Peruvian plants hold promise for TB drugs

Washington University researchers studying medicinal plants from the Peruvian rainforests have come across results that may significantly influence the direction of the fight against tuberculosis (TB) worldwide.

Walter H. Lewis, Ph.D., professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, and his colleagues examined about 1,250 plant extracts returned from Peru and found that 46 percent showed an inhibition against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB.

The finding is a first step toward developing potential drugs to combat the disease.

The unexpected results came after months of working with the native Aguaruna people of Peru through the International Cooperative Biodiversity Program-Peru, which seeks to identify new pharmaceutical possibilities from medicinal plants and to promote cultural and economic support to the native Indians. Lewis and his team lived among the tribe, collecting plant samples and learning about specific plants the Indians use in herbal medicinal practices

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Famed psychiatrist Samuel Guze dies

Samuel B. Guze, M.D., the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Psychiatry and former head of psychiatry and vice chancellor for medical affairs at Washington University, died Wednesday, July 19, 2000, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital from a fall complicated by polycythemia vera, a bone marrow disease. He was 76.

One of the most influential psychiatrists in the world, Guze and colleagues sent shock waves through the psychiatric community in the 1950s with their belief that psychiatric illness should be diagnosed just as any other physical illness --through use of a scientific medical model and a biological approach. Their ideas shaped today's psychiatric practice.

"Sam Guze was a man ahead of his time," said William A. Peck, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, "not only as one of the founding fathers of the scientific approach to psychiatry, but also as an administrator. His vision for the medical school kept us progressive and focused during times of great change." Peck succeeded Guze as vice chancellor in 1989.

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Anthropologist completes first full survey of Missouri's rock images

Carol Diaz-Granados, Ph.D., research associate and lecturer in the Department of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences, has doubled the known number of Missouri's native American rock images --petroglyphs and pictographs --in the state's first systematic survey of prehistoric "rock art."

Rock art refers to both petroglyphs (carvings in stone) and pictographs (painted or drawn images).

Diaz-Granados' findings have been published in a book titled "The Petroglyphs and Pictographs of Missouri," which documents 134 sites of rock art images. Only 65 to 70 were known before she began her work in 1983.

"I personally prefer the term 'rock images' or 'rock graphics,' because I believe they are more about communication than about art," said Diaz-Granados, who has made petroglyphs and pictographs her life's work. "The Petroglyphs and Pictographs of Missouri," which was based on her two-volume dissertation, contains 86 drawings and 36 photographs and was published by the University of Alabama Press this spring. Diaz-Granados' husband, Jim Duncan, is listed as a co-author because of his help in the field and contributions to the section on mythology.

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Stuart Kornfeld is appointed to new Farrell Professorship

Stuart A. Kornfeld, M.D., has been chosen to fill the new David C. and Betty Farrell Professorship in Medicine at the School of Medicine, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton and William A. Peck, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.

"David and Betty Farrell have contributed immensely to the St. Louis community and to Washington University," Wrighton said. "We are grateful for their commitment to advancing medical research and honored by their support of one of our most outstanding faculty members."

Added Peck: "We thank the Farrells for the new professorship, and are pleased to have their names associated with the School of Medicine in this manner. It is also a pleasure to have this distinction bestowed on Stuart Kornfeld, one of the world's great scientists."

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Washington University's Olin Library has acquired a major collection of rare Arts and Crafts-era books and related ephemera. The aptly named "Triple Crown Collection" includes 150 volumes printed by the Kelmscott, Doves and Ashendene presses. Combined with the University's existing holdings, the collection represents virtually the complete published output of the three presses, which together mark the epitome of fine bookmaking in England.

"The acquisition of this collection is no mincing step, but vaults our already strong holdings into a new dimension," said Shirley K. Baker, dean of University Libraries and vice chancellor for information technology. "Our faculty and students will profit from having this collection here, and it will serve researchers around the world."

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