School of Medicine

An international consortium of scientists, led by the School of Medicine, has decoded the genome of the platypus, showing its peculiar features in its DNA.

Tumors have a unique vulnerability that can be exploited to make them more sensitive to heat and radiation, researchers at the School of Medicine report. The University radiation oncology researchers found that tumors have a built-in mechanism that protects them from heat (hyperthermia) damage and most likely decreases the benefit of hyperthermia and radiation as a combined therapy.

Six distinguished individuals, including a pioneer of women in medicine and a multimedia entrepreneur, will receive honorary degrees May 16 during Washington University’s 147th Commencement ceremony. The university also will bestow academic degrees on more than 2,500 students during the ceremony, which begins at 8:30 a.m. in Brookings Quadrangle.

In early January, two patients undergoing kidney dialysis at St. Louis Children’s Hospital had sudden life-threatening allergic reactions that caused their eyes, lips and tongues to swell, raised their heart rates and dropped their blood pressures dangerously low. After the dialysis staff treated the children with medication that relieved the symptoms, they called infectious diseases specialist Alexis Elward, who sprung into action to help determine the cause. Little did she know it would spark an international investigation into a common blood thinner and a recall of the drug from the market.

School of Medicine researchers have found drugs to help protect chronic kidney disease patients from cardiovascular disease.

About 40 percent of African-Americans have a genetic variant that can protect them after heart failure and prolong their lives.

School of Medicine researchers genes play a larger role than environment if girls advance to problem drinking and alcohol dependence.

The School of Medicine and AstraZeneca have formed a research collaboration to develop new ways to diagnose and treat Alzheimer’s disease.

Photo by Tim ParkerFaculty and staff from the Genome Sequencing Center went to an area middle school April 24 to talk to students about National DNA Day.

Ensuring that the elderly have access to transportation while preventing age-related driving impairments will be the focus of the eighth annual Friedman Conference on Aging, “Are We Licensed for Life? Transportation and Driving Issues in an Aging Society.”