Medicine & Health

Luis A. Sanchez, MD, has been named the inaugural Gregorio A. Sicard Distinguished Professor of Vascular Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Sanchez, the recently named chief of the section of vascular surgery at the School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, is highly regarded for his expertise in vascular and endovascular surgery.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis asthma specialist Mario Castro, MD, is seeking volunteers for a study investigating whether taking vitamin D can make asthma medication more effective. Study participants must be 18 or older and have a physician’s diagnosis of asthma. They also must have been taking some type of therapy to control their asthma for at least one year.

Artery-opening brain stents designed to reduce high risk of repeat strokes instead significantly increased strokes and deaths, results of a multi-center clinical trial show.

Lisa M. Moscoso, MD, PhD, has been named associate dean for student affairs at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Washington University’s American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant (ACS-IRG) is now accepting applications from junior faculty for pilot project awards through 4 p.m. Oct. 14.

Two leading members of the faculty at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have been named Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professors in their respective fields. Raphael Kopan, PhD, has been named the Wolff Professor of Developmental Biology, and David Sibley, PhD, has been named the Wolff Professor of Molecular Microbiology.

Seasonal flu vaccines will be offered to School of Medicine faculty and staff at no cost beginning Oct. 4. The School of Medicine strongly recommends that all employees, even those with no direct patient contact, get a vaccine.

Donations collected by check boxes on state income tax forms, fees from license plates and revenue from state lottery tickets have raised millions for breast cancer research and prevention programs, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found.

This summer, 18-year-old Mogboluwaga Oginni shadowed physicians as they repaired shattered hips, twisted ankles and dislocated shoulders. He also learned about patient billing and the steps to cast broken legs.

The same trait that makes a rare immune cell invaluable in fighting some infections also can be exploited by other diseases to cause harm, two new studies show. By studying the basic functions of these cells, scientists are laying the groundwork to use them to fight infections. The cells also appear to be essential for some cancer vaccines, which enlist the power of the immune system to help fight tumors.