Author: Leslie Gibson McCarthy

John F. DiPersio, MD, PhD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received a $6 million outstanding investigator award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support research aimed at improving therapies for leukemia.

The School of Medicine has received a $10 million commitment from longtime benefactors George and Debra Couch to support research that advances personalized medicine. In recognition of their generosity, the research building at 4515 McKinley Ave. has been named the Debra and George W. Couch III Biomedical Research Building.

Lizzy Crist, a May 2017 graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, was named 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year. She is the second student-athlete from Washington University to win the award, joining 2012 winner Elizabeth Phillips. She is also the fifth NCAA Division III student-athlete to claim the honor.

Anthony J. Azama, the John M. Schael Director of Athletics at Washington University, has been on the job a little more than three months. But he’s already developed a rapport with the student athletes, and he has a clear vision where he wants to help them go.

Nearly 200 years after the publication of “Frankenstein” in 1818, we still employ Mary Shelley’s dream vision to interpret and explain our world today — but why? Perhaps because the troubling dialectic between Creator and Monster reflects some basic anxiety that has still not been resolved. Henry Schvey writes an essay in advance of the Oct. 13 conference “Frankenstein at 200” in Umrath Hall on the Danforth Campus.

On Sept. 7, the Assembly Series’ first fall program welcomed British playwright Nick Dear Nick Dear, author of the National Theatre of Great Britain’s 2011 production of “Frankenstein” to Graham Chapel. See photos of the event here.

Washington University in St. Louis researchers have developed a test that quickly detects the presence of Zika virus in blood.

A new study from the School of Medicineshows that mutations in the gene TREM2 cause an energy shortage in the brain’s immune cells, leading to their failure to protect neurons from damaging clumps of protein.

Results of a small clinical trial show promise for treating a rare neurodegenerative condition that typically kills those afflicted before they reach age 20. The disease, called Niemann-Pick type C (NPC), causes cholesterol to build up in neurons, leading to a gradual loss of brain function.

The combination of a bacterium that normally lives in the gut and a protein-rich diet promotes a more tolerant, less inflammatory gut immune system, according to new research at the School of Medicine. The findings may potentially spell relief for people living with inflammatory bowel disease.