School of Medicine

Pregnancy tests can sometimes give a false negative result to women several weeks into their pregnancies, according to research by Ann Gronowski, professor of pathology and immunology at the School of Medicine. Her findings led the FDA to change its standards for evaluating new pregnancy tests, but old tests with the false-negative problem are still on the market.

The Washington University School of Medicine will provide $100 million in scholarship funding, allowing as many as half of its medical students to attend tuition-free and providing others with partial support. Efforts to enhance the medical education program also will benefit.

The School of Medicine has led a new study showing that new Medicare reimbursement rules reduce financial penalties for safety-net hospitals. The change shifts some of the financial burden away from hospitals that care for the most vulnerable patients.

The Samuel R. Goldstein Leadership Awards in Medical Student Education recognize outstanding teaching and commitment to medical education. This year’s recipients are Brian Edelson, MD, PhD, Andrew J. White, MD, and Timothy Yau, MD.

From the beginning of his tenure, Mark Wrighton set out to put Washington University and its students and faculty on the map.

James McCarter, MD/PhD ’98, whose entrepreneurial spirit was nurtured while a grad student, has built his career on translational research.

An international team led by Gary Weil, MD, of the School of Medicine is poised to help eliminate two disabling tropical diseases as public health problems. A large grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will fund clinical trials and other studies aimed at preventing new cases of elephantiasis and river blindness.

Philanthropists Andrew and Barbara Taylor and the Crawford Taylor Foundation have committed $10 million to the School of Medicine to continue research to investigate the scientific underpinnings of psychiatric illnesses, with the goal of improving diagnosis and treatment.

Centene Corp. and the School of Medicine announced a partnership April 8 to transform and accelerate research into treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, breast cancer, diabetes and obesity. As part of the partnership, Centene will fund up to $100 million over 10 years in research at the university.

Ryan C. Fields, MD, a noted cancer surgeon and researcher, has been named chief of the Section of Surgical Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.