School of Medicine

Thomas B. Ferguson, MD, professor emeritus of cardiothoracic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, died Sunday, May 26, 2013, of complications following a heart valve procedure. He was 90.

Doctors at the School of Medicine have shown that testing cervical tumors before treatment for vulnerability to chemotherapy predicts whether patients will do well or poorly with standard treatment. The study supports the future possibility of personalized medicine for cervical cancer, a tumor normally addressed with a one-size-fits-all approach. Pictured is a cervical tumor visible on a PET/CT scan.

The World Affairs Council of St. Louis has named Patricia Wolff, of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, as the recipient of its 2013 International Humanitarian of the Year Award.

A major study in hospital ICUs shows that bathing patients daily with an antimicrobial soap and applying antibiotic ointment in the nose reduced by 44 percent the bloodstream infections caused by dangerous pathogens, including the drug-resistant bacteria MRSA (pictured).

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a popular artificial sweetener can modify how the body handles sugar. They analyzed the sweetener sucralose in 17 severely obese people and found it can influence how the body reacts to glucose.

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) has presented Ralph G. Dacey Jr., MD, with the 2013 Distinguished Service Award. The award is one of the highest honors bestowed on a member, recognizing exemplary service to the AANS and the neurosurgical specialty.

XPRIZE may create an Alzheimer’s XPRIZE to inspire the ingenuity of researchers to take on the daunting task of stopping the disorder. The Alzheimer’s XPRIZE was proposed by a team of experts co-directed by Eric C. Leuthardt.

A new comprehensive, multi-disciplinary study, led by the Brown School’s Jason Q. Purnell, PhD, on the health and well-being of African Americans in St. Louis could have far-reaching impacts on an entire population. The research findings and a series of related policy briefs will culminate in a community conference in 2014, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education and the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

A new diagnostic test for a worm infection that eventually leads to severe enlargement and deformities of the legs and genitals is far more sensitive than the current test, according to results of a field study in Liberia, in West Africa, led by Washington University researchers, including Kurt Curtis.

Friday, May 17, is National Bike to Work Day. For nearly 20 years, School of Medicine faculty Laura Bierut and Brad Evanoff have been riding their bikes to work. Earlier this week, they rode their tandem bike to the Medical Campus. The two encourage others to ride their bikes to work, too.