COVID-19 infection linked to higher risk of neuropathy symptoms (Links to an external site)

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis •
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have found that many people who tested positive for the coronavirus in the early months of the pandemic also experienced peripheral neuropathy — pain, tingling and numbness in the hands and feet — during and following their bouts with COVID-19.

Adding to a growing body of evidence that, for many, problems related to COVID-19 linger longer than the initial infection, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that some people infected during the pandemic’s early months experienced symptoms of peripheral neuropathy — pain, tingling and numbness in the hands and […]

Saligrama part of team that received Wellcome Leap funding (Links to an external site)

The Source •
Saligrama

Naresha Saligrama, an assistant professor of neurology and of pathology and immunology at the School of Medicine, is part of a team led by Lisa Wagar, of the University of California, Irvine, that has received multiyear, multi-million-dollar funding from Wellcome Leap to use human tonsil organoids to study immune responses. 

ICTS Announces 2022-2023 CTRFP Awardees (Links to an external site)

Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences •
(1st row, left to right) Jennifer Alexander-Brett, MD, PhD; Jane Armer, PhD, RN, FAAN; Thomas J. Baranski, MD, PhD; Alex Rene Carter, MD, PhD; Jen Jen Chang, PhD, MPH (2nd row, left to right) Vincenza Cifarelli, PhD; Gautam Dantas, PhD; Brian F Gage, MD, MSc; Mojgan Golzy, PhD; Aditi Gupta, PhD; Catherine Rose Hoyt, PhD, OTD, OTR/L (3rd row, left to right) Aaron N. Johnson, PhD; James G. Krings, MD, MSCI; Xiaowei Li, PhD; Jonathan Daniel Moreno, MD, PhD; Dhiren Patel, MD; Linda Ruth Peterson, MD, FACC, FAHA, FASE (4th row, left to right) Devita Stallings, MSN, PhD, RN; Lulu Sun, MD, PhD; Kwee Thio, MD; Guoqiao Wang, PhD; Yong Wang, PhD; Gregory F. Wu, MD, PhD; Jie Zheng, PhD

Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS) and The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital awards 25 investigators as part of the 15th 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 […]

New strategy reduces brain damage in Alzheimer’s and related disorders, in mice (Links to an external site)

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis •
Astrocytes are normal non-neuronal brain cells, but in their reactive form they can harm, rather than protect, brain tissue. Mice with tau tangles in their brains — a model of Alzheimer’s and related diseases — have fewer reactive astrocytes (green) in their brains when treated with the drug digoxin (left) than untreated mice (right). Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that targeting astrocytes reduces tau-related brain damage and inflammation in mice, a finding that could lead to better therapies for Alzheimer’s and related tauopathies.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common and best known of the tauopathies, a set of neurodegenerative brain diseases caused by toxic tangles of the protein tau. A study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has shown that targeting astrocytes — an inflammatory cell in the brain — reduces tau-related brain […]

For accuracy, brain studies of complex behavior require thousands of people (Links to an external site)

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis •
Scientists rely on brainwide association studies to measure brain structure and function — using brain scans — and link them to mental illness and other complex behaviors. But a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Minnesota shows that most published brainwide association studies are performed with too few participants to yield reliable findings.

As brain scans have become more detailed and informative in recent decades, neuroimaging has seemed to promise a way for doctors and scientists to “see” what’s going wrong inside the brains of people with mental illnesses or neurological conditions. Such imaging has revealed correlations between brain anatomy or function and illness, suggesting potential new ways […]

CDC director discusses COVID-19 pandemic during Medical Campus visit (Links to an external site)

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis •
Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), visited Washington University School of Medicine March 2 and 3 to discuss lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), visited Washington University School of Medicine last week to discuss lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the Department of Medicine’s weekly Grand Rounds series, she sat down March 3 with William G. Powderly, MD, the J. William […]

Does improving sleep reduce signs of early Alzheimer’s disease? (Links to an external site)

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis •
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are launching a phase 2 clinical trial to study whether using medication to treat sleep problems in older adults can reduce signs of early Alzheimer’s disease.

The TV sitcom grandpa character who always seems to fall asleep at unfortunate moments is so common it’s almost a cliché. But daytime napping and disjointed sleep at night aren’t normal parts of aging. Sleep disturbances can be an early sign of a neurodegenerative condition, and they may be treatable.