School of Medicine

Compared with routine medical care, probiotics administered to critically ill patients in intensive care units showed no benefit in preventing the colonization of drug-resistant microbes in the intestinal tract, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Ralph G. Dacey Jr., MD, the Henry G. and Edith R. Schwartz Professor and head of the Department of Neurological Surgery, has received the Walter Reed Distinguished Service Award from his alma mater.

For patients with an often-deadly form of leukemia, new research by Timothy J. Ley, MD, and colleagues suggests that lingering cancer-related mutations – detected after initial treatment with chemotherapy – are associated with an increased risk of relapse and poor survival.

Marilyn Siegel, MD, a professor of radiology and of pediatrics, loves solving the puzzles her field presents and the opportunities it has given her. But most of all, she loves helping patients.

A new study shows that quitting smoking after a heart attack has immediate benefits, including less chest pain, better quality of daily life and improved mental health. Many of these improvements became apparent as little as one month after quitting and are more pronounced after one year, according to the research led by Sharon Cresci, MD, at the School of Medicine.

​As the use of e-cigarettes has risen dramatically in the United States in recent years, so have calls to poison centers about them. Yet many parents who use e-cigarettes – or “vape” – aren’t aware of the dangers to children, according to a study at the School of Medicine.

First-year students at the School of Medicine participated Friday, Aug. 14, in the traditional White Coat Ceremony — a rite of passage in which future doctors are welcomed to the medical school and the medical profession. The class also recited an oath promising honesty and integrity.

The Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital Pulmonary Hypertension Center, under the direction of Murali Chakinala, MD, associate professor of medicine, has received accreditation from the Pulmonary Hypertension Association as a Center for Comprehensive Care, the association’s highest level achievable.

First-year medical student Anna Arnaud writes about what it means to receive a white coat, which incoming School of Medicine students received at a ceremony Friday, Aug. 14, to initiate the transition from students of science to practitioners of medicine.

St. Louis College of Pharmacy students began using the new staff garage on Duncan Avenue Monday, Aug. 17, and Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College students are scheduled to begin using it Aug. 26. As construction around the garage area finishes, staff will be able to begin parking there.