Scopus list of publications for May 21, 2023
WashU weekly Neuroscience publications

Scopus list of publications for May 21, 2023
Diabetes researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered at least one reason insulin-secreting cells made from stem cells in the lab don’t work as well as natural cells. The discovery could help speed progress toward making insulin-secreting cells — called islet beta cells — more effective in the treatment of […]
Depression and anxiety are among the most common mental health disorders in the United States, but more than half of people struggling with the conditions are not diagnosed and treated. Hoping to find simple ways to detect such disorders, mental health professionals are considering the role of popular wearable fitness monitors in providing data that […]
Martha Bagnall, PhD, an assistant professor of neuroscience at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, received a $1.9 million R01 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to map neuronal connections in the zebrafish spinal cord. The Bagnall lab studies motor control […]
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has received two grants totaling $22.5 million to help lead national efforts to understand how DNA changes create differences in genomes across tissues within the same person. This variation — called somatic mosaicism — can change how cells operate and affect early development, disease risk, the aging […]
A team led by Washington University in St. Louis has been awarded $1 million over two years from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines, or NSF Engines, program. The team, called NEURO360, is among some 40 teams nationwide to receive NSF Engines Development Awards, which aim to spur collaborations to create economic, societal […]
Scopus list of publications for May 14, 2023
The Human Genome Project, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), ended in April 2003 and produced a human genome sequence made up of a patchwork of data from a small number of individuals. This lack of diversity limited its usefulness as a research tool for understanding human health and disease. Now, researchers have […]
The National Institutes of General Medical Sciences has awarded an Outstanding Investigator Award of nearly $2 million to Paul Taghert, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience at Washington University School of Medicine, to study how the circadian clock orchestrates multiple biological cycles that operate at different phases. Physiological and behavioral rhythms, such as sleep, hormone fluxes, and eating, […]
The Bouchet Graduate Honor Society, established in 2005 by Yale University and Howard University to recognize outstanding scholarly achievement, recently inducted four doctoral candidates from Washington University in St. Louis. Named after the first African American doctoral recipient in the United States, the honor society recognizes outstanding scholarly achievement and promotes diversity and excellence in […]
Strategies to treat pain without triggering dangerous side effects such as euphoria and addiction have proven elusive. For decades, scientists have attempted to develop drugs that selectively activate one type of opioid receptor to treat pain while not activating another type of opioid receptor linked to addiction. Unfortunately, those compounds can cause a different unwanted […]
Julian Abt, a senior majoring in Neuroscience, with minors in Medical Humanities and Russian Language and Literature, in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has been awarded the 2023 Ralph S. Quatrano Prize by the Department of Biology. Established through a generous donation by Katherine Day Reinleitner, the Quatrano Prize is awarded […]
Randall J. Bateman, MD, the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Distinguished Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, will receive the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award in Alzheimer’s Disease Therapeutic Research. Bateman has been chosen to receive the honor for his groundbreaking work in Alzheimer’s research, including the development of plasma […]
Each year, the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis awards a prize to a graduating senior in memory of Marion Smith Spector, a 1938 graduate who studied zoology under the late Viktor Hamburger. The Spector Prize, first awarded in 1974, recognizes academic excellence and outstanding undergraduate achievement in […]
Scopus list of publications for May 7, 2023
Jamie Opsal, MS, executive director of the St. Louis City Senior Fund received the Harvey A. and Dorismae Hacker Friedman Award for excellence in Service to Older Adults. Beth Prusaszcyk, PhD, MSW, assistant professor at Washington University School of Medicine won the Alene and Meyer Koplow Award for Geriatrics, Psychiatry, and Neurology. The Mark S. Wrighton […]
Dangerous bacterial bloodstream infections in preemies may originate from the infants’ gut microbiomes, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Such infections are of substantial concern, as about half of infants who are extremely preterm or have very low birth weights experience at least one episode of the life-threatening infection […]
Sotos Syndrome and Tatton Brown Rahman Syndrome bear striking similarities, so much so that patients with one have been misdiagnosed as having the other. Both rare diseases cause large stature and head size, also known as overgrowth, distinct facial features, a high prevelance of autism, and intellectual disability. But the two diseases have different genetic […]
Matthew Kreuter, a faculty member at the Brown School, is the first recipient of the William H. Danforth St. Louis Confluence Award (STLCA), the Office of the Provost announced. The award focuses on and elevates Washington University in St. Louis’ investment in the region by encouraging research that enhances community impact. “William H. Danforth is the […]
Women are about twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Some of that is age; in the U.S., women outlive men by five to six years, and advanced age is the strongest risk factor for Alzheimer’s. But there’s more to it than that, so Alzheimer’s researchers continue to look for other […]
Pamela K. Woodard, MD, a national leader in cardiothoracic imaging, has been named head of the Department of Radiology, director of Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR) and the Elizabeth E. Mallinckrodt Professor of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She will begin her new role July 1. In this new role, she […]
Scopus list of publications for April 30, 2023
A new drug has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a rare, inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a paralyzing neurological disease. Known as tofersen, the drug has been shown to slow progression of the deadly disease. International clinical trials of tofersen, developed by the global biotechnology company Biogen Inc., […]
Sleep disturbances can be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease. Many people eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer’s start experiencing difficulty falling and staying asleep years before cognitive problems such as memory loss and confusion emerge. It’s a vicious cycle: Alzheimer’s disease involves changes to the brain that disrupt sleep, and poor sleep accelerates harmful changes to […]
Jose Moron-Concepcion, PhD, the Henry E. Mallinckrodt Professor of Anesthesiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been appointed to a four-year term on the National Advisory Dental and Craniofacial Research Council. The council is an extension of the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). […]
Tristan J. McIntosh, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received a $1.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study ethical collaborations between academia and industry in the development of brain technologies. The goal is to fill gaps in understanding the ethical complexities […]
Calm body, calm mind, say the practitioners of mindfulness. A new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that the idea that the body and mind are inextricably intertwined is more than just an abstraction. The study shows that parts of the brain area that control movement are plugged […]
Meghan Campbell, PhD, an associate professor of neurology and of radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and Caterina Gratton, of Florida State University, have received a five-year $3 million award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to image functional brain networks […]
Scopus list of publications for April 16, 2023
Randall J. Bateman, MD, the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Distinguished Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, will receive the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award in Alzheimer’s Disease Therapeutic Research. Bateman has been chosen to receive the honor for his groundbreaking work in Alzheimer’s research, including the development of plasma […]
Neuropathologist Sonika Dahiya, MD, a professor of pathology and immunology and the chief of the neuro-oncology section at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named to the Working Committee of the Consortium to Inform Molecular and Practical Approaches to CNS Tumor Taxonomy. The consortium was established under the sponsorship of the International […]
Three researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis recently have received funding from the Alzheimer’s Association for projects that aim to study and make progress against the disease. Enmanuel Perez, MD, PhD, an instructor in neurology, has received a $250,000 grant from the Alzheimer’s Association to study how traumatic brain injury leads to […]
Researchers in child psychiatry and pediatric neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have been named recipients of a prestigious MERIT award from the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support their research focused on preterm babies’ brains as the children age. The MERIT (Method […]
Four Washington University in St. Louis faculty members have been named Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), joining 20 existing Fellows at Washington University. They are among 140 engineers inducted March 27 in Washington. AIMBE’s College of Fellows is limited to the top 2% of medical and biological engineers and […]
Scopus list of publications for March 26, 2023
A new study suggests that a common genetic signature may increase a person’s risk of developing substance use disorders, regardless of whether the addiction is to alcohol, tobacco, cannabis or opioids. The research, led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, eventually could lead to universal therapies to treat multiple substance use disorders […]
In this episode, we report on a major international study involving psychiatry researchers from the School of Medicine who are working to identify causes and effects of the early stages of schizophrenia in young people — an illness characterized by significant changes in thoughts, feelings and behavior that may include a loss of contact with […]
Rajendra S. Apte, MD, PhD, the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor in the John F. Hardesty, MD, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, has received the 2023 Ernst H. Bárány Prize from the International Society for Eye Research. The award, which is given every two years, is presented to a distinguished scientist who has made […]
Scopus list of publications for March 19, 2023
Nearly two dozen experimental therapies targeting the immune system are in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease, a reflection of the growing recognition that immune processes play a key role in driving the brain damage that leads to confusion, memory loss and other debilitating symptoms. Many of the immunity-focused Alzheimer’s drugs under development are aimed at […]
For older adults with clinical depression that has not responded to standard treatments, adding the drug aripiprazole (brand name Abilify) to an antidepressant they’re already taking is more effective than switching from one antidepressant to another, according to a new multicenter study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Aripiprazole originally was […]
Timothy Miller, MD, PhD, the David Clayson Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named a winner of the Rainwater Annual Prize for Outstanding Innovation in Neurodegenerative Disease Research. The prize recognizes scientific progress that could lead to innovative, effective treatments for neurodegenerative diseases associated with the accumulation […]
Scopus list of publications for March 5, 2023
William A. Peck, MD, former executive vice chancellor and dean of Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, died peacefully, surrounded by family, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, at his home in St. Louis County, Mo. He was 89. The first to hold the positions of both executive vice chancellor and dean at the university, […]
Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS) and The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital awards 28 investigators as part of the 16th annual Clinical and Translational Research Funding Program (CTRFP). The CTRFP is the largest internal grant funding program of the ICTS. Applicants are required to submit proposals for projects that promote the translation […]
Over the years, diet has become an increasingly important aspect to the management of multiple sclerosis (MS). Establishing and maintaining a healthy body weight has been associated with decreased risk for MS-related disability and disease activity. Additionally, diet affects the composition of the gut microbiome, which in turn has important effects on the immune system […]
Alzheimer’s disease is like two deaths, said Stephanie Griffin, whose father died of the brain disease in 2015. “It’s horrific,” she said. “First, you watch them lose the ability to talk, to think, to do any of the things they used to do. And then, to see them pass because of it? It’s just … […]
Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, considered the “Father of the field” of gut microbiome research, was named this year’s recipient of the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research. The honor recognizes Gordon’s groundbreaking studies of the role of the gut microbiome in human health and disease. “The microbiome offers exciting new opportunities for identifying disease mechanisms, […]
The brain health of millions of malnourished children stands to benefit following changes to global guidelines for the formulation of ready-to-eat therapeutic food — the standard treatment for severe malnutrition in developing countries. Results of a major clinical trial in Africa led by Mark Manary, MD, a professor of pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in […]
Computer software developed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis can predict what happens to complex gene networks when individual genes are missing or dialed up more than usual. Such genetic networks play key roles in early embryonic development, guiding stem cells to form specific cell types that then build tissues and organs. […]