School of Medicine

The population of bacteria in premature infants’ guts may depend more on the babies’ biological makeup and gestational age at birth than on environmental factors, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. They discovered that bacterial communities assemble in a choreographed progression, with the pace of that assembly slowest in infants born most prematurely.

Jeff Peipert, MD, the Robert J. Terry Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, will receive the Alan F. Guttmacher Lectureship Award at the 2014 Reproductive Health conference of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals.

A new study suggests uric acid may play a role in causing metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors that increases the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The work also demonstrates the importance of the intestine in removing uric acid from the body, opening the door to potential therapies for preventing or treating type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is set to expire Oct. 1, 2015, unless Congress intervenes — a move that is essential for millions of Amerian children, says a Washington University in St. Louis faculty expert on child well-being.

A method of growing human cells from tissue removed from a patient’s gastrointestinal (GI) tract eventually may help scientists develop tailor-made therapies for inflammatory bowel disease and other GI conditions. Pictured are Kelli L. VanDussen, PhD, and Matthew A. Ciorba, MD, members of a School of Medicine team that developed the method.

As part of a multi-institutional $20 million effort, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis will conduct several studies, including one that uses medical imaging on plants to see what’s broken or about to break inside (pictured). Four university researchers will receive funding from the National Science Foundation to support work aimed at helping Missouri plants and crops adapt to climate variability.

The Vandeventer Avenue exit from eastbound Interstate 64/Highway 40 will reopen about noon Friday, Aug. 8.

Susan Bayliss, MD, is director of pediatric dermatology at the School of Medicine. She uses humor and kindness in connecting with her patients. Most of them are in the St. Louis region, but she also treats children she meets while on medical missions overseas. Wherever she is, her passion for her work is evident.

Gabriel Bien-Willner, MD, PhD, instructor in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received a one-year $30,000 grant from the American Cancer Society for research titled “Identification of Genomic AML Fusion Onco-protein Targets with Calling Cards.”

Richard L. Wahl, MD, has been named the Elizabeth E. Mallinckrodt Professor and head of radiology at the School of Medicine. He also will serve as director of the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology.