School of Medicine

Ari Nachum Berlin, MD, a pediatric intern at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and a 2017 graduate of the School of Medicine, died Feb. 23 in St. Louis after a 2 ½-year battle with pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer. He was 27. A memorial service is planned Tuesday, March 6, on the Medical Campus.

Colin Nichols, the Carl F. Cori Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology, has received a grant to study how the genetic mutations underlying Cantu syndrome are linked to cardiovascular disease.

Using nanotechnology, a team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis has eliminated the need for refrigeration for biomarkers used in medical diagnostic testing. The researchers recently gave their new tech a real-world test by sending it through the mail.

Thaddeus Stappenbeck, MD, PhD, the Conan Professor of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected to the Association of American Physicians in recognition of his work advancing biomedical science, medicine or health through innovative research.

A memorial service in honor of John A. (Jack) Pierce, MD, emeritus professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, will be held at 5 p.m. Monday, March 12, in Moore Auditorium on the Medical Campus. To attend, RSVP by March 5. Pierce died in November at age 92.

A research team from the School of Medicine led by Allan Doctor, MD, has received $5 million in grants to develop artificial red blood cells to act as a blood substitute. The research aims to prevent deaths from traumatic bleeding.

Peter Panagos, MD, professor of emergency medicine and of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been appointed vice chair and chair-elect of the Stroke Council of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

School of Medicine researchers have found that when mature cells transition to begin dividing again, they all seem to do it the same way, regardless of what organ those cells come from. These older cells may be dangerous because when they revert to stem cell-like behavior, they carry with them all the potential cancer-causing mutations that have accumulated during their lifespans.

Michael Avidan, MBBCh, anesthesiologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, works every day with colleagues in the so-called Anesthesiology Control Tower to identify risks to people undergoing surgery and consider measures to optimize patient outcomes.

Carey-Ann D. Burnham, associate professor of pathology and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis,  has been named a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Academy of Microbiology.