School of Medicine

The former volunteer professor of pediatrics died Oct. 21 of pneumonia.

He was a longtime pediatrician and former professor at the School of Medicine.

When she was a student in dental school at the University of Chile, M. Rosario Hernandez, D.D.S., didn’t expect that one day she’d be an expert on glaucoma and the optic nerve. She didn’t picture herself coming to St. Louis or even to the United States. She had just completed dental school when Chilean general […]

General asthma rates have been steadily rising, but the most dramatic increases have occurred among urban youth.

At stake are researchers’ efforts to find new ways to reduce loss of vision, kidney failure, heart damage and other diabetes side effects.

“Stated in the most basic terms, we are studying why some people are fat and some are skinny,” says lead investigator Ingrid B. Borecki.

Photo by Mary ButkusChancellor Mark S. Wrighton is presented with a plaque designating the former Cori laboratory as a National Historic Chemical Landmark.

Washing hands can cut the risk of coming down with the flu.October saw long lines at flu vaccine locations as many people waited hours hoping for a shot. As health officials scramble to find doses of vaccine for those at high risk, a Washington University emergency medicine specialist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis says most of us may have to rely on hand washing and common sense if we want to stay healthy this winter.

A chemist at Washington University in St. Louis has found surprisingly tough enzymes in a bacterium that “just says no to acid.” Acid resistance is a valued trait for both pills and human pathogens. The bacterium Acetobacter aceti makes unusually acid-resistant enzymes in spades, which could make the organism a source for new enzyme products and new directions in protein chemistry.

Joan Luby helps identify depression in children with “interview puppets.”Although all children are sad sometimes, preschoolers tend to be inherently joyful. But Joan Luby, director of the Early Emotional Development Program at the School of Medicine, has found that, like adults, very young children can experience depression. Her research team has developed a checklist to help clinicians identify young children at risk for developing the disease.