FDA grants WashU-based technology ‘Breakthrough Device’ designation
Device for noninvasive brain biopsies via blood draw moves closer to market approval

FDA grants WashU-based technology ‘Breakthrough Device’ designation
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 […]
One of 3 researchers honored for their research on how microbiomes function
Sonobiopsies generate genetic, molecular data to inform treatment decisions for brain diseases
Jason Yi, PhD, an assistant professor of neuroscience, and Harrison Gabel, PhD, an associate professor of neuroscience, both at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, each have received two-year $300,000 pilot grants from the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative. The researchers will use the funds to investigate genetic diseases that result in autism. […]
Key steps leading to such accumulation identified; could inform new therapeutic approaches
Hong Chen, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering and radiation oncology at Washington University in St. Louis, is dedicated to what may seem like the impossible. “This constant puzzle of what’s happening in my brain.” Chen is referring to all human brains that share this complexity. And getting answers to serious problems can be very […]
Researchers have developed methods to study and manipulate areas of the brain, though many of those methods are restricted by the limited depth that light can reach within the brain. A multidisciplinary team at Washington University in St. Louis plans to overcome that limitation by integrating ultrasound with genetics to precisely modify neurons in the […]
Two pathologies drive the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Early on, amyloid beta plaques lead the way, but around the time cognitive symptoms arise, tau tangles take over as the driving force and cognition steadily declines. Tracking the course of the disease in individual patients has been challenging because there’s been no easy way to measure […]
Accurate diagnosis is a crucial step toward appropriate treatment
Microbiome pioneer Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has won the 2023 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research. The Asturias awards, among the most prestigious honors in the Spanish-speaking world, are presented annually in eight categories. The awards are designed to recognize exceptional scientific, technical, cultural, […]
Some mammals and birds have a clever way to preserve energy and heat by going into torpor, during which their body temperature and metabolic rate drop to allow them to survive potentially fatal conditions in the environment, such as extreme cold or lack of food. While a similar condition was proposed for scientists making flights […]
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 […]
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 […]
Like the lymphatic system in the body, the glymphatic system in the brain clears metabolic waste and distributes nutrients and other important compounds. Impairments in this system may contribute to brain diseases, such as neurodegenerative diseases and stroke. A team of researchers in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis has […]
Recognized for contributions to Alzheimer’s disease research
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 […]
Findings could lead to universal therapies for alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, opioid addictions
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 […]
Research could facilitate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease
‘Father of the field’ honored for gut microbiome research
Findings suggest new approach to treating Alzheimer’s, other neurodegenerative diseases
At the Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees meeting Dec. 2, several faculty members were granted tenure. Their new roles took effect Dec. 2. Granting of tenure Marlon M. Bailey as professor of African and African American studies and of women, gender, and sexuality studies, both in Arts & Sciences; Adam Q. Bauer, PhD as […]
Installation talk, titled “For Whom the Bells Toll: Networked Circadian Clocks and Clock Watchers”
Findings in mice suggest new therapeutic approach to Alzheimer’s, other age-related diseases
Funding from NIH HEAL Initiative
Hong Chen’s lab develops noninvasive focused ultrasound intranasal delivery method
Researchers from several labs to study role of transposable elements
Recognizes scientist’s contributions to Alzheimer’s disease research
Behavior surprisingly does not require brain’s visual cortex
Research finds kids with prenatal exposure show more signs of psychopathology
Hong Chen’s lab develops technique to generate Airy beams for ultrasound focusing
Could aid efforts to find treatments for Alzheimer’s, other diseases
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 […]
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 […]
Hyperactive neurons drive tumor growth in NF1 cancer predisposition syndrome
Similar to itch, pleasant touch transmitted by specific neuropeptide and neural circuit
New data prompts reconsideration of decades-old theory about brain injury due to stroke
Multicenter team aims to understand how, why brain changes with age
Hong Chen’s lab created an $80 device that is accurate and easy to use
Treatment with interleukin-7 revs up immune system against deadly brain tumor
Three-year $225,000 grant
Angelman syndrome shares symptoms and characteristics with other disorders including autism, cerebral palsy and Prader-Willi syndrome.
Hong Chen and Eric Leuthardt’s sonobiopsy method uses blood test instead of surgery
Five-year $2.5 million grant from NIH
Three-year $1.1 million grant from CDI
Low-cost drug lowers risk of hospitalizations, deaths
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 […]
Research to explore the effects of social isolation on cognitive, emotional health
Four-year and one-year grants totaling $3.3M