When David Christopher Brooks was 4 months old, his mother noticed that he wasn’t moving his arms and legs and kept his hands balled up into fists. Read More >

Research shows that diseases of the brain, spinal cord and nerves have common threads that can only be discovered on a fundamental level. When we understand these shared disease pathways, we can begin to find cures. Read More >

Elisa Reeves of Hope Happens interviewed Dr. Timothy Miller, MD/PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine, about joining the Hope Center faculty and his ALS research. Miller is the first director of the Christopher Wells Hobler Laboratory for ALS Research. Read More >

Part of the work of biophysicist Rohit V . Pappu, PhD, concentrates on how proteins clump together. This research is relevant to Huntington’s disease — which affects balance, speech and muscle strength, and typically causes death within 20 years — as well as eight other inherited neurodegenerative diseases . Read More >

Valeria Cavalli, PhD, a specialist in neuronal cell biology and axon injury, is engaged with one of medicine’s great challenges: to reverse paralysis and restore nerve function when the central nervous system (CNS) has been severely damaged by stroke, spinal-cord injury or disease. Read More >

Robert H. Baloh, MD, PhD, deciphers the molecular mechanics of neurodegenerative disease. Two of his research focuses are amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and Charcot- Marie-Tooth disease (CMT). Read More >

The Challenge supports the most promising basic and clinical research in neurological disorders. Your support furthers these programs to understand the causes of disease, develop improved treatments and search for lifesaving cures. Read More >

Hope Center faculty member Janice Brunstrom, M.D. has fought many battles in her life, but her greatest cause may be correcting common misconceptions about cerebral palsy. Dr. Brunstrom is associate professor of neurology and pediatrics and director of the Pediatric Neurology Cerebral Palsy Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. Read More >

Floyd E. Bloom, M.D., a new member of the Hope Center Executive Committee, recently gave the keynote address at Washington University's Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences (DBBS) 35th anniversary celebration. Read More >

Hope Center Executive Committee member Philip Needleman was profiled in the April 10, 2007 issue of National Academy of Sciences. Read More >

By imaging the brains of children, adolescents and adults, Bradley Schlaggar, MD, PhD and colleagues have identified previously-unknown neural networks which segregate to form new allegiances or "cliques" throughout development. Read More >

Oct. 29, 2007 -- For some epilepsy patients, the side effects of epilepsy can be as troubling as the seizures. One pressing concern is the cognitive impairment seizures often inflict, which potentially includes memory loss, slowed reactions and reduced attention spans. Read More >

July 25, 2007 -- Itching for a better anti-itch remedy? Your wish may soon be granted now that scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified the first gene for the itch sensation in the central nervous system. The discovery could rapidly lead to new treatments directly targeting itchiness and providing relief for chronic and severe itching. Read More >

Hope Center member Anne H. Cross, M.D., believes anything in life that's worthwhile is hard. "Like Winston Churchill said, 'Never give up; never, never, never,'" she says. Read More >

A member of the Departments of Psychiatry and Genetics at Washington University School of Medicine since 1992, Alison Goate, Ph.D. is the Samuel and Mae S. Ludwig Professor of Genetics in Psychiatry and professor of genetics and of neurology. Her 16-person lab is devoted to genetic research on Alzheimer's disease (AD), tauopathies, and alcoholism—and since January 2005, the molecular underpinnings of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease. Read More >

Using PET technology, Joel Perlmutter, M.D. is examining the brain's interior to discover better treatments for diseases such as Parkinson's, essential tremor, and dystonia. Read More >

Researchers have known since the early 20th century that a characteristic sign of Alzheimer’s disease is that it leaves sufferers’ brains riddled with plaques. The key ingredient of the plaques is a fragment of a protein known as amyloid precursor protein (APP). The fragment itself is called amyloid beta (Aβ). The causes of excessive Aβ are often maddeningly elusive. That’s partially because a wealth of environmental and genetic factors probably contribute to risk. But another significant question also obsc Read More >

Hope Center member Susan Mackinnon, M.D. repairs damaged nerves. In 1998 she performed the first nerve transplant, and she remains in the forefront of surgical treatment for peripheral nerve injury and research on nerve regeneration. Read More >

The Hope Center's Philip Bayly, Ph.D., who studies the dynamics of brain movement and injury, is careful to practice head safety himself. Read More >

Spring 2006 — Research at the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, supported by Hope Happens (formerly ALS Hope,) provides new hope for patients suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease,) Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis, and other degenerative neurological disorders through multi-disciplinary, team-oriented approach. Read More >

2006 - The introduction of Marvin, a chemical-analyzing robot, to the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology's Molecular Imaging Center by Helen Piwinica-Worms, Ph.D. and Hope Center members Raphael Kopan, Ph.D., and David Piwinica-Worms, M.D. Ph.D. Read More >

August 11, 2005 - How exactly does the human brain react to a fall or an automobile accident? The Hope Center's Dr. Philip Bayly is working to answer that question, using strapped-in volunteers and a new computer model based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Read More >

Prions are a new kind of infectious agent thought to be at the heart of several rare neurodegenerative disorders that devastate the brains of humans, cows and sheep. Hope Center members David Harris, M.D., Ph.D. and Heather True-Krob, Ph.D. are gathering new insights into how prions form and cause disease. As they do, tantalizing hints are starting to emerge that prions may be connected to a much wider range of biological phenomena than the rare brain disorders that first led to their discovery. Read More >

Hope Center member Alex S. Evers, M.D., wears a number of hats. He is the Henry E. Mallinckrodt Professor and head of the Department of Anesthesiology and a professor of medicine and of molecular biology and pharmacology. Most of Evers' career has involved looking at how lipid-like drugs can be used in anesthesia. For the past several years, he has focused on a particular class of lipid-like drugs: steroids. Read More >

Pioneer in Progress against Parkinson's Karen O'Malley, Ph.D., is ferreting out the facts about dopamine in leading-edge research Read More >