School of Medicine

School of Medicine researchers have shown that they can extend the life spans of roundworms by blocking their sense of smell.

Acute myelogenous leukemia cellsFor the first time, scientists have decoded the complete DNA of a cancer patient and traced her disease – acute myelogenous leukemia – to its genetic roots. A large research team at the Genome Sequencing Center and the Siteman Cancer Center at the School of Medicine sequenced the genome of the patient – a woman in her 50s who ultimately died of her disease – and the genome of her leukemia cells, to identify genetic changes unique to her cancer.

The tonsils and lymphoid tissues in the intestinal tract that help protect the body from external pathogens are the home base of a rare immune cell newly identified by researchers at the School of Medicine. The researchers indicate that the immune cells could have a therapeutic role in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

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.