Medicine & Health

A new study hints that even large physician practices may have trouble moving to a payment system that rewards quality of health care over quantity of services delivered. And the new system may disproportionately burden small practices, researchers found.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a way to prevent fat cells from growing larger, a process that leads to weight gain and obesity. By activating a pathway in fat cells in mice, the researchers found they could feed the animals a high-fat diet without making them obese.

Why move from current standards of patient care to a more personalized approach to treatment? Experts at the School of Medicine describe today’s medical landscape as they plan for the care — and cures — of the future.

The School of Medicine is building the necessary infrastructure through centers and institutes to allow research that is more efficient and cost-effective, and that encourages high risks leading possibly to key breakthroughs.

Timothy Ley, MD, has been investigating leukemia, particularly acute myeloid leukemia (AML), for decades. His research team now knows the mutations they need to go after ­aggressively, the nature of the ­mutations that need to be targeted and why patients relapse.

At Washington University, training the next generation of leaders in translational medicine is a key focus. Here, Cheryl Leyns and Phat Huynh share stories of working in the lab of David Holtzman, MD, researching pathologies of Alzheimer’s disease.

Faculty at the Envolve Center for Health Behavior Change, a collaboration among Washington University, Duke University and Centene Corp., share what it takes to make bad habits into good ones.

As a survivor of sex trafficking, Katie Rhoades, MSW ’11, is passionate about helping women in the commercial sex industry. After graduating from the Brown School, she founded Healing Action, a nonprofit that helps women move on from their trauma.

New research indicates that more than 90 percent of the newest and most widely prescribed drugs on the market needed National Institute of Health (NIH) funding early in their development. The researchers believe proposed cuts to the NIH budget could cripple future development of new, life-saving drugs.

Ten million people come to the ER with chest pain each year in the United States. A new School of Medicine study shows that these patients are getting more testing than is necessary to rule out heart attacks and that such patients do not need CT scans or cardiac stress tests, according to the researchers.