School of Medicine

In trauma patients experiencing severe bleeding, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will evaluate a drug already approved to minimize blood loss in people suffering from hemophilia — a genetic clotting disorder — or heavy menstrual periods.

In children whose colds tend to progress and lead to severe wheezing and difficulty breathing — such that they are given oral corticosteroids as rescue therapy — researchers have shown that giving a common antibiotic at the first sign of symptoms can reduce the risk of the episode developing into a severe lower respiratory tract illness.

Scientists have shown how a parasitic worm infection common in the developing world increases susceptibility to tuberculosis. The study demonstrated that treating the parasite reduces lung damage seen in mice that also are infected with tuberculosis, thereby eliminating the vulnerability to tuberculosis (TB) that the parasite is known to cause.

Readiness for and recovery from public health threats will be highlighted at the eighth annual conference of the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis. Infectious disease outbreaks, natural disasters and civil unrest are among the topics that will be addressed.

Gary A. Silverman, MD, PhD, has been named the Harriet B. Spoehrer Professor and head of the Department of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. With the new appointment, effective in April, Silverman will become pediatrician-in-chief at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and executive director of the Children’s Discovery Institute, a partnership of the school and hospital.

Washington University in St. Louis has announced the launch of the Center for Health Economics and Policy, to be housed in the Institute for Public Health. The goal of the new center is to improve population health in America by encouraging health policy and economics research and dissemination.

Scientists have identified two chemical scents in the urine of female mice that arouse sexual behavior in males, a discovery that shines a spotlight on how mouse pheromones control behavior.

This year marked the 10th annual research training symposium and poster session on the Medical Campus, in which students, residents and junior faculty present basic, clinical and translational research projects. It’s also the fifth year that students from Meharry Medical College in Nashville participated in the program and the School of Medicine’s Summer Research Program.

Building on wireless technology that has the potential to interfere with pain, scientists have developed flexible, implantable devices that can activate — and, in theory, block — pain signals in the body and spinal cord before those signals reach the brain.

Angela L. Brown, MD, associate professor of medicine, leads the Hypertension Clinic at Washington University School of Medicine. Brown has devoted her career to helping patients control their hypertension and to training medical professionals in how to care for such patients.