Medicine & Health

WashU Medicine researchers led by Polina Lishko have identified a temperature-controlled switch in mouse sperm that changes their movements. The findings may offer new approaches for contraception and infertility treatment.

Biomedical engineering researchers at Washington University have developed a brain wave decoder that can help people with spinal cord injuries.

A computer scientist at Washington University has developed a problem-solving architecture modeled on neurobiology that leverages quantum mechanical behavior to guarantee optimal solutions to complex problems.

Two WashU faculty are among nearly 250 newly elected members of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies. They are physicist Carl Bender, in Arts & Sciences, and immunologist Marco Colonna, at the School of Medicine.

A new analysis, led by WashU Medicine researchers and published in Cell Genomics, examines how certain proteins in human cells are implicated in both cancer and neurodevelopmental disorders, but behave differently, complicating potential interventions.

An international clinical trial co-led by WashU Medicine found that the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab added to standard-of-care therapy improved survival for patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer. Pembrolizumab helps the patient’s own immune cells attack and kill tumor cells.

Shannon Lenze, at WashU Medicine, received the William H. Danforth St. Louis Confluence Award. Lenze was recognized for her partnership with the EleVATE Collaborative to improve maternal and infant health outcomes.

Mayah Clayton doesn’t just study public health — she lives it. Through art, action and advocacy, she’s reframing how we see communities and create change.

Jeremiah “Jay” Truel co-founded StreetMedSTL, a nonprofit that sends interdisciplinary physicians to encampments and shelters to provide medical care, support and illness-prevention strategies. Since it began in 2022, StreetMedSTL has treated more than 1,000 patients. Truel soon will earn a medical degree from WashU Medicine.

Marco Pignatelli, MD, an assistant professor of psychiatry at WashU Medicine, has received a five-year, $6.5 million grant from the Wellcome Trust to unravel little-known brain functions involved in depression.