Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (WashU Medicine) and BJC HealthCare are joining forces and partnering with CuriMeta, a new company that will accelerate lifesaving research in the fight against chronic and acute diseases that impact our communities. WashU Medicine and BJC HealthCare are engaging in this venture to bring sophisticated data sets in support of […]
The American Psychological Foundation has awarded its Alexander Gralnick Research Investigator Prize to Deanna Barch, PhD, chair of psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Barch is also vice dean of research in Arts & Sciences, as well as the Gregory B. Couch Professor of Psychiatry and a professor of radiology […]
Although sleep consumes one-third of our lives and is a common feature among all animals, how the brain orchestrates sleep remains largely unexplained. To fill in this knowledge gap, Geoffrey Goodhill, PhD, professor of developmental biology and of neuroscience at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues will track each cell in the […]
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a new druggable pathway that potentially could be used to help prevent Alzheimer’s dementia. Amyloid beta accumulation in the brain is the first step in the development of Alzheimer’s dementia. Scientists have poured countless hours and millions of dollars into finding ways to […]
Woven into the design of the Neuroscience Research Building under construction on the Washington University Medical Campus is an intangible yet still very real pillar deemed as important as the 6,500 truckloads of concrete used to reinforce the high-rise. The pillar is a holistic philosophy of diversity, equity and inclusion integrated throughout the planning and construction of […]
For animals such as mice, olfaction is their primary route to pick up social information, whether that’s identifying the dominant male in a group or figuring out the reproductive status of females. In turn, these signals can influence animals’ behavior and physiology. Pheromones in male urine, for instance, can trigger early puberty in mice. While […]
Hospitals spend about one-third of their expenses on perioperative care – the high-stakes period just before and after a patient is in surgery — to prevent complications afterward. Washington University in St. Louis researchers have developed a machine learning approach that exploits the large amount of clinical data collected during perioperative care to predict potential […]
For over a century, cancer cell metabolism has been viewed as something of a paradox. New work from researchers at Washington University in St. Louis shows that it might not be such an anomaly after all. The study is published Aug. 15 in Molecular Cell. Glucose, a common sugar in food, is one of the most […]
The factors that lead to preterm birth, which affects nearly 10% of pregnancies worldwide, are poorly understood. Its effects, however, are known. Among them: cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, and visual and hearing impairments. In order to better understand the cause of preterm birth, researchers need to better understand the uterine contractions patterns responsible for initiating […]
Precision medicine, which considers the unique characteristics of individuals to provide the most effective treatment, has been a goal of health care providers for decades. Now, it is a goal for those with critical neurological illnesses, such as stroke, traumatic brain injury and spine trauma, to track and predict secondary injury, such as seizures, and […]
John Atkinson and Adia Harvey Wingfield will receive Washington University in St. Louis’ 2022 faculty achievement awards, Chancellor Andrew D. Martin announced. They will be honored at the university’s annual Founders Day dinner in the fall. Physician-scientist Atkinson, MD, the Samuel B. Grant Professor of Medicine at the School of Medicine, will receive the Carl […]
Collaboration across disciplines is integral at WashU, often yielding life-changing discoveries. In 2002, when Eric Leuthardt, MD, and Dan Moran, PhD, were introduced to each other by their department chairs, no one could have predicted it would lead to a collaboration that is reshaping the future of neuroscience. Moran, professor of biomedical engineering at the […]
Cynthia E. Rogers, MD, has been named the new Blanche F. Ittleson Professor of Psychiatry and director of the William Greenleaf Eliot Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Her appointment was announced by Eric J. Lenze, MD, the Wallace and Lucille Renard Professor and head of the Department of […]
Phantom voices instructed a 13-year-old girl to store knives in her bed, taunted her with vulgarities and convinced her that she could see god, even be a god. For months, the voices destroyed peace in the family’s home. “I felt helpless because my daughter’s inner demons wouldn’t go away,” said the teenager’s mother, Takisha, recalling […]
The National Institutes of Health has awarded Daniel Moran, PhD, professor of biomedical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering, more than $1 million over five years to create the Translational Neuroscience and Neurotechnology Training Program. This interdisciplinary program will train students to use engineering tools to develop technology that address neurological issues such as […]
The debate over abortion has only intensified in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, which overturned Roe v. Wade and stripped away constitutional protections for abortion, returning the issue to states. Since the ruling, 12 states have banned or severely restricted abortion care, and at least 10 other states have bans […]
When you live with dementia, your sleep breaks apart, the nights a strobe-lit blur, the grayed days lost to catnaps. Physicians — and families — have known this for years. But what no one realized, until landmark research at Washington University in 2009 set a series of studies in motion, was that fragmented sleep might […]
Denise Head, PhD, professor of psychological and brain sciences, and Jeffrey Zacks, PhD, associate chair and professor of psychological and brain sciences, both in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, won a five-year $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for work on aging and development. Originally published on The Source.
Renée Shellhaas, MD, has been named associate dean for faculty promotions and career development at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She comes to the school from the University of Michigan, where she is an associate chair for career development and a pediatric neurologist. She begins her new role in October. Shellhaas also […]
Carlos Cruchaga, PhD, a pioneer in the use of human genomic data to understand and elucidate the biology of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, has been named an inaugural Barbara Burton and Reuben M. Morriss III Professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Cruchaga was installed by Chancellor Andrew D. Martin […]
The American Society of Hematology has honored John Atkinson, MD, the Samuel Grant Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, for his significant contributions to the field of hematology. He is one of two recipients of the Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize and is recognized for breakthroughs that have advanced understanding […]
Most of the 40 million Americans who smoke cigarettes say they want to quit, and some move to e-cigarettes as a step toward quitting. However, a growing number of such people become dual nicotine users: They smoke traditional cigarettes and vape e-cigarettes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. Rather […]
Brain-computer interfaces connect activity in the brain to an external device by means of a computer. Research has shown it’s possible to use such interfaces to move robotic arms and perform other tasks. Almost 30 years ago, Washington University researcher Eric Leuthardt, MD, a professor of neurosurgery, demonstrated that he could hook electrodes to the brains […]
Deanna Barch, PhD, chair and professor of psychological and brain sciences, has been named vice dean of research in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Her new role took effect July 1. A leading scholar in the field of cognitive and language deficits in disorders like schizophrenia, Barch recently co-chaired Arts & Sciences’ strategic planning steering […]
A submarine can inadvertently reveal its location because of cavitation, a condition that creates bubbles underwater that burst, then emit sound waves that can be detected by sonar. A team of biomedical engineers at Washington University in St. Louis plans to use the same concept to detect cavitation in human brains that may contribute to […]
A new center established at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis aims to accelerate research into biomarkers of neurodegenerative conditions such as Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis (MS) and the so-called tauopathies, a group that includes Alzheimer’s disease along with rarer diseases such as frontotemporal dementia, corticobasal syndrome […]
Neuroscience leaders and other faculty and staff at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis got an up-close look at the Neuroscience Research Building during a recent tour of the construction site. The framework of all 11 stories has been built, and the process of wrapping the building in glass is underway. On the […]
A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis demonstrates that certain human gut microbes can mine dietary fiber to extract nutrients that otherwise would remain inaccessible to the human body. The study, published June 27 in the journal Cell, illustrates how the fiber byproducts of food production — such as rinds, […]
One of a medical student’s most powerful teachers inspires compassion, forgives mistakes and leaves an indelible impression that forever guides that student’s clinical care and research, all without ever saying a word. That silent teacher is also a student’s first patient. At Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, they meet during first-year anatomy […]
The Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) has awarded its Glass Brain Award to Deanna Barch, PhD, chair and professor of psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences and the Gregory B. Couch Professor of Psychiatry and professor of radiology at the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. OHBM is an international society […]
Although there have been steady increases over the past 20 years in the number of people nationwide who die by suicide, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that such increases have slowed slightly in states that have implemented Medicaid expansion. “Suicide is a public health problem, and our findings […]
Gerald Early, PhD, the Merle King Professor of Modern Letters in Arts & Sciences, will serve as interim director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity (CRE2) at Washington University in St. Louis, effective July 1. The center provides programs and partnerships for Danforth and Medical campus faculty researching issues related to race […]
Polina V. Lishko, PhD, a noted molecular biologist and entrepreneur, has been named a BJC Investigator at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Lishko, whose innovative investigations of molecular mechanisms of bioactive lipid signaling has advanced scientific understanding in fields as varied as reproductive biology, vision and neurodegeneration, joins the Department of Cell Biology […]
In one of the first studies to look at the association between selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) medications and brain development in young children, research from the Behavioral Research and Imaging Neurogenetics (BRAIN)Lab at Washington University in St. Louis found no association between children’s exposure to the drugs in the womb and later childhood depression. The study […]
At the Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees meeting May 6, numerous faculty members were appointed or promoted with tenure or granted tenure, effective July 1 unless otherwise indicated. Appointment with tenure Andrew Clark as associate professor of electrical and systems engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering; Xianglin Li as associate professor of mechanical […]
David H. Gutmann, MD, PhD, the Donald O. Schnuck Family Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected to the Association of American Physicians. Election is an honor extended to physicians who have made outstanding contributions to basic or translational biomedical research and who represent the highest caliber […]
When something goes wrong in mitochondria, the tiny organelles that power cells, it can cause a bewildering variety of symptoms such as poor growth, fatigue and weakness, seizures, developmental and cognitive disabilities, and vision problems. The culprit could be a defect in any of the 1,300 or so proteins that make up mitochondria, but scientists […]
A research team, led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine, has identified abnormalities in the development of the brain’s visual system in infants that may predispose them to developing autism. The research, published May 26 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, suggests […]
Guoyan Zhao, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, received a $433,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to apply a cutting-edge imaging technology to study subcellular features of brain tissue from Alzheimer’s patients. Read more.