School of Medicine

Scientists studying a common childhood brain tumor have uncovered a pleasant surprise: evidence that the tumors may be vulnerable to a class of drugs that has been in use for years.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is rated the third best medical school in the nation, according to this year’s U.S. News & World Report rankings of graduate and professional programs released April 1.

The Atkins chair is the first professorship in the United States specifically devoted to supporting the study of obesity.

Courtesy PhotoNeurology postdoctoral researcher Yan Hu, Ph.D. (right), discusses her poster presentation at the Inaugural Postdoc Scientific Symposium Feb. 23.In The Scientist magazine’s third annual “Best Places for Postdocs to Work” survey, WUSTL was No. 2 for U.S. academic institutions.

With significant contributions from the Genome Sequencing Center, the sequence of the human X chromosome has been published.

The University’s Project ARK will sponsor the Journey of Hope AIDS Awareness Tour’s St. Louis stop April 13.

Photo by Robert BostonMichael R. Brent, Ph.D., and Tamara L. Doering, M.D., Ph.D., examine data from the *C. neoformans* gene expression microarray.A team of collaborators, including two WUSTL researchers, has sequenced the genomes of two strains of Cryptococcus neoformans.

WenThree students from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have been chosen for prominent offices, including national president, within the American Medical Student Association (AMSA). Leana S. Wen was elected national president; Andrew R. Reinink was named an associate regional trustee for Region VIII; and Kao-Ping Chua was hired for the position of Jack Rutledge Fellow.

Photo by Tim Parker(From left) Sam, Dylan and Ashley Mopkins show the scarves they made for their mom.When dealing with life-threatening diseases such as cancer, complete care sometimes extends to other members of the family. That’s the idea behind the Help Us Give Support (HUGS) program at Siteman Cancer Center. Members of HUGS, children between the ages of 4 and 12, recently took part in an Arts as Healing event to create decorative scarves for their mother or grandmother fighting breast cancer. Read more from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Scientists have identified an important link between kidney damage and cardiac problems, creating new possibilities for treating the primary cause of death in kidney disease patients.