Medicine & Health

A nasal COVID-19 vaccine based on technology licensed from Washington University in St. Louis has been approved for emergency use in India as a booster for people who have already received two doses of other COVID-19 vaccines.

A study involving School of Medicine researchers supports the idea that some T cells that react to microbes also may react to normal human proteins, causing autoimmune disease. The findings promise to accelerate efforts to improve diagnostic tools and treatments for autoimmune diseases.

School of Medicine scientists have shown that the cancer therapy known as CAR-T can be applied to multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease of the nervous system. The findings extend the powerful tool of immunotherapy to autoimmune diseases, a class of diseases that are often debilitating and difficult to treat.

A research team that includes School of Medicine and pharmacy scientists has altered the chemical properties of fentanyl. The research holds promise for developing safer opioid drugs that still relieve pain.

Janet S. Lee, MD, a highly regarded physician-scientist in pulmonary and critical care medicine, has been chosen to lead the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the School of Medicine. Her appointment is effective Jan. 3.

Washington University medical experts share how students, faculty and staff can stay healthy this holiday season. They note that masks not only slow the spread of COVID-19, but also can stop dangerous viruses such as the flu and RSV, which are currently raging throughout the St. Louis region. 

School of Medicine physician-scientists have received an NIH grant to establish a Pediatric Center of Excellence in Nephrology. The researchers aim to create high-definition molecular reference maps showing genetic details of normal and diseased kidneys during various stages of childhood growth and development.

School of Medicine researchers discovered that the three main kinds of soil fungi that cause lung infections have all expanded their ranges in recent decades. Reliance on outdated maps could be causing delayed or missed diagnoses.

School of Medicine scientists have received a five-year $11.7 million grant to study human genes and nerve cells to better understand how cells transmit pain and to find new ways to treat it.

A study from Washington University School of Medicine shows that as patients age, Huntington’s disease impairs autophagy, which eliminates waste from cells.