Newsroom Stories

Irregular heartbeat — or arrhythmia — can have sudden and often fatal consequences. A biomedical engineering team at Washington University in St. Louis examining molecular behavior in cardiac tissue recently made a surprising discovery that could someday impact treatment of the life-threatening condition.

A study led by researchers at the School of Medicine suggests that measures of amyloid beta in the blood have the potential to help identify people with altered levels of amyloid in their brains or cerebrospinal fluid. The test could identify people who have started down the path toward Alzheimer’s years before symptoms occur.

While President Donald Trump has pledged an all-out effort to do away with wasteful regulations, his proposed 2018 budget would increase federal spending on regulatory agencies by 3.4 percent, according to a new report issued today by the Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis and the Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University.

Changes in a liquid as it becomes a glass are related to repulsion between its atoms as they are crowded together. Although scientists have long believed the poorly understood glass transition must have atomic underpinnings, this is the first time they have been demonstrated experimentally.

A team of researchers from the Brown School is set to investigate the potential health impact of an expansion of the MetroLink light rail system in St. Louis. Led by Rodrigo Reis, professor, the effort will be the first Health Impact Assessment for transit in the region.

Despite 15 years of investment in the Afghan health-care sector by the international community, vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities, do not benefit from access to quality health care, finds a new Washington University in St. Louis study published in the journal Lancet Global Health.

A new study in mice shows that females vaccinated before pregnancy and infected with Zika virus while pregnant bore young with no trace of the virus. The findings offer evidence that an effective vaccine administered prior to pregnancy can protect vulnerable fetuses.

Despite the efforts of some school districts to say otherwise, the naturally curly texture of the hair of many African-Americans is not unprofessional, distracting or faddish, says an expert on implicit bias and the law at Washington University in St. Louis.

Jose A. Moron-Concepcion, associate professor of anesthesiology the School of Medicine, studies the emotional component of pain and opioid receptors. He discusses some of the key points addressed in a new report on opioid abuse issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

New research has uncovered compelling evidence that genetics plays a major role in how children look at the world and whether they have a preference for gazing at people’s eyes and faces or at objects.The discovery by researchers at the School of Medicine and Emory University adds new detail to understanding the causes of autism spectrum disorder.