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Medicine & Health

Personalized melanoma vaccines marshal powerful immune response

Personalized melanoma vaccines can be used to marshal a powerful immune response against unique mutations in patients’ tumors, according to early data in a first-in-people clinical trial at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The research is a boost to cancer immunotherapy, a treatment strategy that unleashes the immune system to seek out and destroy cancer.
Campus & Community

Filmmaker Ken Burns to deliver Washington University’s Commencement address May 15

Ken Burns, director and producer of some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, has been selected to give the 2015 Commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. Wrighton made the announcement to the Class of 2015 during the annual senior class toast Thursday, April 2, in the Danforth University Center. Commencement is Friday, May 15.
Campus & Community

Louis Sullivan visits the university April 9

Louis W. Sullivan, MD, president emeritus of Morehouse School of Medicine, and former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), will speak about healthy equity and diversity in the health professions in two talks April 9 at Washington University.

PB&Joy food drive runs April 2-14

PB&Joy, the annual universitywide food drive, runs from April 2-14. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to donate nonperishable, kid-friendly foods or to make a financial donation to Operation Food Search. Drop-off spots are available across the Danforth, Medical, North and West campuses.
Medicine & Health

Exercise for older mouse mothers lowers risk of heart defects in babies

Older mice genetically prone to bear offspring with heart defects can reduce this risk to that of younger mouse mothers with the same genetic defect through exercise alone, according to new research at the School of Medicine. The study, led by Patrick Y. Jay, MD, PhD, also suggests that the increased risk of congenital heart defects is tied to the age of the mother and not the age of her eggs.

Researcher receives grant to collect data from summer training programs

Treva K. Rice, PhD, professor of biostatistics and of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received a four-year, $1.79 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for research titled “PRIDE Coordination Center.”
Arts & Culture

Thinking on her feet

Samantha Gaitsch in action
Dancer Samantha Gaitsch is a familiar face to campus audiences. Over the next two weekends, Gaitsch will perform with The Slaughter Project, company-in-residence in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences, and will co-direct “Step, Turn, Leap!,” the 2015 Student Dance Showcase.
Campus & Community

Confronting the public health implications of gun violence​

​“Gun Violence: A Public Health Crisis,” a yearlong initiative at Washington University in St. Louis, will invite scholars, medical professionals, community leaders and citizens to take a hard look at the serious, tragic public health consequences of gun violence in America. Beginning this month, the university will host a series of events and discussions designed to explore three key themes: What we know, what we need to know, and what to do about this critical issue.