School of Medicine

Patients treated in the GM-CSF pilot study showed a decrease in inflammation: an inflamed colon before treatment (top) and after, showing no pathologic abnormality.Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis continue to make progress in finding a potential treatment for Crohn’s disease, a chronic and serious inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract that affects about half a million people in the United States. Later this month, the research team of Joshua Korzenik, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, and Brian Dieckgraefe, M.D., Ph.D., also an assistant professor of medicine in the division of gastroenterology, will present preliminary data from patients with moderate to severe Crohn’s disease who were treated at 33 centers around the United States. Patients who received daily injections of a drug called GM-CSF (granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor), which stimulates the activity of certain cells in the immune system, tended improve. And although the data have not yet been presented, the results from the placebo-controlled phase II treatment study were positive.

October Medical Science & Health Tip Sheet

The Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences has launched the Office of Post Graduate Affairs; all University postdoctoral appointees may attend seminars and events.

The center’s mission is to support basic and translational research in critical areas of biodefense and emerging infectious diseases throughout the Midwest.

A cancer survivor, he is leading 26 riders on a weeklong Tour of Hope bike ride across America to tout research and the importance of clinical trials.

The director of the National Institute of Health National Human Genome Research Institute, he will talk on “Genomics, Medicine and Society.”

New lens replacement material may aid cataract patientsA gel-like material eventually could replace diseased and aging lenses in the eyes of patients with cataracts. The material also might eventually mean the end of bifocals and contact lenses for millions of people who suffer from presbyopia — literally “old vision” — a condition that makes it difficult for people over 40 to read without magnification. Researchers from the Veterans Affairs (VSA) Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine reported on the gel in New York at the 226th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society. The technology could represent a totally different approach to the treatment of cataracts and presbyopia.

“This study helps us better understand how these parasites are transmitted and how they establish infections,” said principal investigator Stephen M. Beverley.

New evidence found by School of Medicine researchers marks significant progress in understanding a critical nervous system pathway.

The award recognizes Stahl’s outstanding efforts to promote the careers of women in science; he’s the first man to win the recognition.