School of Medicine

High-protein diets may help people lose weight and build muscle, but a School of Medicine study in mice suggests they also lead to more plaque in the arteries. The findings also show that high-protein diets spur unstable plaque, the kind most prone to rupturing and causing blocked arteries.

New School of Medicine research indicates that “jumping genes” play a surprising role in stabilizing the 3D folding patterns of the DNA molecule inside a cell’s nucleus.

At the Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees meeting Dec. 6, several faculty members were appointed or promoted with tenure, with most becoming effective Jan. 1.

Matthew J. Walter, MD, has been named the inaugural Edward P. Evans Endowed Professor of Myelodysplastic Syndromes at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He is an international leader in the study and treatment of a group of rare blood disorders.

School of Medicine researchers have received $29 million from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health to continue a long-running, international Alzheimer’s study aimed at understanding how the disease develops and progresses.

A new study from the School of Medicine suggests that bone marrow — or blood stem cells — from healthy donors can harbor extremely rare mutations that can cause health problems for the cancer patients who receive them. Such stem cell transplants are important for treating blood cancers, including acute myeloid leukemia.

Tammy Matuska, a clinical nurse coordinator in the Division of Hematology & Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named a 2019 MPN Hero by CURE magazine, a national publication for cancer patients and their caregivers.

Exposure to chemotherapy and radiation during cancer treatment leads to bone loss and increases the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. A new School of Medicine study identifies the trigger for this bone loss and suggests ways to prevent it.

Washington University’s Jerome Cox and Jack H. Ladenson join a small but distinguished group of fellows of the National Academy of Inventors, the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors.

Taevin Symone Lewis, a recent graduate of the Program in Occupational Therapy at the School of Medicine, died Jan. 1 in a motor vehicle accident in St. Louis. She was 26. A funeral service will take place Saturday, Jan. 11, in Memphis, Tenn.