School of Medicine

Using the gene editing technology CRISPR, scientists at the School of Medicine have shed light on a rare, sometimes fatal syndrome that causes children to gradually lose the ability to manufacture vital blood cells.

New research from the School of Medicine sheds light on what might be happening in an anxious brain.

Gavin Dunn, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received the Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award. The three-year award will support his investigations into how the body’s immune system can be harnessed to fight brain cancer. 

Robyn S. Klein, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist recognized internationally for her work on the brain’s immune system, has been named vice provost and associate dean for graduate education for the Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences. She will begin her new post Jan. 1.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have shown that E. coli bacteria — those at the root of hard-to-treat urinary tract infections (UTIs) — hijack trace amounts of copper in the body and use it as a nutrient to fuel growth. The finding may open the door to treating UTIs using drugs that work differently from traditional antibiotics.

Irregular heartbeat — or arrhythmia — can have sudden and often fatal consequences. A biomedical engineering team at Washington University in St. Louis examining molecular behavior in cardiac tissue recently made a surprising discovery that could someday impact treatment of the life-threatening condition.

A study led by researchers at the School of Medicine suggests that measures of amyloid beta in the blood have the potential to help identify people with altered levels of amyloid in their brains or cerebrospinal fluid. The test could identify people who have started down the path toward Alzheimer’s years before symptoms occur.

A new study in mice shows that females vaccinated before pregnancy and infected with Zika virus while pregnant bore young with no trace of the virus. The findings offer evidence that an effective vaccine administered prior to pregnancy can protect vulnerable fetuses.

A comprehensive pedestrian and driver safety program is being developed by the Operations and Facilities Management Department at Washington University School of Medicine.

Jose A. Moron-Concepcion, associate professor of anesthesiology the School of Medicine, studies the emotional component of pain and opioid receptors. He discusses some of the key points addressed in a new report on opioid abuse issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.