Author: Leslie Gibson McCarthy

A new center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis aims to bring together a cadre of faculty members to conduct basic, translational and clinical research focused on reproductive health.

People with blood type O often get more severely ill from cholera than people of other blood types. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis may explain why.

Washington University will host a four-day symposium Sept. 26-29 called “Communicating Science 2016.” The event, to be held at the Eric P. Newman Education Center on the Medical Campus, is geared toward helping scientists share news of their work effectively with people outside of their specific disciplines.

An international team of researchers, including Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has identified eight additional types of cancer linked to excess weight and obesity: stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, ovary, meningioma (a type of brain tumor), thyroid cancer and the blood cancer multiple myeloma. Limiting weight gain over the decades could help to reduce the risk of these cancers, the data suggest.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified the protein that norovirus uses to invade cells. The discovery, in mice, provides new ways to study a virus notoriously hard to work with and may lead to treatments or a vaccine.

But a new study in young children with asthma — co-authored by the School of Medicine’s Leonard B. Bacharier, MD — compared acetaminophen to ibuprofen. It showed no difference in the severity of asthma symptoms between the two medications.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded a $10.4 million, five-year grant to Washington University researchers and physicians at Siteman Cancer Center to lead a national group of experts in collaborative pancreatic cancer research.

Commonly touted as “good cholesterol” for helping to reduce risk of stroke and heart attack, both high and low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol may increase a person’s risk of premature death, according to new research at the School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System.

Researchers at The McDonnell Genome Institute at the School of Medicine have co-led a study on breast tumors — before and after hormone reduction therapy. It reveals the extreme genetic complexity of these tumors and the variety of responses that are possible to estrogen-deprivation treatments.

Studying mice and zebrafish, researchers from the School of Medicine and the University of Zurich have shown that the proteins associated with Mad Cow Disease — when properly folded — play a vital role in nerve cell function.