School of Medicine

The commute is about to get a little easier for employees and patients heading to Washington University Medical Center. After more than a year of construction activity, the improved Interstate 64/Highway 40 interchange at Tower Grove Avenue is scheduled to open the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 29.

In response to the tragic events in Ferguson, Washington University School of Medicine will host a series of town hall meetings for faculty, staff and students beginning Wednesday, Aug. 27. A key objective is to identify how members of the Medical Campus can be of help to Ferguson, its residents and the entire St. Louis region.

Brain networks break down in a similar fashion in rare, inherited forms of Alzheimer’s disease and much more common uninherited versions of the disorder, reveals a new study led by the School of Medicine’s Beau Ances, MD, PhD.

​Brian Nussenbaum, MD, the Christy J. and Richard S. Hawes III Professor of Otolaryngology, has been named director of the Division of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology in the Department of Otolaryngology at the School of Medicine.

Washington University researchers have developed algorithms to identify weak spots in tendons, muscles and bones prone to tearing or breaking. The technology, which needs to be refined before it is used in patients, one day may help pinpoint minor strains and tiny injuries in the body’s tissues long before bigger problems occur.

Todd P. Margolis, MD, PhD, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor and head of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, has been awarded a $115,000 grant by Research to Prevent Blindness to support research into the causes, treatment and prevention of blinding diseases.

First-year students at the School of Medicine recently participated in the traditional White Coat Ceremony — a rite of passage in which future doctors are welcomed to medical school and the medical profession. In addition to receiving their white coats, the 123 students recited an oath promising honesty and integrity.

On Monday, Aug. 25, the following will close because of construction on the Medical Campus: the sidewalk on Duncan Avenue along the garage construction site; one lane of Children’s Place west of Taylor Avenue along the St. Louis College of Pharmacy (STLCOP) garage; and the sidewalk through the center of the STLCOP west of Taylor Avenue to Whelpley Hall.

Rajendra S. Apte, MD, PhD, the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, is the first recipient of the Presidents’ Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Retina Specialists.

Applications for the K12 Clinical Hematology Research Career Development Program scholars are being accepted through Oct. 20.