School of Medicine

Girls and young women who exercise regularly between the ages of 12-35 have a substantially lower risk of breast cancer before menopause compared with less active women, new research from the School of Medicine shows. The study of nearly 65,000 women found that those who were physically active had a 23 percent lower risk of breast cancer before menopause.

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

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) has recognized three researchers at the School of Medicine for their studies of infectious diseases. Instructor Jeffrey Henderson will receive the BWF 2008 Career Award for Medical Scientists. Assistant professors David Wang and Dong Yu will each receive a 2008 BWF Investigators in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease award.

John William “Bill” Jermyn III, D.O., clinical instructor in the Division of Emergency Medicine, died suddenly Thursday, May 15, 2008.

Sharon Keathley, secretary III at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology who retired in 1993, died Saturday, March 8, 2008, of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at her home in St. Louis. She was 78.

Washington University has awarded four Bear Cub Fund grants totaling $150,000 to support innovative research projects that could be attractive for licensing by commercial entities or serve as the foundation for a start-up company.

A new program in the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Obstetrics Clinic is helping to prevent lead poisoning among children in the city of St. Louis.

Changing the sugars attached to a hormone produced in the pituitary gland increased fertility levels in mice nearly 50 percent, School of Medicine research has found.

Photo by Robert BostonJulie Gerberding, M.D., director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, spoke to School of Medicine graduates at Commencement May 16, 2008, at America’s Center.

Young women who were physically active had a 23 percent lower risk of breast cancer before menopause, new research from the School of Medicine shows.