Medicine & Health

Washington University researchers have found that courses intended to better prepare high school graduates for college also drive some students to drop out. They report that policies increasing the number of required math and science courses are linked to a higher dropout rate.

Young adults who were breastfed for three months or more as babies have a significantly lower risk of chronic inflammation associated with cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, according to research from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

A bill introduced July 28 in the U.S. House of Representatives would amend the controlled substances act – the federal law that criminalizes marijuana – to exempt plants with an extremely low level of THC, the part of marijuana that makes users high. Following closely on the heels of a call by the New York Times editorial board for the federal government to legalize marijuana, this could mark a turning point of sorts in the campaign for legalization. Gregory P. Magarian, professor of law, sees two reasons for leaving states with some power over the criminal law of marijuana.

Children diagnosed with depression as preschoolers are likely to suffer from depression as school-age children and young adolescents, research shows. Depressed preschoolers were 2.5 times more likely to suffer from depression in later school years than children who were not depressed at very young ages, according to School of Medicine researchers.

L. Michael Brunt, newly named to lead the Section of Minimally Invasive Surgery at the School of Medicine, is a nationally recognized laparoscopic surgeon with expertise in abdominal, solid organ and biliary surgery.

Mary Corcoran has been named assistant dean for finance at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Her appointment, which marks her return to the university after six years at Stanford University, is effective Aug. 21.

Researchers led by Audrey Odom, MD, PhD, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered a way the malaria parasite becomes resistant to an investigational drug. The discovery also is relevant for other infectious diseases including bacterial infections and tuberculosis.

More efforts should be directed at promoting interventions that have the potential to prevent multiple chronic diseases and extend healthy lifespans. School of Medicine and other researchers write in Nature that economic incentives in biomedical research and health care reward treating disease more than promoting good health.

Regis James O’Keefe, MD, PhD, is a highly regarded orthopaedic oncologist. He comes to the School of Medicine from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, where he is the chair of orthopaedics and rehabilitation.

New research provides an intriguing glimpse into the processes that establish connections between nerve cells in the brain. These connections, or synapses, allow nerve cells to transmit and process information involved in thinking and moving the body. Pictured is the study’s senior author, Azad Bonni, MD, PhD.