School of Medicine

In recent years, one in five U.S. Latina teens attempted suicide. Though this rate is startlingly higher than their non-Hispanic peers, “efforts to understand the phenomenon have been hampered by a dearth of solid statistics and research,” says Luis H. Zayas, Ph.D., professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis and an expert on mental health issues in the Latino community. “We have developed a new research model that will help us to understand what is really behind those statistics.” More…

Gregory StorchGregory A. Storch, M.D., has been named director of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics and the first Ruth L. Siteman Professor of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine. The new endowed professorship, given by Alvin J. and Ruth Siteman, will support leadership in pediatric infectious diseases.

Researchers found that Rad9, previously considered a “watchman” that checks for DNA damage, is actually a “repairman” that fixes dangerous breaks in DNA. More medical news

Photo by Tim ParkerNelson Flagg and his wife, Rose, work with Vicki Friedman to paint tiles while Nelson is treated at the Siteman Cancer Center.”Your Square Matters” allows patients and their families to paint a 4-inch square ceramic tile; more than 400 tiles have been completed and are on display.

The new endowed professorship is part of the St. Louis Children’s Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine Joint Program in Pediatric Chairs.

The 30-week trial is called MARS and is part of a national study sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

The gray shading shows the areas surveyed for the study.A comparison of residential areas in the St. Louis region reveales that late middle-aged and older African-Americans who live in rundown neighborhoods with poor air and street quality are three times more likely to develop difficulties walking, standing, or lifting than those in cleaner, better-maintained areas.

Scientists have completed an extensive study of more than 3,000 patients who received a promising anti-inflammatory drug, natalizumab, that was linked to three cases of a serious brain infection in large clinical trials halted in early 2005.

A program designed by the Weight Management Center at the School of Medicine and the YMCA of Chesterfield has helped the Garcia family from Chesterfield lose roughly 105 pounds. The Family Lifestyle Intervention Program (FLIP) is designed to show families how to get healthy together through supervised exercise, counseling and education.

Photo by Robert BostonParticipants in the School of Medicine’s Executive master in health administration program play the “Red Bead Game.”The two-year executive master in health administration program was created specifically for 18 participants from the Riyadh-based King Fahad Medical City.