School of Medicine

New School of Medicine research could lead to new methods to improve glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetic or insulin-resistant people.

School of Medicine researchers have uncovered new information that leads them closer to making tumors more sensitive to the killing power of radiation.

The Washington University Molecular Imaging Center has received a five-year, $10 million grant from the National Cancer Institute.

Photo by Robert BostonSchool of Medicine students honored their teachers Nov. 8 at the annual Distinguished Service Teaching Awards.

James S. Kemp, M.D., will co-lead a campaign to prevent infant death due to unsafe sleep practices with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Photo by Robert BostonDenise Wilfley studies the whole range of problems with eating — from anorexia nervosa to obesity from childhood throughout life.

Children born with Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder involving the connective tissue, have a variety of physical signs – disproportionately long arms, legs, fingers and toes; scoliosis or other spinal curvature; nearsightedness; unusually large lungs; and stretch marks on the skin. But one of the most dangerous effects of the disease is the development of an enlarged aorta, which can lead to rupture of the heart’s largest artery and to sudden death.

In these PET images, a cervical tumor glows brightly before therapy (left), but is no longer visible after therapy.Whole-body PET (positron emission tomography) scans done three months after completion of cervical cancer therapy can ensure that patients are disease-free or warn that further interventions are needed, according to a study at the School of Medicine. “This is the first time we can say that we have a reliable test to follow cervical cancer patients after therapy,” says Julie Schwarz, a Barnes-Jewish Hospital resident in the Department of Radiation Oncology.

A multinational team of researchers has shown for the first time that the immune system can stop the growth of a cancerous tumor without actually killing it. Scientists have been working for years to use the immune system to eradicate cancers, a technique known as immunotherapy. The new findings prove an alternate to this approach exists: When the cancer can’t be killed with immune attacks, it may be possible to find ways to use the immune system to contain it.

Scientists at the School of Medicine and at Utah State University believe they have found an explanation for a puzzling and serious complication of West Nile virus infection.