Faculty engaged in medical research are associated with separate laboratories focused on specific conditions or illnesses. The full list of Faculty Research Interests shows those assignmnents, and the laboratories are described below.
Research Labs At A Glance
Dr. Baloh's research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of hereditary motor and sensory neuropathies (also known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease).
Our laboratory's focus is on the causes, diagnosis and future treatments of Alzheimer disease. We directly measure the pathophysiology of Alzheimer disease in humans using multiple techniques and also perform in vitro cell culture experiments.
Research in our laboratory and collaborative group is focused on the development of novel therapeutic and diagnostic strategies for traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Nigel Cairns is interested in clarifying the pathological changes in the brains of these patients who come to autopsy and the mechanisms by which nerve cells die and cause dementia.
Dr. Clifford has a broad interest in neuropharmacology. Development of more successful medical management of neurological disease has been his clinical focus, and has included participation in studies of epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and virtually all neurologic complications of HIV.
Anne Connolly, M.D. is an expert in pediatric neuromuscular disease and neuroimmunology. She is involved in several clinical studies examining the relationship between auto-antibodies and childhood neurological disorders, including opsoclonus/myoclonus, epilepsy, autism, and peripheral nerve injury.
My research aims to understand the neural basis of human cognition, in particular vision and attention. Areas of the human brain involved in these processes are visualized in vivo in normal volunteers using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
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The goal of our research is to understand the mechanisms involved in pathogenesis of inflammation and demyelination in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).
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All NNICU physicians have specialized research interests directed at improving the care we provide our patients. A unique aspect of this facility is that it is the only Neuro-ICU in the country with a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner located on site.
My primary research interest in the role of GABA receptors both in the normal physiology of the brain and in pathological states, particularly epilepsy.
Dr. Fagan is a Washington University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Investigator, a faculty member of the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, and the 2006 recipient of the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Award (New Investigator) awarded by the Alzheimer's Association.
This research focuses on understanding what older adults know about their risk of dementia and how we can improve the clinician's ability to detect dementia.
Our current work focuses on hypoxic-ischemic injury of the brain's white matter. Relatively little is known about specific pathways leading to structural and functional disruption of axons and glial cells in white matter.
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Dr. Gurnett has an interest in understanding the genes involved in inherited forms of epilepsy. Her current approach is to study large families with epilepsy or individuals with unusual chromosomal malformations.
Normal Growth Control and Tumor Formation in the Mammalian Brain
A major interest in my lab is in understanding basic mechanisms underlying acute and chronic cell dysfunction in the CNS particularly as these mechanisms may relate to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and injury to the developing brain. There are two major areas of focus currently in my lab.
Dr. Hyrc is primarily interested in ionic mechanisms of excitotoxic neuronal cell death. He specializes in intracellular ion concentration measurements using optical techniques, particularly low affinity calcium indicators.
The long-term aim of our research is fourfold...
We are working to understand mechanisms of neurodegeneration underlying Parkinson's disease and related disorders. Specific types of pathological neuronal inclusions that occur in Parkinson's disease also occur in other neurodegenerative diseases, suggesting that common mechanisms of pathogenesis may be involved.
Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is associated with the accumulation of aggregated amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) in senile plaques within the brain.
We are developing new vectors for neurological applications. The goal of the Viral Vectors Core is to assist Washington University neuroscience researchers in the design and production of various kinds of vectors.
We are focused on 1.) gene downregulation strategies to understand disease pathogenesis and provide novel therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, in particular amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) 2.) how dysfunction of mitochondria causes loss of motor neurons.
The focus of Dr. Morris' research and practice is Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders associated with aging.
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Our research group is focused on application of magnetic resonance methods to obtain a better understanding of brain injury.
Dr. Perlmutter's main research interests include neuroimaging, basal ganglia physiology and pharmacology, mechanisms of deep brain stimulation, pathophysiology of dystonia, development of new agents to reduce nigrostriatal injury and electronic medical records systems.
http://neuromuscular.wustl.edu/
We use behavioral and functional neuroimaging techniques to study the neural mechanisms underlying attention, language, learning and memory. Our current focus has been on aspects of experience-dependent change.
My research interests include the genetics of Parkinson's disease (especially in people of Amish ancestry), Welding related Parkinson's disease, and investigations into new medications for Parkinson's disease, dystonia, and Huntington's disease.
Dr. Schlaggar's current research efforts are directed at brain activation studies in development and plasticity of human cognition and language using functional MRI. His clinical responsibilities include pediatric movement disorders, pediatric stroke, and hemiplegic cerebral palsy. His graduate work explored the specification of neocortical areas.
Participation in clinical research trials is available for qualifying headache patients. This includes trials examining the prevention and acute treatment of headache.
Current studies are directed at using neuroimaging methodologies such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to understand visual perception and attention in healthy adults.
My laboratory is interested in exploring how neurons die in neurodegenerative disorders and stroke, with a specific focus on how abnormally folded proteins, such as amyloid b-peptide and polyglutamine-containing proteins, cause neuronal death.
Dr. Thio's research interests are cellular neurophysiology, inhibitory glycine receptors, and ketogenic diet. He holds clinic weekly, is Consultant Pediatric Epileptologist for the Pediatric Cerebral Palsy Center, and serves on the Pharmaceutical, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics Subcommittee at St. Louis Children's Hospital.
Our laboratory studies functional activation of the brain and changes in brain physiology accompanying disease or other pathophysiology. We use PET, MRI and CT to study both human and non-human primates and have particular interests in stroke, traumatic brain injury and movement disorders.
My research uses both cellular and animal models of hereditary IBM to explore the underlying pathogenesis of this disease.
The primary goal of my research laboratory is to understand biological mechanisms in the brain underlying epilepsy, with the ultimate purpose of developing new therapies for epilepsy patients.
Our lab is interested in studying development, modulation and derangements of synaptic transmission at central nervous system synapses. The human disease processes most relevant to our studies include epilepsy, hypoglycemic brain injury and brain injury following stroke.
Our research primarily involves using the PET scanner located in the Neurology/Neurosurgery ICU to study cerebrovascular regulation following intracerebral hemorrhage, ischemic stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and traumatic brain injury.
By studying a model system of partial seizures which has been adapted to the magnetic resonance environment, allowing the measurement of electrical signals concurrent with imaging. Using conventional and newly developed magnetic resonance techniques, Dr. Zempel and his colleagues have localized ongoing seizure activity and characterized the damage that occurs with seizures.
