Newsroom Stories

Some pregnant women who have asthma will get extra vitamin D in a study to determine if the vitamin can prevent their children from developing asthma.

Applications for the K12 Clinical Hematology Research Career Development Program scholars are being accepted through Oct. 19.

A procedure that uses heat generated by radio waves to treat Barrett’s esophagus can eliminate signs of the potentially cancer-causing disorder.

Jeffrey D. Milbrandt, M.D., Ph.D., has been named head of the Department of Genetics and the James S. McDonnell Professor.

A study of mental decline in the years prior to diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease suggests that changing the focus of testing may help physicians detect signs of the disease much earlier. School of Medicine researchers have found that visuospatial skills, evaluated with tasks such as connecting the dots or using a guide to build a structure with blocks, begin to deteriorate up to three years prior to a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.

Washington University will host The Center for Academic Integrity’s 18th Annual International Conference Oct. 16-18, 2009. Several hundred students, faculty and staff from around the world will discuss the practice and philosophy of academic integrity, focusing on issues germane to both college and high school education. The conference theme is “Creating a Culture of Integrity: Research and Best Practices.”

Cells in the retina quickly adjust to darkness by way of an intricate process.Ever wonder how your eyes adjust during a blackout? When we go from light to near total darkness, cells in the retina must quickly adjust. Vision scientists at the School of Medicine have identified an intricate process that allows the human eye to quickly adapt to darkness. The same process also allows the eye to function in bright light.

The 2009 seasonal flu vaccination program for School of Medicine employees has been a tremendous success. Given the high and early participation rate by WUSM faculty and staff, the originally published flu vaccination schedule has been shortened. If you have already received your free flu shot, thank you! If not, please protect yourself, your family, co-workers and patients by taking advantage of remaining vaccination offerings.

Scholars from across the country and Canada will gather at Washington University in St. Louis Nov. 6 and 7 for the inaugural International Creole Corridor Symposium. The public is invited to attend the symposium, sponsored by the University and Les Amis (The Friends), the region’s Creole cultural heritage preservationist organization located in St. Louis.

A new mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) closely resembles the paralyzing disorder in humans, researchers at the School of Medicine report online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.