School of Medicine

While a particular metabolic pathway shows potential to slow down the aging process, new research indicates a downside: That same pathway may drive brain cancer. The pathway, known as the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) pathway, is overactive in a deadly form of brain cancer known as glioblastoma, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Li Ding, associate professor at the School of Medicine, is a cryptographer of sorts. She develops computational tools to study the genetics of cancer.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are launching a study aimed at identifying effective treatment methods for seniors with depression that does not respond to standard medications.

George F. Van Hare III, MD, director of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named president-elect of the Heart Rhythm Society, a global research and education group focused on cardiac rhythm disorders.

Patients with the most lethal form of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) – based on genetic profiles of their cancers – typically survive for only four to six months after diagnosis, even with aggressive chemotherapy. But new research led by the School of Medicine indicates that such patients, paradoxically, may live longer if they receive a milder chemotherapy drug.

The parasite that causes river blindness infects about 37 million people in parts of Africa and Latin America, causing blindness and other major eye and skin diseases in about 5 million of them. A study from the School of Medicine sheds light on the genetic makeup of the parasite, a step toward the goal of eradication.

A combination of two topical drugs that have been in use for years triggers a robust immune response against precancerous skin lesions, according to a new study. The research, from the School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School, shows that the therapy activates the immune system’s T cells, which then attack the abnormal skin cells. The study was published Nov. 21 in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Three School of Medicine faculty members are among 391 new fellows selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society. Azad Bonni, Phyllis I. Hanson and Gary D. Stormo will receive the highest honor awarded by AAAS.

Samuel Achilefu, the Michel M. Ter-Pogossian Professor of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected as a fellow to the Royal Society of Chemistry and to The Optical Society.

New research at the School of Medicine shows that excess weight increases the risk that a benign blood disorder — called monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance — will progress into multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood.