School of Medicine

The magnified nanoparticles shown here are actually about 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.Chemistry meets biology in this innovative research program. Using synthetic particles invisible to the naked eye, researchers hope to better diagnose and treat childhood brain cancer, the third most common cancer of children. The particles are called nanostructures or nanoparticles because they are measured in nanometers, an almost unimaginably small unit, a billion times shorter than a yardstick.

Courtesy of the National Cancer InstituteBreast cancer cells stained brown using an antibody that recognizes malignant cellsClinical studies are proving that the genetic profile of a tumor can greatly influence its response to anticancer treatments. Matthew J. Ellis, M.D., Ph.D., at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is conducting research that aims to use the genetic profile of breast tumors to guide breast cancer therapy and ultimately to find new drugs for treating the disease.

Smoking while pregnant combined with genetic factors greatly increases the risk of severe ADHD.Past research has suggested that both genes and prenatal insults — such as exposure to alcohol and nicotine — can increase the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But the identified increases in risk have been very modest. Now, a team of Washington University scientists has found that when those factors are studied together, risk of a severe type of ADHD greatly increases.

New HIV therapies have contributed to a decrease in AIDS deaths, but physicians suspected the more potent medications led to symptoms characteristic of metabolic syndrome. However, now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that the rate of metabolic syndrome in HIV-infected patients is virtually identical to that in uninfected people. Furthermore, the type or duration of HIV therapy did not affect the rate of metabolic syndrome.

An angiogram, or X-ray image of blood vesselsScientists have uncovered a new biomedical technique that could increase blood flow to alleviate problems associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and many surgical procedures. They found that blocking the action of a blood-clot-associated protein turns up the effect of a biologically produced gas that can open blood vessels and increase blood flow.

A School of Medicine clinical study is investigating the link between blood fat and heart health in patients with type 2 diabetes.

David M. Holtzman, M.D., is the co-recipient of the MetLife Foundation Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer’s Disease.

David G. Mutch, the Ira C. and Judith Gall Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named President-Elect II of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists. The society is a national medical specialty organization of physicians who are trained in the comprehensive management of women with malignancies of the reproductive tract.

Children born with a foot deformity that causes them to have a rigid flatfoot once faced extensive surgery to fully correct the problem. A treatment developed by a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon at the School of Medicine has shown early success in correcting congenital vertical talus with minimal surgery in most cases.

Courtesy PhotoSchool of Medicine researchers recently helped the Saint Louis Science Center probe the mysteries of a nearly 2,000-year-old baby mummy.