School of Medicine

Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, director of the Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, has won the 2014 Passano Foundation Award for his pioneering studies showing how the trillions of microbes that live in the gut influence human health.

Ralph J. Damiano Jr., MD, an internationally known cardiac surgeon, has been named chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine.

David Balota, PhD, a leader in the study of cognitive breakdowns that occur in Alzheimer’s, and Steven L. Teitelbaum, MD, a world-renowned bone biologist, will receive Washington University in St. Louis’ 2014 faculty achievement awards, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced.

When Andrea D’Angelo learned that her father, John D’Angelo, needed a new kidney, she decided she would donate one of hers. The surgeries were performed by Washington University transplant surgeons at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and were successful. Now, the family shares its story to educate and encourage others.

An interdisciplinary group of graduate students including Washington University’s (from left) Anurag Agarwal, Whitney Grither and Hirak Biswas was one of 10 winning teams in the Breast Cancer Startup Challenge. The international competition aimed to bring breast cancer discoveries out of the lab and closer to market to help patients.

Several offices in facilities management at the School of Medicine are consolidating services and business operations beginning May 5. They will be located on the first floor of Olin Residence Hall. Custodial services, facilities engineering and parking and transportation will merge in the newly named Facilities Integrated Service Center (FISC).

The School of Medicine is home to an internationally renowned center for multidisciplinary research of neurofibromatosis and comprehensive care of patients affected by it. The university’s Neurofibromatosis Center will host a symposium May 16 that will bring together patients, their family members and researchers to discuss the latest insight into the diagnosis and treatment of NF.

Large regions of the genome that were once referred to as “junk” DNA have been linked to human heart failure, according to research led by Jeanne Nerbonne, PhD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Participants in the Faculty Reach Out Program (FROP), held earlier this month at the School of Medicine, attended a two-day workshop that included meetings with faculty to discuss clinical and research interests, tours of research facilities and networking opportunities with other FROP participants. FROP was initiated to create a pathway to recruit women and underrepresented minorities for faculty appointments.

Robyn I. Stone, PhD, noted researcher and leading international authority on aging and long-term care policy, will deliver the annual Friedman Lecture Thursday, May 8, in Brown Hall on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis. A panel discussion will follow. The event will take place from 8:30 a.m. to noon and is free and open to the public. For details and to register, visit here.