School of Medicine

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a $7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at eliminating river blindness and elephantiasis, two neglected tropical diseases that annually sicken millions.

Scientists have identified a pathway that leads to the formation of atypical blood vessels that can cause blindness in people with age-related macular degeneration. The research, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, sheds light on one of the leading causes of blindness in industrialized countries and offers potential targets for treating the disease.

A team of Washington University students on the Medical Campus recently won top honors in the Neuro Startup Challenge, a biotech startup competition designed to commercialize promising brain-related discoveries of scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).The team developed a business plan to commercialize a test for patients with multiple sclerosis.

Erika Pearce, PhD, associate professor of pathology and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received a four-year, $1.26 million grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and, separately, a $500,000 grant for metabolism research.

Andy Maus was the guy who used to alert undergraduate students via text message they had a package in the mailroom. Now he’s working as clinical research coordinator in the lab of Ravi Vij, MD. Here’s the story of how Maus went from the medical school to the mailroom — and back again.

The American College of Cardiology has named Douglas L. Mann, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine the first editor-in-chief of its newest journal, JACC: Basic Translational Research. A monthly, open-access publication, the new journal will launch its inaugural issue in December.

Joshua Sommovilla, MD, a resident in the Department of Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been awarded the 2015 Outstanding Resident Teaching Award by the Association for Surgical Education. He received the award at the association’s annual meeting this past spring in Seattle.

A new study in JAMA Psychiatry shows that therapy provided via telephone for older adults in rural areas is effective in treating anxiety disorder. In an accompanying editorial, Eric J. Lenze, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, wrote that the health-care system lacks the capacity to help the growing elderly population and that relying too heavily on sedative medications isn’t the answer.​

Women who have gastric bypass surgery to lose weight should keep a close eye on their alcohol consumption, according to a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers found that changes in how alcohol is metabolized after surgery can speed its delivery into the bloodstream, resulting in earlier and higher peaks in blood-alcohol levels.

During a retreat this summer on the Medical Campus, department heads, division directors and other senior leaders at Washington University School of Medicine explored unconscious bias and how to diminish its impact in medical environments.