Some brain tumors may be linked to head injury, mouse study suggests

A study in mice by researchers at the School of Medicine indicates that brain injury can lead to brain tumors in susceptible individuals. For this study, they used mice that model people with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a genetic disorder that causes brain tumors. The study showed that molecules released by injured neurons set off […]

Three named 2023 Young Investigator grantees

Sarah D. Ackerman, PhD, Gabor Egervari, MD, PhD and Tao Xie, PhD, all of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, have been named 2023 Young Investigator grantees by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. This year’s funding will support 150 promising early-career scientists across the field of neuropsychiatry with innovative ideas in mental health research. The two-year grant […]

Cavalli, Klyachko receive grant to investigate hypersensitivity in Fragile X syndrome

Valeria Cavalli, PhD, the Robert E. and Louise F. Dunn Professor of Biomedical Research in the Department of Neuroscience at Washington University, has received a grant of more than $400,000 to understand the origins of hypersensitivity in Fragile X syndrome (FXS). This genetic disorder, which accounts for the most cases of autism by a known […]

Brain movement measured for clues to prevent, reduce injury

When the human head experiences any kind of movement — from nodding yes or no to heading a soccer ball or being jolted in a car crash — the brain moves inside the skull, leading to deformation of the tissue. Such deformations are key to understanding traumatic brain injury but are challenging to study since […]

Bagnall wins grant to map neuronal connections

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 […]

Cooper receives two NIH grants to study rare genetic disease

Jonathan D. Cooper, PhD,  a professor of pediatrics, of genetics and of neurology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, received two grants totaling $2.55 million over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Cooper will study enzyme replacement therapy as a possible […]

Researchers studying links between retinal appearance, Alzheimer’s

Four years after Washington University in St. Louis researchers detected a possible link between risk for Alzheimer’s disease and the appearance of the eye’s retina, a $10.3 million grant from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is expanding the effort to understand that connection. Gregory P. Van Stavern, MD, […]

Board grants faculty appointments, promotions, tenure

At the Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees meeting Oct. 1, numerous faculty members were appointed or promoted with tenure or granted tenure, effective that day. Promotion with tenure Su-Hsin Chang, PhD, to associate professor of surgery (public health services) at the School of Medicine; Milan G. Chheda, MD, to associate professor of medicine […]