Medicine & Health

A study led by WashU Medicine researchers found that short or poor-quality sleep and night shift work are associated with a higher risk of osteoarthritis and hip and knee replacements. 

WashU was ranked ninth among U.S. universities in the inaugural Cure Innovation Index, an assessment of how effectively institutions translate research advances into market-ready innovations. The index cited WashU’s biomedical research capabilities and support for commercialization and innovation, among other strengths.

As voters are increasingly asked to decide complex health policy questions at the ballot box, new research from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis finds that healthcare-related ballot measures draw more voters to the polls and are more likely to pass than other initiatives — but they’re also especially sensitive to opposition spending by special interest groups.

Janet S. Lee, MD, a physician-scientist in the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care at WashU Medicine, is internationally recognized for groundbreaking research in acute lung injury.

Aaron Norris, MD, PhD, at WashU Medicine, has received a five-year $3.5 million NIH grant to study brain cells that regulate how the body burns calories and could lead to new ways to promote weight loss.

B. Duygu Özpolat, a biologist in Arts & Sciences, received a renewal of her Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

WashU Medicine researchers Randall J. Bateman, MD, and David M. Holtzman, MD, were honored for their work developing diagnostic blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease with the Bayh-Dole Coalition’s 2026 American Innovator Award.

WashU biomedical engineers in Ismael Seáñez’s lab are evaluating which strategies and treatments are the most effective for spinal cord injuries.

A tool developed by WashU Medicine researchers can accurately distinguish among several major neurodegenerative diseases — including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, frontotemporal dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies — as well as detect when these conditions overlap, potentially improving early diagnosis, monitoring and treatment.

Anne M. Drewry, MD, a nationally recognized leader in critical care medicine, has been installed as the inaugural Llorin-Roa Professor of Anesthesiology at WashU Medicine.