School of Medicine

A $13 million grant to study how the Ebola virus replicates has been awarded to a team led by Gaya Amarasinghe, associate professor of pathology and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

A survey of parents in Missouri and Illinois reveals that about half of the children in the families queried spent time in homes that have firearms. However, few reported talking about gun safety with their children’s pediatricians.

In a landmark national study, scientists will use advanced brain imaging on more than 10,000 children, along with interviews and behavioral tests, to determine how experiences, together with a child’s changing biology, affect brain development.

A group of eight Washington University registered nurses (RNs) received bachelor’s of science degrees in nursing in August as part of a new program that allows university RNs tuition remission when they pursue bachelor’s degrees at Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will collaborate with the pharmaceutical companies AbbVie, Biogen, and Eli Lilly & Co. to investigate the buildup and clearance of tau protein in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Scientists have implicated a type of stem cell in the calcification of blood vessels that is common in patients with chronic kidney disease. The study, led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, appeared Sept. 8 in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

They are the tiny motors present in many of the human body’s most complex systems: cilia and flagella move liquids such as cerebrospinal fluid and mucus past the cell surface, and throughout the body. Both are of vital importance to human health, but how they actually move remains a mystery. A team from Washington University in St. Louis has been awarded a 5-year, $1.25 million grant to study the mechanics of these tiny organelles.

Researchers have found that Zika virus can live in eyes and have identified genetic material from the virus in tears, according to a study from the School of Medicine. The research, in mice, helps explain why some Zika patients develop eye disease, including a condition that can lead to permanent vision loss.

Audrey Odom, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and of molecular microbiology in the School of Medicine, and Timothy Wencewicz, assistant professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, both of Washington University in St. Louis, are the recipients of inaugural ACS Infectious Diseases Young Investigator Awards.

Jeff Michalski, MD, the Carlos Perez Distinguished Professor of Radiation Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and a radiation oncologist at Siteman Cancer Center, has been elected radiation oncology co-chair of the National Cancer Institute Genitourinary Cancers Steering Committee.