School of Medicine

Addiction researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a risk for alcoholism also may put individuals at risk for obesity, and the association between a family history of alcoholism and obesity risk has become more pronounced in recent years.  

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have learned why changes in a single gene, ROP18, contribute substantially to dangerous forms of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. The answer has likely moved science a step closer to new ways to beat Toxoplasma and many other parasites.

Washington University’s Human Research Protection Office (HRPO) has received an award from the Health Improvement Institute recognizing its Community Engaged Research Program, one of three the institute gave for 2010.

With support from a new $3.3 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are hunting for normal cells that help brain tumors form and grow

Five decades after the discovery of a rare but potentially pivotal immune cell, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a way to eliminate it in mice. The finding, which appears in the journal Immunity, will enable more detailed investigations of the important roles the plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) plays in fighting viruses and causing autoimmune diseases like psoriasis and lupus.

Taking time off for the holidays? Think about what you can do to help Washington University School of Medicine save energy during your vacation.

A new study by Gerald Andriole, MD, chief of urologic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, suggests the PSA test is more reliable in men taking dutasteride (Avodart®), a drug widely prescribed to shrink an enlarged prostate gland. Even a slight rise in PSA levels among men taking the drug was a stronger indicator of cancer than rising PSA levels in men taking a dummy pill.

A single dose of inactivated 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine in people with asthma is safe, according to results from a national clinical trial with a site at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Innovative, high-priority research initiatives by Washington University scientists at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center are now under way thanks to a $7.5 million grant from Emerson and AT&T. Emerson’s Charitable Trust and the AT&T Foundation are contributing $5 million and $2.5 million, respectively. This commitment will generate an additional $15 million for these initiatives through matching support from Washington University School of Medicine, BJC HealthCare and the Siteman Cancer Center.

People with a known, high risk for Alzheimer’s disease develop abnormal brain function even before the appearance of telltale, amyloid plaques that are characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings suggest that a gene variant affects brain function long before the brain begins accumulating the amyloid that will eventually lead to dementia.