School of Medicine

​New discoveries, a new campus, Star Wars economics and another presidential debate – these were among the most-read stories of 2015 at Washington University in St. Louis.​

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital are offering a newly approved, nonsurgical therapy to help people lose weight. Shelby Sullivan, MD, holding models of the two systems being used, said the therapy involves placing special balloons into the stomach and inflating them to give patients the feeling of being full after eating small meals.

A collaboration of engineers and researchers from Washington University in St. Louis, led by Viktor Gruev, PhD, has received the highest award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for developing a bio-inspired imaging sensor for medical imaging applications.

In a new analysis, researchers at the School of Medicine have shed light on the hereditary elements across 12 cancer types — showing a surprising inherited component to stomach cancer and providing some needed clarity on the consequences of certain types of mutations in well-known breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2.

During a five-year period ending in 2013, nearly 400 children ages 16 or under were taken to one of two hospital emergency rooms in St. Louis for gun-related injuries, according to a study led by Martin S. Keller, MD, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Of those children, 20 later died. Analyzing such cases can help identify risk factors and stem gun-related injuries, researchers believe.

The brains of children who suffer clinical depression as preschoolers develop abnormally, compared with the brains of preschoolers unaffected by the disorder, according to university researchers. Their gray matter is lower in volume and thinner in the cortex, a part of the brain important in the processing of emotions.

New research, led by Li Ding, PhD, shows that current genome analysis approaches systematically miss detecting a certain type of complex mutation in cancer patients’ tumors. A significant percentage of these complex mutations are found in well-known cancer genes that could be targeted by existing drugs, potentially expanding the number of cancer patients who may benefit.

Jason S. Goldfeder, MD, a revered teacher in the Division of Medical Education of the Department of Medicine at the School of Medicine, died Dec. 9, 2015, following a 12-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

A new center has been formed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to facilitate research that explores the regenerative properties of cells and tissues. The Center of Regenerative Medicine is headquarted in the recently opened 4515 McKinley Research Building, along with several other School of Medicine centers and divisions.

Amanda R. Emke, MD, and Michael Friedman, MD, have been named the 2015-2017 Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb Teaching Fellows at the School of Medicine. The fellowship program was established in 2004 to advance clinical education.