Genetic information makes it safer to prescribe common blood thinner

Doctors prescribing blood thinners have had to go through a lengthy trial-and-error process to arrive at the optimal dose for their patients. But now the process can be faster and safer, thanks to research conducted at the School of Medicine. Researchers, along with colleagues at Saint Louis University and St. Louis College of Pharmacy, have developed an improved dosing formula for the widely prescribed anticoagulant warfarin (Coumadin®) that takes into account variations in two key genes

A new chapter

Photo by Robert BostonThe School of Medicine Class of 2011 recites an oath of professionalism at the annual White Coat Ceremony Aug. 17.

Grant will help researcher seek causes of pediatric lung tumor

D. Ashley Hill, assistant professor of pathology and immunology, will receive a two-year grant from The Hope Street Kids, a program that supports and promotes research into pediatric tumors. The program will provide $70,000 over the next two years to support Hill’s search for the genetic causes of pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB), a rare childhood lung tumor originally identified by Hill’s mentor at Washington University, Louis P. “Pepper” Dehner, professor of pathology and immunology and of pathology in pediatrics.
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