School of Medicine

While back braces have been used for decades to treat scoliosis, studies of their effectiveness have been inconclusive. But new results from a clinical trial provide the strongest evidence yet that braces work in a significant percentage of cases. Shown is one of the principal investigators, Matthew B. Dobbs, MD, examining an X-ray of a patient whose spine was fused to treat scoliosis.

To better understand and one day provide improved treatments for depression, addiction and anxiety, School of Medicine researchers are using tiny, electronic devices to identify and map neural circuits in the brain. The work has been awarded a rare grant called EUREKA (Exceptional, Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration), which provides funding for high-risk/high-reward projects.

Health-care disparities will be among the topics discussed at the Midwest region’s Student National Medical Association (SNMA) annual conference this weekend on the Washington University Medical Campus. School of Medicine students Lawrence Benjamin and Lauren Martin, the university’s SNMA co-presidents, were leaders in organizing the conference for medical and premedical students.

School of Medicine researchers studying how cancer spreads into bone have made a surprising discovery that suggests several investigational anti-cancer therapies just entering the drug-development pipeline may not have the desired effect. The study indicates that the drugs inadvertently may promote cancer.

The new federal health-care law gives millions of Americans access to medical insurance. However, choosing the right coverage — a daunting task for most people — could be even more difficult for those who have never had health insurance, according to a new study at the School of Medicine.​​

At a Board of Trustees meeting in October, several faculty members were appointed, promoted or granted tenure. Read more to find out the details.

Lee Ratner, MD, PhD, has been named the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professor of Oncology at the School of Medicine. Shown here with Larry J. Shapiro, MD, dean of the School of Medicine, Ratner (right) is an oncologist and noted authority on retroviruses.

School of Medicine researchers have identified a chain reaction that triggers the regrowth of some damaged nerve cell branches, a discovery that one day may help improve treatments for nerve injuries that can cause loss of sensation or paralysis. To study how nerve cells respond to injuries in their branches, researcher Valeria Cavalli grows them in “spots,” like the one pictured.

A groundbreaking multidisciplinary study on African-American health in St. Louis, ‘For the Sake of All,’ releases its fourth brief. This one examines the long-term effects of how segregation affects access to health-promoting resources and health outcomes such as chronic disease and death.

Two decades of research by Rumi Kato Price, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at the Washington University School of Medicine, shows reason for optimism about the future of returning soldiers. “The notion that our soldiers deployed to conflict regions come back ‘broken’ is a one-sided story in the media,” says Price, whose research has explored trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and suicide among American military service members and veterans.