Medicine & Health

People at high risk for psychological distress respond positively to receiving results of personalized genetic testing, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. More than 60 percent of subjects in the genetic study wanted information about their test results, and 95 percent said they appreciated receiving the information, regardless of whether the results were good or bad news.

Social media marketing strategies present both challenges and opportunities for public health professionals. While misinformation can be spread, social media does provide an effective way of reaching large audiences. Situational analysis by researchers at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis of a recent social media campaign by the Chicago Department of Public Health suggests that public health organizations need to pay close attention to how they disseminate information, and also to the response the campaign gets.

Faculty in the Division of Emergency Medicine are hosting a regional conference on out-of-hospital medicine from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Oct. 23 and 24, at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis. Out-of-hospital medicine refers to treatment provided by emergency medical services (EMS) that operate under the supervision of physicians.

Although he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to go to medical school, ophthalmologist Todd P. Margolis, MD, PhD, now heads the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. And he’s pioneering a phone app that could revolutionize the way people are screened for particular eye diseases.

Kelle H. Moley, MD, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors medical scientists in the United States can receive. Moley was honored for her professional achievement in the health sciences.

At least 2 percent of people over age 40 and 5 percent of people over 70 have mutations linked to leukemia and lymphoma in their blood cells, according to new research led by Li Ding, PhD, at the School of Medicine.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (left) and Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, visited the School of Medicine this week to talk to researchers, administrators and entrepreneurs about scientific research and the need to boost and sustain federal funding for it.

Ira Kodner, MD, the Solon & Bettie Gershman Professor Emeritus of Surgery, will speak at the 19th annual Homer G. Phillips Public Health Lecture Series at the School of Medicine on Oct. 24. The title of his talk is “A Legacy of Excellence: The Washington University and Homer G. Phillips Story.”

Recent revelations that NBC News’ chief medical correspondent violated an Ebola quarantine after returning from Africa, and that a Dallas health care worker infected with the virus boarded a commercial jet have focused the nation’s attention on Ebola and what can be done to protect citizens. While measures like quarantine do restrict the freedom of exposed individuals, they do so to protect the public’s health, says a Washington University in St. Louis expert on biomedical ethics.

In an effort to extend opportunities to members of the medical school community who wish to share thoughts and viewpoints on becoming a more diverse and inclusive community, the School of Medicine is hosting a series of facilitated discussions.