Medicine & Health

Racial and ethnic minority children and adolescents with cancer have a higher risk of death than non-Hispanic white children and adolescents, with evidence for larger disparities in survival for more treatable cancers, finds a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

A drug strategy aimed at revving up the immune system and boosting a type of immune cell known as natural killer cells appears, at least in mice, to effectively treat the skin condition eczema. A team led by the School of Medicine’s Brian S. Kim, MD, is behind the strategy.

Jeffrey R. Millman and his team at the Washington University School of Medicine produced human insulin-secreting beta cells from stem cells using a new efficient technique. The cells were able to rapidly cure diabetes in mice for at least nine months.

Similar to treatment resistant depression, there is a subpopulation of those addicted to opioids who do not respond to standard opioid use disorder treatments. In a new paper, an addiction expert at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis suggests a new category for these types of patients: treatment resistant opioid use disorder.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that the strain of Zika that circulated in Brazil during the microcephaly epidemic that began in 2015 was particularly damaging to the developing brain.

A new study offers a road map to understanding the molecular underpinnings of endometrial cancer, which could lead to new therapies. The national research team was co-led by investigators at the School of Medicine.

The School of Medicine led an international trial evaluating whether investigational drugs could slow memory loss and cognitive decline in a rare, inherited form of Alzheimer’s disease. The trial was conducted at 24 sites in Australia, Canada, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

More powerful than morphine, fentanyl killed pop-music icon Prince in 2016. Alum Ben Westhoff investigates how it gets to America, how it got so popular and what we can do to save lives in his new book.

Grandparental child care is linked to nearly a 30% increase in childhood overweight and obesity risk, finds a new analysis from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have discovered that the genetic variant APOE4 – long linked to dementia – spurs the spread of harmful clumps of Parkinson’s proteins through the brain. The findings suggest that therapies that target APOE might reduce the risk of dementia for people with Parkinson’s disease.