School of Medicine

Research is shedding new light on what happens in the brains of children and adults affected by clinical depression, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia, according to Washington University in St. Louis studies presented at a recent mental health symposium. The findings, which come as America celebrates Mental Health Awareness Month, point to new treatment options for preschool-aged children with significant clinical depression and for severely depressed adults who don’t respond to standard treatments, such as antidepressants and psychotherapy.

When patches of red, flaky and itchy skin on newborn mice led rapidly to their deaths, researchers at the School of Medicine looked for the reason why. What they found was a molecular alarm system that serves as a sentinel to monitor the integrity of skin — the body’s essential protective barrier. The fatal effects of raising this alarm in the lab mice suggests generally that certain kinds of impairments to the skin’s structure can potentially trigger harmful effects in other areas of the body, according to the researchers.

StamilioDavid M. Stamilio, M.D., has been named director of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the School of Medicine, effective July 1. Stamilio is replacing Yoel Sadovsky, M.D., who became director of the Magee-Womens Research Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. Stamilio’s appointment was announced by George Macones, M.D., chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

A unique genetic signature can alert physicians to high-risk breast tumors that are masquerading as low-risk tumors, according to research at the School of Medicine and collaborating institutions. Although these tumors are apparently estrogen-receptor positive — meaning they should depend on estrogen to grow — they don’t respond well to anti-estrogen therapy.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have defined a new type of immune response that is activated in patients with severe asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Their discovery could dramatically improve diagnosis and treatment of patients with chronic inflammatory lung disease.

Researchers in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology are asking an old question in a new population: Can giving extra oxygen to a patient undergoing a Caesarean section (C-section) decrease the risk of serious postoperative infection? In past studies, colorectal surgery patients given supplemental oxygen had fewer infections after surgery, supporting the theory that increasing […]

Changing the sugars attached to a hormone produced in the pituitary gland increased fertility levels in mice nearly 50 percent, a research group at the School of Medicine has found. The change appears to alter a reproductive “thermostat,” unveiling part of an intricate regulatory system that may one day be used to enhance human fertility.

Maintaining bone density could be a key to decreasing the spread of cancer in women with locally advanced breast cancer, according to research at the School of Medicine. Bones are common sites for the spread, or metastasis, of breast cancer. Scientists here found that women treated for stage II/III breast cancer who also received a bone strengthening drug were less likely to have breast tumor cells growing in their bones after three months.

A temporary pedestrian bridge has been installed on the east side of Euclid Avenue to accommodate excavation of a tunnel under Euclid.

Can giving extra oxygen to a patient undergoing a Caesarean section (C-section) decrease the risk of serious post-operative infection?