School of Medicine

Washington University’s American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant (ACS-IRG) is now accepting applications from junior faculty for pilot project awards through 4 p.m. Oct. 14.

A quick glance through history books and today’s news headlines seems to support the idea that humans by nature are aggressive, selfish and antagonistic. But this view simply doesn’t fit with scientific facts, write researchers featured in the new book Origins of Altruism and Cooperation, edited by WUSTL professors Robert W. Sussman, PhD, and C. Robert Cloninger, MD. The book’s authors argue that humans are naturally cooperative, altruistic and social, only reverting to violence when stressed, abused, neglected or mentally ill.

Just one second, one heartbeat. That’s what is needed for a new, noninvasive functional imaging technology, developed by a Washington University in St. Louis scientist, to record data for locating the source in the heart of a dangerous cardiac arrhythmia called ventricular tachycardia (VT). WUSTL researchers in biomedical engineering and medicine report in the Aug. 31, 2011, issue of Science Translational Medicine, that the technique would far more quickly find the source and type of VT, saving hours of mapping.  

Two leading members of the faculty at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have been named Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professors in their respective fields. Raphael Kopan, PhD, has been named the Wolff Professor of Developmental Biology, and David Sibley, PhD, has been named the Wolff Professor of Molecular Microbiology.

Seasonal flu vaccines will be offered to School of Medicine faculty and staff at no cost beginning Oct. 4. The School of Medicine strongly recommends that all employees, even those with no direct patient contact, get a vaccine.

Donations collected by check boxes on state income tax forms, fees from license plates and revenue from state lottery tickets have raised millions for breast cancer research and prevention programs, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found.

This summer, 18-year-old Mogboluwaga Oginni shadowed physicians as they repaired shattered hips, twisted ankles and dislocated shoulders. He also learned about patient billing and the steps to cast broken legs.

A newly established fund to support innovative cancer research at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center has awarded its first two $900,000 grants to high-tech efforts to undermine cancer cells’ ability to resist treatment. The awards will help scientists use genetic data to find new ways to attack treatment-resistant breast cancer and precisely target treatments for various kinds of cancer cells based on their responses to radiation therapy.

Though some cardiologists may have dabbled in musical pursuits from an early age, few have opened for Aerosmith. How does one who dropped out of college to play drums and follow dreams of being a professional musician end up chief of cardiology at a major medical school? “I needed a day job,” says Douglas L. Mann, MD. Today, Mann studies inflammation and its role in heart failure.

The same trait that makes a rare immune cell invaluable in fighting some infections also can be exploited by other diseases to cause harm, two new studies show. By studying the basic functions of these cells, scientists are laying the groundwork to use them to fight infections. The cells also appear to be essential for some cancer vaccines, which enlist the power of the immune system to help fight tumors.