School of Medicine

Siblings of children with autism are known to be at increased risk for autistic spectrum disorder, but now researchers at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine led by John N. Constantino, MD, report the risk is substantially higher than previously believed. Their results show that 19 percent of infant siblings develop the disorder by age 3. 

The School of Medicine Class of 2015 recites the Student Oath they wrote during orientation at the White Coat Ceremony Aug. 12 at the Eric P. Newman Education Center. The 121 students in the class were given white coats, a longtime symbol of the medical profession.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis also found that Parkinson’s patients seeing a neurologist were less likely to be placed in a nursing home or to break a hip.

Researchers have identified an important part of the pathway through which stress affects mood and motivation for drugs. The finding may prove useful in humans by providing new potential targets for drugs to treat problems related to stress.  

Doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that less than 1 percent of children who had surgery at St. Louis Children’s Hospital developed an infection at the surgical site within 30 days, they report in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Rebecca Dresser, JD, the Daniel Noyes Kirby Professor of Law and professor of ethics in medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, has been appointed to the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee of the National Institutes of Health. The committee serves a critical role in the oversight of federally funded research involving recombinant DNA.  

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are playing a leading role in an international collaboration dedicated to understanding genes that contribute to inflammatory bowel disease.

Like explorers mapping a new planet, scientists probing the brain need every type of landmark they can get. Each mountain, river or forest helps scientists find their way through the intricacies of the human brain. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a new technique that provides rapid access to brain landmarks formerly only available at autopsy.

A clinical warning system undergoing a feasibility study at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis will include wireless sensors that take blood oxygenation and heart-rate readings from at-risk patients once or twice a minute. The data  and lab results in the electronic medical record will be continually scrutinized by a machine-learning algorithm looking for signs of clinical deterioration. If any such signs are found, the system will call a nurse on a cellphone, alerting the nurse to check on the patient.

Nearly 390 physicians at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have been named to The Best Doctors In America for 2011.