Medicine & Health

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.

Broadly suppressing the immune system after lung transplantation inadvertently may encourage organ rejection, according to a new School of Medicine study in mice. Shown, from left, are study co-authors Daniel Kreisel, MD, PhD, Andrew Gelman, PhD, and Alexander Krupnick, MD.

Recipients of this year’s Jane and Whitney Harris St. Louis Community Service Award are Peggy and Jerry Ritter. The award is given annually to a husband-and-wife team for exemplary dedication in advancing the educational, cultural and social service institutions in the metropolitan area.

A panel of experts, including researchers from the School of Medicine, is recommending that depression be added to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and smoking as a cardiac risk factor.​

Researchers at the School of Medicine have identified an unusual cause of the lysosomal storage disorder called mucolipidosis III, at least in a subset of patients. Unlike most genetic diseases that involve dysfunctional or missing proteins, the culprit is a normal protein that ends up in the wrong place.

Babies who develop leukemia during the first year of life appear to have inherited an unfortunate combination of genetic variations that may make the infants highly susceptible to the disease, according to a new study led by the School of Medicine’s Todd Druley, MD, PhD.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation announced Feb. 17 that Washington University in St. Louis’ Gary Patti has been awarded a 2014 Sloan Research Fellowship. He is among 126 outstanding U.S. and Canadian researchers selected as fellowship recipients this year. Awarded annually since 1955, the fellowships are given to early-career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars, the next generation of scientific leaders.

Some WUSTL faculty members have received awards from the Fulbright Program for academic pursuits in areas ranging from architecture to education to medicine. 

Tread the Med, the School of Medicine’s popular 100-day wellness program that encourages participants to walk 10,000 steps each day, is set to begin Thursday, Feb. 27, with an Olympics-themed kickoff on the Medical Campus.

The School of Medicine’s 10th Annual Art Show, which features works by students, faculty and staff, is in the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center atrium through Friday, Feb. 21.