Medicine & Health

A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis describes a strategy that could lead to therapies for clearing HIV infection. The researchers showed that human immune cells have a natural alarm system that detects the activity of a specific HIV protein.

Weikai Li, along with Michael J. Greenberg, both at the School of Medicine, and Michael L. Gross, in Arts & Sciences, received a three-year $750,000 grant from American Heart Association for their research titled “Interdisciplinary structural studies of iron homeostasis in cardiovascular health.”

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have engineered cartilage cells to release an anti-inflammatory drug in response to stresses such cells undergo when they are compressed during weight bearing and movement.

Michael S. Kinch, associate vice chancellor and director of the Centers for Research Innovation in Biotechnology and Drug Discovery, and professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at the School of Medicine,, received a one-year $280,385 grant from Arnold Ventures for his research titled “CDEK: Clinical Data Experience Knowledge-base.”

Alex Holehouse, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at the School of Medicine, received a one-year $91,539 grant from Dewpoint Therapeutics for his research titled “Bioinformatic tools for the analysis of phase separating proteins.”

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have developed an imaging agent that could help refine assessments of kidney health, potentially salvaging some otherwise discarded donor kidneys.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that patients with Barrett’s esophagus may be vulnerable to coronavirus infection from what they swallow.

Faculty experts from across Washington University in St. Louis draw upon their research, their instruction, their experience and their thought leadership to proffer insight and ideas for the new administration, the new beginning.

Dr. Karen Joynt Maddox expects the new Biden/Kamala Harris administration to retool and reinforce Obamacare, rather than the previous administration’s failed attempts to repeal and replace. She offers areas ripe for both quick and gradual change: reinstating health discrimination protection, investing in insurance enrollment, creating the “public option,” and broadening competition in insurance markets.

School of Medicine researchers have received an NIH grant to study factors that prevent pregnant women from getting tested for COVID-19; to evaluate the importance of testing regularly during pregnancy; and to see whether pregnant women with COVID-19 need specialized care.