Medicine & Health

Investigators at Washington University and The Scripps Research Institute have announced the launch of a “Global Metabolomic Initiative” to facilitate meta-analyses on studies of the metabolism of bacteria, yeast, plants, animals and people. Although metabolomics has existed as a discipline for only a decade, it has already provided insights into many difficult-to-treat diseases, including chronic pain. Many more are expected to fall out of the meta-analyses.

​The Program in Physical Therapy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has received a five-year, $4.6 million grant to continue an interdisciplinary training program for occupational and physical therapists that began in 2007.

By decoding the genomes of more than 1,000 people whose homelands stretch from Africa and Asia to Europe and the Americas, scientists have compiled a detailed catalog of human genetic variation to find the genetic roots of rare and common diseases in populations worldwide. ​

Researchers at the School of Medicine have received a five-year, $5.3 million grant to explore the way gender and age influence susceptibility to urinary tract infections, one of the most common bacterial infections.

School of Medicine researchers have received a five-year, $2.7 million grant to detect and analyze differences in the brains of children with a rare illness, Wolfram syndrome. The disorder includes a severe form of diabetes, hearing and vision loss and kidney problems. Patients also eventually lose muscle control and coordination from brain degeneration.

Resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine thought to improve insulin sensitivity, reduce risk of heart disease and increase longevity, does not appear to have those benefits in healthy women, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Ross Brownson, PhD, professor of medicine and social work at Washington University in St. Louis, has been named president-elect of the American College of Epidemiology.

Advances in medicine allow doctors to keep patients alive longer, tackle fertility problems and extend the viability of premature babies. They also lead to a growing number of moral questions for both the medical provider and patient. “Across the country, so-called conscience legislation allows doctors and nurses to refuse to provide abortions, contraception, sterilizations, and end-of-life care,” says Elizabeth Sepper, JD, health law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “But legislators have totally overlooked the consciences of providers who have made the conscientious judgment to deliver care and of the patients who seek these treatments.” Sepper says that conscience in the medical setting needs to be protected more consistently. “The one-sided protection of refusal cannot stand,” she says. “Just as we wouldn’t say that giving students vouchers only for Christian schools furthers religious freedom, we can’t say that current conscience legislation successfully lives up to its goal of protecting conscience.

​Charles E. Canter, MD, has been named the first Lois B. Tuttle and Jeanne B. Hauck Chair in Pediatrics at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

​Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, will host the annual Dean’s Update for all employees Nov. 7 and 9.