Plastic surgery and neuroscience advance through trauma. Severe burns, car accidents, war – these and other tragedies push plastic and reconstructive surgeons beyond the limits of collective wisdom to change patients’ lives. WashU Medicine plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Susan Mackinnon, MD, has dedicated her life to developing, refining and expanding a surgical technique called nerve transfer.

Chronic pain can be caused by a number of conditions, including nerve damage, muscle pain, injuries that don’t heal properly, arthritis, cancer and sickle cell disease. Identifying the source of someone’s pain can be a trial-and-error process. Even if two people have the same source of pain, they may experience different pain symptoms. In some instances, chronic pain can be relieved through an intravenous (IV) infusion of lidocaine.

With the green light from the FDA, a new immunotherapy treatment is now available to treat certain adult patients with metastatic melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. Called tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy, this option is for people with metastatic melanoma that can’t be treated with surgery and that has continued to grow and spread despite already having been heavily treated with other approved strategies.

There lies a paradox in sleep. Its apparent tranquility juxtaposes with the brain’s bustling activity. The night is still, but the brain is far from dormant. During sleep, brain cells produce bursts of electrical pulses that cumulate into rhythmic waves—a sign of heightened brain cell function. But why is the brain active when we are resting?