Medicine & Health

Prostate biopsies performed using magnetic resonance imaging are more likely to find aggressive tumors than those that rely on ultrasound, suggests a new study led by Gerald Andriole, MD, chief of urology at the School of Medicine.

Adding vitamin D to asthma treatment to improve breathing only appears to benefit patients who achieve sufficient levels of the supplement in the blood. Overall, the ability to control asthma did not differ between a study group that received vitamin D supplements and a group that received placebo. Mario Castro, MD, (left) led the study.

Women plagued by repeated urinary tract infections may be able to prevent them with help from over-the-counter painkillers, new research in mice shows. School of Medicine scientists found that inhibiting an immune protein that causes inflammation eliminated recurrent urinary tract infections in mice.

Washington University’s Bear Cub program is funding four innovative projects that have commercial potential. Pictured is William G. Hawkins, MD, who is developing a new treatment for pancreatic cancer.

Project ARK, with support from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s new media project, will mark National Prevention Week with a screening of the documentary “You Are Not Alone” at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at the Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., in Forest Park.

Antidepressants can reduce production of the main ingredient of Alzheimer’s brain plaques, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Pennsylvania. The plaques are highlighted in red in this image of a mouse’s brain.

Interdisciplinary student teams presented innovations designed to solve problems in health care at IDEA Labs’ Demo Day last month. Engineering student Matthew Burkhardt (seated) won a summer internship through the university’s Skandalaris Center to continue developing his team’s invention. His teammates are (from left) Yuni Teh, Katrina Leyden, Adina Stoica and Elizabeth Rosenberg.​

Four School of Medicine nurses recently received the 2014 Excellence in Nursing Award from St. Louis Magazine, honoring local nurses who have made a difference in the lives of their patients and colleagues. Several others were honored as finalists.

Washington University researchers are studying African Americans with diabetes to learn whether vitamin D can slow the development of cardiovascular problems. Shown is principal investigator Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi, MD, with study patient Helen Randall.

A newly identified difference between female and male brains with multiple sclerosis (MS) may help explain why so many more women than men get the disease, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report.