Medicine & Health

Researchers at the School of Medicine and the Africa Health Research Institute have identified a master cell that coordinates the body’s immune defenses in the crucial early days after a tuberculosis infection. Boosting the activity of such cells could help reduce the millions of new infections that occur worldwide every year.

Research led by investigators at the School of Medicine has taken a step toward identifying the cysts in the pancreas that are likely to become cancerous.

A study from researchers at the School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System has linked long-term use of drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to fatal cases of cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease and upper gastrointestinal cancer. The researchers found that such risks increase with the duration of PPI use, even when taken at low doses.

Researchers at the School of Medicine studying brain tumors in mice discovered that tumors grow most rapidly if they can enlist the aid of immune cells. The findings suggest that therapies targeting immune cells could potentially treat some kinds of brain tumors.

Researchers at the School of Medicine are leading a multicenter team conducting research to evaluate whether brain imaging might help reveal risk for autism spectrum disorder in early infancy. Previous research suggests such imaging in high-risk children can predict problems in kids as young as 6 months old.

A gift from Walter Metcalfe Jr. and his wife, Cynthia, will support the work of School of Medicine child psychiatrist Joan Luby, MD, and her collaborators. The gift was inspired by promising early findings suggesting interventions to address the impact of toxic stress on the long-term behavioral and mental health of children.

A new study led by the School of Medicine has found that proton therapy is associated with fewer severe side effects than conventional X-ray radiation therapy for many cancer patients.

School of Medicine researchers have snapped high-resolution pictures of the chikungunya virus latched onto a protein found on the surface of cells in the joints. The findings could accelerate efforts to find new ways to prevent or treat viral arthritis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis cause the most lethal infectious disease in the world. Researchers at the School of Medicine and Umea University in Sweden have found a compound that can prevent and even reverse antibiotic resistance in tuberculosis bacteria.

The School of Medicine’s Yongjian Liu has received an Emerging Investigator Award to find ways to detect plaque at risk of shedding fragments that could cause heart attacks or strokes.