School of Medicine

COVID-19 caught public health systems in the U.S. unprepared to detect, track and contain the virus. The pandemic has exposed a multitude of deficiencies that require a wholesale reinvention of the field of public health, said four leading experts in a recently published essay.

Gastric bypass surgery is the most effective therapy to treat or reverse type 2 diabetes in severely obese patients. New research from Washington University School of Medicine indicates that weight loss after surgery, rather than the surgery itself, drives metabolic improvements.

The newly formed Division of Physician-Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine has selected five physicians for its inaugural Dean’s Scholar Program, which provides up to two years of financial support and mentorship to aspiring, early-career physician-scientists, along with dedicated time for conducting laboratory research.

Washington University is seeking 2,000 university employees or students to volunteer for a study to evaluate the feasibility of large-scale, rapid COVID-19 saliva testing.

School of Medicine researchers have received a $3.9 million grant supporting new technologies and therapeutics to advance a drug to treat debilitating lung diseases, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The research is led by Michael J. Holtzman, MD.

Lila Solnica-Krezel, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor and head of the Department of Developmental Biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected president of the International Zebrafish Society.

In a mouse study, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that an antibody that targets the protein TREM2 empowers tumor-destroying immune cells and improves the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy.

School of Medicine researchers are investigating whether a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat rare diseases of an overactive immune system could help critically ill patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have created a COVID-19 vaccine candidate from a replicating virus. This experimental vaccine has proven effective at preventing pneumonia in mice.

Up to 5,000 St. Louis County residents will be invited to participate in a survey and testing regarding COVID-19 to help gauge the impact the coronavirus has had on the county’s residents. Washington University in St. Louis and the St. Louis County Department of Public Health are leading the project.