School of Medicine

Mario Castro, MD, has been named the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the School of Medicine. He is a noted authority on asthma and other respiratory diseases.

Elaine R. Mardis, PhD, and Richard K. Wilson, PhD, both renowned for discoveries in the field of genomics, have been named to endowed professorships. They were installed by Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton (far left), and Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine (far right).

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) will close the ramp from westbound Interstate 64/Highway 40 to Boyle Avenue in St. Louis at 9 a.m. Monday, April 7. The ramp is expected to reopen by mid-May. 

Severely restricting dietary phosphate early in the course of chronic kidney disease can prevent related heart and vascular problems, a new study in rats indicates. Phosphate, an essential mineral, is found in colas, milk, cheese and other dairy products, beans and high-protein foods, and often is added as a preservative in processed foods.

People who smoke also tend to eat more high-fat foods. So do obese people. Now, a team of researchers, including M. Yanina Pepino, PhD, at the School of Medicine, has found that obese women who also smoke have a difficult time perceiving fat and sweetness in their food. And that could lead them to eat even more fatty foods.

New research at the School of Medicine and Vanderbilt University Medical Center has implicated a poorly understood protein called PLAC8 in the spread of colon cancer.

Take a virtual tour of Washington University Medical Center’s future, when all phases of construction will be complete. The Medical Campus is being transformed by renovations and new construction as part of the Campus Renewal Project.

The School of Medicine’s 2014 commencement speaker will be Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, a senior fellow and director of the Initiative on Value and Innovation in Health Care at the Brookings Institution. Several other commencement speakers also have been announced.

Each year, Allyson Zazulia, MD, associate professor of neurology and radiology, hosts a review modeled after the game show ‘Jeopardy.’ The session helps medical students prepare for an exam on diseases of the nervous system. Shown, from left, are students Tracey Godbold and Sravya Vajapeyajula participating in the game.

Could a cup of coffee bring faculty across campus together to expand and enhance research and teaching while broadening perspectives? That’s the idea behind the Office of the Provost’s Bring Your Own Idea program, which awards grants to support gatherings of faculty from across Washington University in St. Louis around meaningful topics.