New target for treating diabetes and obesity

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a potential target for treating diabetes and obesity. Studying mice, they found that when the target protein was disabled, the animals became more sensitive to insulin and were less likely to get fat.

The morality of human subject research

The federal government is in the process of revising the regulations that govern most human subject research in the United States. In a “Policy Forum” piece in the Aug. 3 issue of Science, bioethics expert Rebecca Dresser, JD, the Daniel Noyes Kirby Professor of Law and professor of ethics in medicine, weighs in with recommendations for changes in the oversight process.

Timing of antibiotics important in reducing infections after C-section

Giving antibiotics before cesarean section surgery rather than just after the newborn’s umbilical cord is clamped cuts the infection rate at the surgical site in half, according to infection disease specialist David K. Warren, MD, and his colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Applications sought for K12 Career Development program

Applications for the K12 Clinical Hematology Research Career Development Program scholars are being accepted through Oct. 22. The K12 Career Development Program is aimed at clinical or research fellows, instructors or recently appointed assistant professors committed to research in non-malignant hematology.

A Re-Directed Life

Alumnus Clark Porter, an ex-felon himself, now develops programs to help some of the toughest repeat offenders stay on the path to a new life.

Crossroads in the Desert

This August 121 years ago, two Washington University graduates found themselves sweltering in Iran, as they grappled with an immense problem: How to cross Asia by bicycle? The outcome would make them famous.