School of Medicine

A six-story concrete and steel structure that will be the skeleton of an energy-efficient, multidisciplinary research building under construction on the School of Medicine campus has been completed. The construction project, which began in summer 2013, has a June 2015 target date for completion.

Over the past several decades, Michael Kinch of Washington University in St. Louis says, the pharmaceutical industry has managed to dismantle itself. In a provocative series of articles and interviews, Kinch, the director of the Center for Research Innovation in Businessat the university, has been describing the history of this dismantling and its implications for the future of medicine.

Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH, a disease-prevention expert at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, will receive a national award for his contributions to cancer prevention research.

Julia Warren and colleagues at the School of Medicine have developed an approach to creating treatments for osteoporosis and autoimmune diseases that may avoid the risk of infection and cancer posed by some current medications. Warren is pictured with her mentor and co-author, Steven Teitelbaum, MD.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that although a gene variant can prevent some young drinkers from developing alcohol problems, the gene’s protective effects can vanish in the presence of other teens who drink.

A cancer odyssey​ Inspired by his childhood physicians, Ramaswamy Govindan, MD, knew at a young age what he wanted to become. Along the way, he has journeyed from his native India to the U.S. and helped to navigate the frontiers of cancer care.

The nip in the air is a reminder not only of the coming autumn but of flu season. And for any Washington University employee who works with or near patients, it means it’s time to get a flu shot.

The intersection of Duncan and Boyle avenues closed Sept. 15 for the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) project to upgrade the Duncan Avenue storm sewer. The closure has resulted in a number of employees using the CORTEX parking lot as a detour, even though the lot has not been designated as one. Employees are encouraged to use Newstead or Taylor avenues instead of Boyle Avenue and the CORTEX lot to access parking garages and lots.

Joni Westerhouse, a longtime veteran in public affairs at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named associate vice chancellor and associate dean for Medical Public Affairs.

Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, has won the 2014 Dickson Prize in Medicine for his pioneering studies demonstrating how the tens of trillions of microbes that live in the gut influence human health.