Washington University receives $3 million to design cancer-killing viruses
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a $3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to develop a triple threat in the fight against cancer: a single virus equipped to find, image and kill cancer cells, all at once.
Folic acid may reduce some childhood cancers
Folic acid fortification of foods may reduce the incidence of the most common type of kidney cancer and a type of brain tumors in children, finds a new study by Kimberly J. Johnson, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, and Amy Linabery, PhD, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota. Incidence reductions were found for Wilms’ tumor, a type of kidney cancer, and primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET), a type of brain cancer.
Recommendation against PSA test too drastic
A new recommendation issued today by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force against routine PSA testing for healthy men age 50 and older goes too far, says a prostate cancer expert at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Less invasive alternative to colonoscopy reduces colon cancer deaths
A less invasive screening test for colorectal cancer reduces deaths from the disease but is probably not as effective as colonoscopy, the gold standard.
Babies’ susceptibility to colds linked to immune response at birth
Innate differences in immunity can be detected at birth, according to new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. First author Kaharu Sumino, MD, and her colleagues say babies with a better innate response to viruses have fewer respiratory illnesses in the first year of life.
Memorial service for Welch June 4
A memorial service in honor of Michael J. Welch, PhD,
who was a faculty member for more than four decades at Washington
University in St. Louis, will be held at 3 p.m. June 4 in Graham Chapel.
Medical students write health-care handbook
Washington University School of Medicine students Nathan Moore and Elisabeth Askin collaborated to produce a clear and concise guide to the U.S. health-care system called the Health Care Handbook. The book is a topical overview of the system, aimed primarily at undergraduate and graduate health professions students.
Early substance use linked to lower educational achievement
School of Medicine researchers have found evidence that early drug and alcohol use is associated with lower levels of educational achievement. They found that people who began drinking or using drugs as young teens or who became substance dependent were less likely to finish college.
Surgeons restore some hand function to quadriplegic patient
Surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, led by Susan E. Mackinnon, MD, have restored some hand function in a quadriplegic patient with a spinal cord injury at the C7 vertebra, the lowest bone in the neck. Instead of operating on the spine itself, the surgeons rerouted working nerves in the upper arms. These nerves still “talk” to the brain because they attach to the spine above the injury.
Bonni to lead anatomy and neurobiology department
Azad Bonni, MD, PhD, currently professor of
neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, will be the next head of the
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at Washington University School
of Medicine in St. Louis.
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