Blood pressure, worsening heart function focus of study

Victor G. Dávila-Román, M.D., associate professor of medicine, has received a four-year $1.4 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to study factors that lead to heart damage in people with thickened heart muscle due to high blood pressure.

High blood pressure and other conditions make the left ventricle, the main pumping chamber of the heart, work abnormally hard. This can cause muscle cells in the ventricle to plump up, producing a thick wall known as left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Although people with LVH can remain symptom-free for some time, the condition can set the stage for declining heart function and death.

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Dennis Choi chosen as president-elect of the Society of Neuroscience

With more than 25,000 members, the Society for Neuroscience is the world's largest association of scientists dedicated to understanding the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nervous system.

"I am deeply honored to be elected to lead this distinguished scientific society as we move into the next millennium," Choi said. "Understanding how the brain works, in health and disease, is fundamental to our pursuit of self-awareness and knowledge and to our hopes for treating the many patients who suffer from diseases of the nervous system."

Choi was born in Ann Arbor, Mich., attended Harvard College, and received both a medical degree and a doctorate in pharmacology from Harvard University in 1978.

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Grubb becomes American Board of Neurological Surgery chairman

Established in 1940, the board certifies neurological surgeons by reviewing applicants' educational training and practice qualifications and giving written and oral exams. It also strives to improve training opportunities and standards in neurosurgical residency programs throughout the United States. Grubb has served as a board member for six years.

Grubb also has been elected 49th president of the Southern Neurosurgical Society. He will serve for one year. Henry G. Schwartz, M.D., the August A. Busch Jr. Professor Emeritus of Neurological Surgery and lecturer in that department, helped found the society in 1949 and served as president from 1953 to 1954. Membership now includes 500 neurosurgeons.

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Mark Long to market inventions, foster links with industry

Mark Long has been named business development manager in the Center of Technology Management at Washington University.

In this position, Long will be responsible for marketing inventions, promoting licensure of patented items and promoting University-industry collaborations on research products for the clinical and biotechnology industries.

Long comes to the University after holding sales, marketing and technical service positions at Sigma Diagnostics, Baxter Diagnostics and Coulter Corp. He has a master's degree in molecular biology and more than 16 years experience in the clinical marketplace.

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Wente to study pores that regulate traffic

Susan R. Wente, Ph.D., associate professor of cell biology and physiology, has received two grants totaling $2 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

A four-year $1.2 million grant will allow her to continue studying how cells export material from the nucleus. With a four-year $798,867 grant, Wente will examine the formation of nuclear pores where this transport occurs.

"We want to understand how cells exchange information between their two main compartments: the nucleus where genetic material is stored and the cytoplasm where many cellular activities are carried out," Wente said. The findings could have implications for treating viral infections, cancer and other diseases that require movement of factors between the two compartments.

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