School of Medicine

It has been one year since the groundbreaking of the BJC Institute of Health at Washington University, and now the 11-story steel framework is on schedule to “top out” in December. The School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital plan to open the BJC Institute of Health in December 2009. The 700,000-square-foot BJC Institute of Health […]

Multiple sclerosis (MS) results when the body’s own defense system attacks nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. Now scientists led by John Russell at the School of Medicine have shown that interferon-gamma plays a deciding role in whether immune cells attack and injure the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) in mice.

Courtesy PhotoConstruction is progressing at the 11-story BJC Institute of Health at Washington University.

Photo by Tim ParkerSchool of Medicine physicians offer patients with high cholesterol a new technique called LDL apheresis, which filters bad cholesterol out of the blood.

School of Medicine scientists have linked the health of specialized gut immune cells to a gene associated with Crohn’s disease, a prevalent inflammatory bowel disorder.

School of Medicine researchers report new findings on what is responsible for changing the electrical properties of the heart.

Jeffrey I. Gordon, M.D., and David M. Holtzman, M.D., have been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Disadvantaged and minority populations are more likely to be diagnosed with and die from cancer than other groups in the United States. A five-year, $8.6 million grant to Washington University will explore how improved information and referral systems can help eliminate these disparities.

Drugs widely used to treat type 2 diabetes may be more likely to keep working if they are used in moderation, researchers at the School of Medicine have found in a study using an animal model. The drugs, sulfonylureas, help type 2 diabetics make more insulin, improving control of blood sugar levels. But in most patients the effects of sulfonylureas are lost after several years of use, causing insulin secretion to shut down.

Video capture by James Collins*C. elegans* roundwormMany animals live longer when raised on low calorie diets. But now researchers at the School of Medicine have shown that they can extend the life spans of roundworms even when the worms are well fed — it just takes a chemical that blocks their sense of smell.