Medicine & Health

The federal government is in the process of revising the regulations that govern most human subject research in the United States. In a “Policy Forum” piece in the Aug. 3 issue of Science, bioethics expert Rebecca Dresser, JD, the Daniel Noyes Kirby Professor of Law and professor of ethics in medicine, weighs in with recommendations for changes in the oversight process.

Giving antibiotics before cesarean section surgery rather than just after the newborn’s umbilical cord is clamped cuts the infection rate at the surgical site in half, according to infection disease specialist David K. Warren, MD, and his colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Applications for the K12 Clinical Hematology Research Career Development Program scholars are being accepted through Oct. 22. The K12 Career Development Program is aimed at clinical or research fellows, instructors or recently appointed assistant professors committed to research in non-malignant hematology.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a potential target for treating diabetes and obesity. Studying mice, they found that when the target protein was disabled, the animals became more sensitive to insulin and were less likely to get fat.

Zuum, a free iPad app, estimates a user’s disease risk and offers a customized plan for living a healthier life.

New research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that as much as 10 percent of individual differences in intelligence can be explained by the strength of neural pathways connecting the lateral prefrontal cortex to the rest of the brain. Findings establish “global brain connectivity” as a new method for understanding human intelligence.

Steven Strasberg, MD, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award/Gold Medallion of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (IHPBA) for his numerous contributions to the field of hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery.

New research suggests that patients whose mobility has been limited by stroke may one day use their imagination and a computer link to move their hands.

Three hundred and eighty physicians at Washington University in St. Louis have been named to the Best Doctors In America for 2012. One of every three physicians in St. Louis is a Washington University physician.

Hundreds of mutations exist in leukemia cells at the time of diagnosis but nearly all occur randomly as a part of normal aging and are not related to cancer, new research at Washington University School of Medicine shows.