsy.

A new technique in development will produce quick and efficient radiation dosing.Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a technique that makes radiation oncologists significantly faster at calculating radiation dosages for patients undergoing cancer treatment. The technique also provides a more carefully controlled dosage of radiation to cancerous cells that is less likely to damage nearby healthy tissues. The research team — led by Victor Wickerhauser, Ph.D., professor of mathematics in Arts & Sciences and Joseph O. Deasy, Ph.D., assistant professor of radiation oncology at the School of Medicine — has turned to a mathematical tool called wavelet analysis to calculate radiation dose distributions. The tool has helped speed up the dose calculations by a factor of two or more compared to the standard dose calculation technique.

Richard CholeInfection of the tonsils, or tonsillitis, is one of the most common infectious diseases of childhood. More than 400,000 tonsillectomies are performed annually in the U.S., making it one of the most common surgical procedures involving children. Prior to surgery, pediatricians prescribe antibiotics, and children get better, but infections can return in a pattern that repeats itself until the doctor — or the frustrated parents — finally decide that the tonsils must come out. Now researchers, led by Richard A. Chole, M.D., Ph.D., Lindburg Professor and head of the Department of Otolaryngology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, have discovered that bacteria often form biofilms in the wet and warm folds of the tonsils, and that these may serve as reservoirs of repeated infection. Recent evidence has linked biofilms to a variety of persistent infections.