School of Medicine

The saying “You are who you hang around with” seems especially true when it comes to alcohol, cigarette and drug use. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are reporting that people who hang out with marijuana, cigarette or alcohol users are not only more likely to do the same, but that exposure allows genetic tendencies for substance use to become more robust.  

A treatment plan used to prevent potentially dangerous blood clots in recovering surgical patients can also benefit some patients immobilized by acute medical illness, doctors have found in a multi-institutional study. In women, patients age 75 or older, and patients strictly confined to 24-hour bed rest, a month of extended treatment with a blood thinner significantly reduced the chances of blood clots while only slightly increasing the risk of bleeding. 

Although clubfoot is one of the most common congenital birth defects, few genetic causes have been found. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found what they believe to be the most common cause of inherited clubfoot yet discovered.  

Philip E. Cryer, MD, will receive the American Diabetes Association’s Albert Renold Award at the organization’s 70th Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Fla. The Albert Renold Award is presented to an individual whose career is distinguished by outstanding achievements in the training of diabetes research scientists and the facilitation of diabetes research. 

Three employees at Washington University School of Medicine were recently honored by Larry Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, for outstanding service, commitment and dedication to the medical school.

Jonathan M. Green, MD, has been named associate dean for human studies and executive chair of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Washington University in St. Louis.

School of Medicine employees were honored June 11 for their years of service.

The diabetes drug rosiglitazone has been under intense scrutiny since a 2007 study in the New England Journal of Medicine looked at more than 40 clinical trials and linked the drug’s use with increased risk of heart attack and death from heart disease.

In a step toward curing diabetes in humans, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have alleviated the disease in rats using transplants from both embryonic and adult pigs. The rats adopted the pig transplants as their own and produced enough insulin to control their blood sugar – all without the need for anti-rejection drugs.

Resveratrol — found in red wine, grapes, blueberries, peanuts and other plants — stops out-of-control blood vessel growth in the eye, according to vision researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The discovery has implications for preserving vision in blinding eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration.