Medicine & Health

Washington University researchers and international partners go to great lengths to help solve some of the world’s most pervasive health challenges.

Medical school Professor Gary Weil, MD, leads a large global network of researchers and organizations in the Death to Onchocerciasis and Lymphatic Filariasis (DOLF) Project, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Infectious disease expert William Powderly, MD, discusses the need for a sustained investment in a public health infrastructure, not only in the United States but across the world.

William Powderly, MD, wants the Global Health Center to build on research in human nutrition, another Washington University strength.

When it comes to engagement, William Powderly, MD, is encouraged by what he calls “the keen student interest … in addressing global health challenges.”

Working in mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis led by Brian N. Finck, PhD (left), and Kyle S. McCommis, PhD, showed they could reduce glucose production in the liver and lower blood sugar levels. Their approach — shutting down a liver protein involved in making glucose — may help treat type 2 diabetes.

A free e-book by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine provides practical, science-based advice for lowering breast cancer risk at every stage of life. “Together — Every Woman’s Guide to Preventing Breast Cancer” is written for a lay audience to help women improve their breast health and the breast health of their loved ones.

New research may help explain why drug treatments for addiction and depression don’t work for some patients. The conditions are linked to reward and aversion responses in the brain. And the research suggests that some treatments simultaneously stimulate reward and aversion responses, resulting in a net zero effect.

Katie Plax, MD, who is recognized widely for an innovative youth outreach center she started and for her work advocating for children and teens, has been named the Ferring Family Chair in Pediatrics at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The largest study to date of sustained calorie reduction in adults shows that it does not produce all of the metabolic effects associated with longevity that have been found in animal studies. Severely cutting calorie intake, however, did appear to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and make people more sensitive to insulin, according to John O. Holloszy, MD, principal investigator at the study’s Washington University clinical site.