Medicine & Health

Advice on a single topic gathered from across campus and across disciplines

The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine is today among the most recognized cancer programs in the U.S. The longstanding support of Alvin Siteman (left) and his wife, Ruth, whose $35 million gift named the center in 1999, has been critical. Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, director of the Siteman Cancer Center, is on the right.

Lainie Friedman Ross, MD, PhD, of the University of Chicago, addresses the panel at the Policy Forum program “First, Do No Harm: Genetic Privacy in the Age of Genome Sequencing” in Brown Hall Feb. 25. Among other topics, panel participants addressed the ethical implications of genetic privacy and incidental findings that may occur because of genome testing. 

During winter break, 19 students and two alumnae from the Program in Physical Therapy at the School of Medicine​ traveled throughout Guatemala to help patients who otherwise might not receive physical therapy and other health care. Shown is student Leslie Wallace receiving a kiss from a grateful Guatemalan woman.

Duncan Avenue is scheduled to be closed in segments March 3 to May 5 for sewer work. The closures will begin west of Sarah Street, just east of the @4240 building.

St. Louis County families soon will have improved, convenient access to top-notch health-care services for their children with a St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Washington University Physicians medical office building in west St. Louis County.

Chronic kidney disease sufferers are more likely to die of heart disease than kidney problems. However, it hasn’t been clear how kidney disease causes heart disease or what could be done to stop it. But a new study at the School of Medicine led by Keith A. Hruska, MD, has pinpointed the cause of a kidney-related syndrome linked to heart disease and found how to neutralize a protein that spurs heart disease.

A study led by researchers at the School of Medicine suggests a procedure called hip resurfacing may be a better option than total hip replacement for some patients, particularly those who are young and active.

Neuroscientist Richard Davidson, PhD, a leading expert on the impact of practices such as meditation on the brain, will give the annual Witherspoon Lecture on Religion and Science. The Assembly Series address, “Change your Brain by Transforming your Mind,” will be at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, in Graham Chapel.

A study led by M.B. Majella Doyle, MD, a Washington University lung transplant surgeon, shows that retrieving donor organs at a stand-alone facility is more efficient and less costly than in a hospital.