School of Medicine

Ching-Cheng (Stanley) Huang, PhD, a postdoctoral research scholar in the laboratory of Edward J. Pearce, PhD, professor of pathology and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received a two-year, $98,476 grant from the American Heart Association for research titled “Role of Lipid Droplet Lipolysis in Alternative Macrophage Activation.”

Using antibodies from camels and alpacas, scientists led by David T. Curiel, MD, PhD, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a way to deliver anticancer viruses directly to tumor cells, leaving other types of cells uninfected. The discovery may solve a longstanding problem in the field of gene therapy.

The genome is the instruction book for life. But reading that instruction book and carrying out its directives are controlled by the epigenome, which attaches chemical markers to DNA to activate or silence genes. For the first time, researchers at the School of Medicine and elsewhere have assembled a comprehensive map of the human epigenome. 

David B. Gray, PhD, died Feb. 12 of an apparent heart attack. He was 71. Gray became motivated to change what it means to be disabled after he was paralyzed in an accident in 1976. He joined the School of Medicine faculty in 1995 to conduct research and teach courses on social issues and disability.

The DNA of bacteria that live in the body can pass a trait to offspring in a way similar to the parents’ own DNA, a new mouse study suggests. According to the authors, the discovery means scientists need to consider a significant new factor – microbial DNA– in their efforts to understand how genes influence illness and health.

Matthew Gubin, PhD, postdoctoral research scholar in the laboratory of Robert Schreiber, PhD, Alumni Professor of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received a three-year, $164,500 grant from the Cancer Research Institute for research titled “Using Genomics to Identify Targets of Checkpoint Blockade Cancer Treatment and Identify Optimal Target Antigens for Vaccination.”

Bernd Zinselmeyer, PhD, research instructor in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received a one-year, $40,400 grant from the School of Medicine, via a Digestive Disease Research Core Center grant, for research titled “Intravital Imaging of Peritoneal Macrophages Contribution to Intestinal Health.”

Sarah K. England, PhD, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology, has been named the inaugural Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professor of Medicine at the School of Medicine.

Children treated for moderate acute malnutrition experience a high rate of relapse and even death in the year following treatment and recovery. A new study led by School of Medicine researchers has found that target weights and measures of arm circumference used in assessing the health of malnourished children are insufficient and that raising these thresholds could significantly lower the rate of relapse.

Shashikant Kulkarni, PhD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received an award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for excellence in partnering in “Next Generation Sequencing — Standardization of Clinical Testing.”