School of Medicine

Most people don’t think highly of pond scum, but for Susan Dutcher, PhD, professor of genetics and of cell biology and physiology at the School of Medicine, the single-celled green algae Chlamydomonas are incredible creatures worthy of her life’s work.

Retired NFL players use painkillers at four times the rate of the general population, according to new research conducted by investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers say the brutal collisions and bone-jarring injuries associated with football often cause long-term pain, which contributes to continued use and abuse of pain-killing medications. 

Diabetes researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a key mechanism that appears to contribute to the blood vessel damage that occurs in people with diabetes.

An international team of scientists, led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has decoded the DNA of a Sumatran orangutan. With this genome as a reference, the scientists then sequenced the genomes of five additional Sumatran and five Bornean orangutans, they report in the journal Nature.

A group of seven third-year physical therapy students went to Argentina for about 10 days in early January to work with the Missionaries of Charity, a religious order of nuns established by Mother Teresa.

It’s time to nominate School of Medicine staff for this year’s Dean’s Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor awarded to a medical school staff member.

A workhorse of modern biology is sick, and scientists couldn’t be happier. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and other institutions have found that the nematode C. elegans, a millimeter-long worm used extensively for decades to study many aspects of biology, gets naturally occurring viral infections.

A study by Washington University researchers has raised safety concerns about an investigational approach to treating cancer. The strategy takes aim at a key signaling pathway, called Notch, involved in the formation of new blood vessels that feed tumor growth.

In a marriage of two disciplines that don’t often overlap — politics and medicine — a study by Matthew Gabel, PhD, professor of political science in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, finds that group consensus is an effective method for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease.

Mackenzie Asel (left) and Arun Ganti, both second-year medical students, study a painting on display at the 2011 Student, Faculty and Staff Art Show in the atrium of the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center at the School of Medicine. The show, which runs through Feb. 11, features photography, painting, mixed media, ceramics and various other forms of art.