School of Medicine

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has received a $10 million gift to support research that harnesses the immune system to fight cancer, infectious diseases, and disorders caused by autoimmunity and immune deficiencies. The gift from Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky will advance cutting-edge work at the newly named Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky Center for Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Programs.

Stephanie Markovina, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of radiation oncology at the Washington University School of Medicine, has received the 2016 Junior Faculty Career Research Training Award from the American Society for Radiation Oncology. She will receive a two-year, $200,000 grant as part of the recognition.

Researchers have identified a potential way to prevent chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs). Their research points to a key protein that bacteria use to latch onto the bladder and cause UTIs, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Vaccinating mice against the protein reduces the ability of bacteria to cause severe disease.

A team at the School of Medicine is evaluating a new immunotherapy against acute myeloid leukemia. The treatment harnesses the immune system’s “natural killer” cells, putting them through a training period in the lab to help them attack leukemia cells in the blood.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found another possible explanation for some of the symptoms of fragile X syndrome. The study, published Sept. 20 in Cell Reports, provides a new way of looking at the underlying causes of the syndrome and suggests new targets for treatment.

Catherine Lang, a professor of physical therapy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, will serve a two-year term as the chairperson of the Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation Sciences Study Section, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Scientific Review.

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.