The Department of Anesthesiology announces the 2022 cohort of ASSURE Fellows.
Announcing the 2022 Cohort of ASSURE Fellows (Links to an external site)
Category: Research
Neural pathway key to sensation of pleasant touch identified (Links to an external site)
Zhou-Feng Chen, PhD, director of the Center for the Study of Itch & Sensory Disorders at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, alongside his team, identified a neural circuit and a neuropeptide in mice — a chemical messenger that carries signals between nerve cells — that transmit the sensation known as pleasant touch from the skin to the brain.
Saving a Life When No One Is Around (Links to an external site)
An implanted device that will automatically detect an overdose and give the opioid blocker naloxone is under development by Robert Gereau, Ph.D., of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and John Rogers, Ph.D., of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
COVID-19 infection linked to higher risk of neuropathy (Links to an external site)
Senior investigator Simon Haroutounian, PhD, chief of clinical research at the Washington University Pain Center alongside other 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 during and following their bouts with COVID-19.
Department ranks #2 in NIH funding for second straight year (2021)
The Department of Anesthesiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis ranked #2 nationwide among anesthesiology departments in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Scientists Develop Wireless-Networks that Allow Brain Circuits to Be Studied Remotely using the Internet
Global researchers created a wireless network utilizing implantable devices and equipment integrated with IoT technology, enabling neuroscience experiments that can virtually study the brains of animals.
Emotional aspects of chronic pain isolated in brain circuitry (Links to an external site)
Led by Jose Moron-Concepcion, PhD, the findings (published online Oct. 18 in the journal Nature Neuroscience) could lead to treatments targeting the emotion-related aspects of pain.
$12.2 million to fund new Conte Center to study neurosteroids (Links to an external site)
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has awarded Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis a five-year, $12.2 million grant to create a center aimed at advancing research into neurosteroids as treatments for depression and other psychiatric disorders.
Study reveals new opportunities for understanding addiction, depression
In a recent study published in Nature Neuroscience, Dr. Ream Al-Hasani and colleagues have identified a new role for a GABA projection in reward processing which could lead to new treatments for addiction and depression.
$6.2 million grant to fund Center for Perioperative Mental Health (Links to an external site)
Clinicians and researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a four-year, $6.2 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to launch a center designed to help improve mental health in surgery patients, particularly older surgery patients. The center will conduct studies to identify and treat depression and anxiety in surgical patients. This new center is the first NIH-funded center of its kind in the United States.