Nerve cell death

A paper in the Jan. 1 issue of Science reports that a class of drugs used to anesthetize children and sometimes abused by pregnant women can cause death of nerve cells in the developing brain. The researchers found that the rat brain is sensitive to this toxic effect during a specific stage in development that corresponds to the brain growth spurt in humans, which lasts from about the sixth month of pregnancy to a child's second birthday.

The compounds, which belong to a class called NMDA antagonists, include phencyclidine (PCP or "angel dust"), ketamine ("special K") and nitrous oxide (laughing gas), all of which are drugs of abuse. In addition, ketamine and nitrous oxide are used commonly as anesthetics in pediatric medicine.

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Andriole appointed chief of urology division

Gerald L. Andriole, M.D., has been appointed chief of the Division of Urology at the School of Medicine, succeeding William J. Catalona, M.D. Department of Surgery Chair Timothy J. Eberlein, M.D., announced the appointment, effective Jan. 1.

Andriole has been a faculty member in the Department of Surgery's urology division since 1985. He is an internationally known urologic oncologist, specializing in prostate cancer and a noncancerous condition called prostatic hyperplasia.

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Grants totalling $8.9 million awarded to medical faculty

Numerous School of Medicine faculty recently have received grants of $1 million or more. The grants fund research on topics ranging from asthma to leukemia to transplantation.

The grant recipients include:

• Robert C. Strunk, M.D., professor of pediatrics, has received a four-year $1.9 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for a study of pediatric asthma and emergency room visits;

• Michael J. Holtzman, M.D., the Seldin Professor of Medicine and an associate professor of cell biology and physiology, received a five-year $1.8 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to study the link between asthma and viral infections;

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