School of Medicine

David H. Gutmann, M.D., Ph.D., is having the time of his life. And despite his passion for jazz, this time there’s not a saxophone in sight. The source of Gutmann’s zeal is the School of Medicine’s newly formed interdisciplinary team unified by his scientific crusade: unraveling the mystery of brain tumors in children with neurofibromatosis […]

Rates of celiac disease are significantly higher in patients with osteoporosis, according to School of Medicine researchers.

Photo by Robert BostonInvestigators Charles Hildebolt (right) and Dean Faulk hold a cast of the skull of the “Hobbit,” likely a new species of prehistoric humans.Medical school researchers performed a detailed comparison of the fossil’s brain case with those of other human ancestors. More medical news

He was one of the first African-American physicians to join the School of Medicine and was a renowned health-care policy innovator.

The former clinical instructor in the School of Dentistry died of leukemia Feb. 20.

A School of Medicine project will develop new approaches for isolating, sequencing and analyzing the genomes of “friendly” bacteria.

The University has received an $11.6 million grant to fund a Silvio O. Conte Center for the Neuroscience of Mental Disorders.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Osteoporosis, celiac disease linked (week of March 2) • Another reason to not smoke (week of March 9) • New diabetes, obesity link (week of March 16) • Quit smoking help line (week of March 23) • Preventing baseball injuries (week of March 30)

Most pediatric burns can be prevented.Childhood burns can happen when least expected: An inquisitive toddler crawling around the kitchen pulls on a coffee pot’s dangling electrical cord, causing the scalding liquid to burn his tiny arm. The Trauma and Burn Program at Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital admits approximately 165 burn patients a year and treats another 200 on an outpatient basis. Robert P. Foglia, M.D., director of the program, offers tips on how to prevent household burns, the leading cause of accidental deaths in the home.

Mammograms could more frequently bear good news if researchers develop an effective breast cancer vaccine.Progress toward development of a breast cancer vaccine has been reported by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and the Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis. Physicians believe a vaccine-induced immune response could be used to supplement other cancer therapies or to immunize high-risk people against cancer.