School of Medicine

A set of 50 genes can be used to reliably identify the four known types of breast cancer, according to research conducted at the School of Medicine and collaborating institutions. Using this 50-gene set, oncologists can potentially predict the most effective therapy for each breast tumor type and thereby personalize breast cancer treatment for all patients.

Surgeons at the Washington University Eye Center are among the first to use a new surgical device to treat glaucoma. Surgery with the device, called a Trabectome, is an outpatient procedure that takes less time to perform and offers a shorter recovery than traditional glaucoma surgery.

Autism researchers at the School of Medicine are joining other scientists to image the brains of infants and attempt to identify anatomical and behavioral changes that may be linked to the onset of autism. The $10 million, NIH-funded Infant Brain Imaging Study allows investigators to analyze early brain development in children at risk for autism spectrum disorders by virtue of having an autistic sibling.

Neurobiologists at the School of Medicine have identified pathways that allow microscopic worms to survive in a low-oxygen, or hypoxic, environment. They believe the finding could have implications for conditions such as stroke, heart attack and cancer. Sensitivity to low oxygen helps determine how damaging those medical conditions can be.

Researchers seeking ways to defeat malaria have found a way to get help from the parasite that causes the disease. Scientists at the School of Medicine stepped aside and let Plasmodium falciparum, one of the deadliest strains of malaria, do a significant portion of the genetic engineering work in their new study.

Half of the immune system has a hidden talent, researchers at the School of Medicine have discovered. They found the innate immune system, long recognized as a specialist in rapidly and aggressively combating invaders, has cells that can learn from experience and fight better when called into battle a second time. Scientists previously thought any such ability was limited to the immune system’s other major branch, the adaptive immune system.

Two international teams of researchers have made significant gains in understanding the genetic basis of psoriasis, a chronic skin condition that can be debilitating in some patients. Their research, involving thousands of patients, is reported in two studies published this week in the advance online Nature Genetics.

Washington University graduate student Kim Lorenz collects yeast samples from Pennsylvania oak trees as part of a project to analyze how genes interact to produce complex traits.In recent years, genetic studies have uncovered hundreds of DNA variations linked to common diseases, such as cancer or diabetes, raising the prospect that scientists can gauge disease risk based on information in an individual’s genome. But the variations identified to date only account for a small percentage – typically one to three percent – of the overall genetic risk of any common disease.

Lodge Jennifer Lodge has been named associate dean for research at the School of Medicine. The appointment is effective Feb. 1, 2009. In the newly created position, Lodge will coordinate efforts to advance research at the school, focusing particularly on projects that involve multiple departments, multiple disciplines and core facilities that can serve a wide variety of researchers.

Gross (left) and Xianlin Han analyze samplesResearchers at the School of Medicine, led by heart specialist Richard Gross, are studying how altered fat metabolism causes heart failure in diabetic patients. They have received a five-year, $11 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue their investigations.