Medicine & Health

The Office of Technology Management at Washington University in St. Louis recently celebrated a milestone of 100 university startups.

Chao Zhou, a professor of biomedical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has been awarded an up to $20 million contract from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health to improve optical coherence tomography systems that can conduct high-resolution imaging of the eyes.

School of Medicine scientists have discovered a brain structure that allows fluid waste to leave the brain. The researchers think these structures, and the cells and molecules positioned around them, may help lead to new therapies for neuroinflammatory diseases.

Nandini Raghuraman, MD, a physician-scientist who specializes in caring for patients with complex high-risk pregnancies, has been named director of the Division of Clinical Research in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the School of Medicine.

Guy Genin, the Harold and Kathleen Faught Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering, has been awarded the Savio L-Y. Woo Translational Biomechanics Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

The School of Medicine has joined the Pediatric Heart Network, a multicenter collaboration of leading hospitals and research institutions that works to improve care for pediatric heart disease patients.

Jennie H. Kwon, DO, an associate professor of medicine in infectious diseases, and Jason G. Newland, MD, a professor of pediatrics, both at the School of Medicine, have been selected to serve on the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.

Washington University in St. Louis and Deerfield Management, a health-care investment firm, announced the launch of VeritaScience, a new private R&D collaboration designed to advance the discovery, clinical development and commercialization of promising therapeutic and diagnostic candidates with potential to benefit human health.

Three WashU researchers developing promising therapeutics for cancer and heart disease are the inaugural awardees of the Needleman Program for Innovation and Commercialization. The next round of project proposals is now open.

Todd A. Fehniger, MD, PhD, and colleagues Alice Y. Zhou, MD, PhD, Ryan C. Fields, MD, and George Ansstas, MD, all at the School of Medicine, have received $1.5 million from the Rising Tide Foundation for Cancer Research and the Melanoma Research Alliance.