Medicine & Health

Steven Strasberg, MD, the Pruett Professor of Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, will receive the 2014 Distinguished Service Award from the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association.

The S. Lee Kling Proton Therapy Center at Washington University Medical Center has begun treating patients with cancer near vital organs such as the spine, brain, heart and eyes. The center is the only one within 225 miles that offers proton therapy, a highly accurate radiation treatment.

A new study conservatively estimates that one in five women with ovarian cancer has inherited genetic mutations that increase the risk of the disease, according to research by the School of Medicine’s Li Ding, PhD, and her colleagues.

Ten Washington University physicians recently became certified in new medical subspecialties — five in clinical informatics and five in emergency medical services. Board certification exams were offered for the first time in each subspecialty in October.

Bradley L. Schlaggar, MD, PhD, the A. Ernest and Jane G. Stein Professor of Neurology, has been named director of the Division of Pediatric and Developmental Neurology.

Scientists have decoded the genome of an intestinal parasite that causes hookworm, an illness that afflicts an estimated 700 million of the world’s poor. The parasitic worm lives in the soil and enters the body through the feet. By feeding on victims’ blood, the worms cause anemia and, in children, stunted growth and learning problems.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have shown that two major pools of immune cells are at work in the heart. Both belong to a class of cells known as macrophages. One appears to promote healing, while the other likely drives inflammation, which is detrimental to long-term heart function.

Washington University Medical Center and the CORTEX district just east of the Medical Campus are evolving daily. A webpage has been created to keep visitors, employees and residents informed about street-improvement projects and traffic flow in the area.Views from a live webcam showing the progress also are available via this link.

The AIDS Clinical Trials Site at the School of Medicine has been awarded a National Institutes of Health grant that supports testing of treatments for HIV, AIDS and the many complications they cause. Pictured is the principal investigator, David Clifford, MD.

The St. Louis region is experiencing widespread flu activity with some deaths, but Washington University physicians say it’s not too late to get a flu shot. The deaths primarily were of otherwise healthy young and middle-aged adults not vaccinated against influenza.