School of Medicine

The influence of genetics increases as young women transition from their first drink to alcohol dependence. A team of researchers at the School of Medicine found that although environment is most influential in determining when drinking begins, genes play a larger role in advancing to problem drinking and alcohol dependence.

About 40 percent of African-Americans have a genetic variant that can protect them after heart failure and prolong their lives, according to research conducted at the School of Medicine and collaborating institutions. The genetic variant has an effect that resembles that of beta blockers, drugs widely prescribed for heart failure. The new study offers a reason why beta blockers don’t appear to benefit some African-Americans.

The estimated 19 million Americans living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) face a high risk of death from cardiovascular disease, usually related to high levels of blood phosphate. Now researchers at the School of Medicine have demonstrated that high blood phosphate directly stimulates calcification of blood vessels and that phosphate-binding drugs can decrease vascular calcification.

The School of Medicine and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) have announced a research collaboration that aims to develop new and improved ways to diagnose and treat Alzheimer’s disease. The major focus of the alliance will be biomarkers, characteristic changes in the brain and spinal fluid that physicians can use to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease and track its response to treatment.

School of Medicine researchers have used nanotechology to focus a much lower drug dose to slow tumor growth in rabbits.

School of Medicine researchers have discovered seven new sites of common DNA variation that increase the risk of psoriasis.

A brain network linked to introspective tasks is less intricate and well connected in children, School of Medicine scientists have learned.

Craig K. Reiss, M.D., has been named the Sam and Marilyn Fox Distinguished Professor in Medicine at the School of Medicine.

PET scans of cancer patients led clinicians to change treatment plans for more than a third of the patients, School of Medicine researchers found.

Courtesy Photo”Bye Bye Birdie,” the spring musical production by School of Medicine students, will be held April 24, 25 and 26 at the Whelpley Auditorium on the St Louis College of Pharmacy campus.