Category: News Story

On June 5th, 2020, Dr. Xiaofan (Gary) Guo successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled “Immune Regulation of Brain Tumors”. Dr. Guo was a visiting MD/Ph.D. student in the laboratory of Dr. David H. Gutmann from 2017-2020, where he sought to define the interactions between neurons, immune cells and tumor cells in NF1-associated optic pathway gliomas. Gary’s […]

Dr. Angela Hirbe, Assistant Professor in Medical Oncology, and her team found that malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) are complex tumors composed of numerous distinct populations of cancer cells. MPNSTs are aggressive cancers that are traditionally difficult to treat, and frequently result in early patient death. Moreover, no effective treatments have been identified. Dr. […]

Michelle Wegscheid, an MD/PhD trainee in the Neurosciences Program at Washington University, successfully defended her PhD thesis titled “Genetic risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders: Insights from hiPSC-cerebral organoids.” Michelle conducted her PhD training in the laboratory of Dr. David H. Gutmann at the Washington University Neurofibromatosis (NF) Center, where she worked to define how distinct […]

Neurons, immune cells work together to promote tumor growth in neurofibromatosis type 1 Children with the genetic condition neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) can develop brain and nerve tumors. If a tumor develops within the optic nerve, which connects the eye and the brain, the child may lose his or her vision. New research at Washington […]

As an outgrowth of a seminal meeting at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Banbury Center in December 2019, a white paper contributed to by Dr. David H. Gutmann, MD, PhD, FAAN, outlined the new field of “cancer neuroscience”. This emerging scientific discipline is built on the idea that the nervous system normally controls the development, […]

In the recently published study in Stem Cell Reports, Corina Anastasaki, PhD, Michelle Wegscheid, MD, PhD candidate, and colleagues sought to determine whether different NF1 gene mutations found in patients with NF1 have different effects on human brain cells. To achieve this, the authors used seven human induced pluripotent stem cell lines with different NF1 patient NF1 gene mutations […]

Dr. Angela Hirbe, a Washington University NF Center researcher, is one of leaders of the Genomics of MPNST (GeM) consortium, organized by the NF Research Initiative (NFRI) at Boston Children’s Hospital. This group of NF researchers from around the world have joined forces to perform the largest comprehensive genomic analysis of MPNST to date. This study will […]

In a recent publication, spearheaded by Dr. Wing H. Wong, a former graduate student in Dr. Todd Druley’s laboratory, in collaboration with NF Center director, Dr. David Gutmann, identified a new gene involved in the formation of malignant brain tumors, called glioblastomas, in people with NF1. In this study, they performed whole-exome sequencing on multiple […]

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is one of the most common cancer predisposition syndromes, where children are prone to develop low-grade brain tumors. In order to better define the MRI features and natural history of non-optic pathway tumors (non-OPTs) in children with NF1,  Dr. Jasia Mahdi conducted a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of 64 children with NF1 […]

Elizabeth Cordell, a first year medical student at Washington University, was awarded the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Pediatric Oncology Student Training (POST) Grant. The grant provides a summer stipend for promising young researchers interested in pediatric oncology. Elizabeth will study the neuroimmunology of brain tumors under the mentorship of Dr. David Gutmann, director of the […]

Olivia Cobb, having recently graduated with her Master’s Degree in Biostatistics from Washington University in Saint Louis, is joining the NF Center as a full time bioinformatics specialist. Olivia received her Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College in California prior to pursuing a Master’s Degree in Biostatistics. Olivia will be using […]

Each year, the American Neurological Association (ANA) selects the top-ranked abstracts submitted by fellows, residents, and early-career faculty to receive a travel award to attend the Annual Meeting and present their work. Michelle Wegscheid, a combined MD and PhD student in the laboratory of Dr. David Gutmann, was selected for a travel award to present […]

In a recent study by Qin et al., Dr. Angela Hirbe and her team identified TYK2 as a protein that is highly expressed in MPNSTs.  This protein often signals in cancer cells to help them grow. Dr. Hirbe’s group explored the function of TYK2 in MPNSTs by decreasing the levels of TYK2 in MPNST cells […]

Alice Bewley recently joined the research laboratory of NF Center Director, David H. Gutmann, MD, PhD, FAAN as a graduate student research assistant. Alice received her Bachelor of Science in Biology and Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Lyon College in Arkansas prior to pursuing a Master’s Degree in Biostatistics at Washington University in St. […]

Honored for work on pediatric brain tumors David H. Gutmann, MD, PhD, the Donald O. Schnuck Family Professor and vice chair for research affairs in the Department of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received the Abhijit Guha Award from the Society for Neuro-Oncology and the Section on Tumors of […]

Michelle Wegscheid, a combined MD-PhD student in the laboratory of David Gutmann, presented her exciting work on cerebral organoids (“mini-brains”) at the 2019 American Neurological Association meeting in St. Louis. Michelle is using these reprogrammed organoids to study the impact of patient NF1 gene mutations on human brain development.

The NF Center is proud to welcome three new Washington University undergraduate students to our team. In addition to Kelly Hartigan, a senior who is working with Michelle Wegscheid to characterize NF1 stem cell-induced mini-brains, Anna Wilson, Madhuri Kesani, and Sharanya Thondapu have each started projects. Anna will be working with Dr. Corina Anastasaki to […]

Young adults with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) typically come to medical attention when they develop hearing and balance problems, leading to the discovery of bilateral vestibular schwannomas (BVS). However, school-age children frequently do not present with BVS. In order to identify the earliest signs of NF2 in these young children, Cristina Gaudioso, MD, a pediatric […]

At the recent CTF symposium held in San Francisco, several members of the Washington University NF Center, presented their original research findings.  Michelle Wegscheid, a combined MD and PhD student, was selected for an oral poster presentation showcasing her work on human induced pluripotent stem cells, demonstrating that patient NF1 gene mutations have different consequences […]

David Gutmann, MD, PhD, FAAN the Donald O. Schnuck Family Professor of Neurology at the School of Medicine, has received a second Einstein Visiting Fellowship from the Berlin Institute of Health to study how immune cells in the brain known as microglia are linked to cancer, vision loss and behavioral problems in the disease Neurofibromatosis […]