washington university school of medicine

Researchers at the School of Medicine want to know whether they can reduce the rate of unintended pregnancies at community clinics by providing  contraceptive counseling that emphasizes the benefits of long-acting birth control, like IUDs and implants, and by making these methods available to women at sharply reduced costs or free of charge. Pictured is Tessa Madden, MD, the study’s principal investigator.

Thanks to a grant from the St. Louis-based Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation, 21 physician scientist trainees in two clinical departments at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will receive research support. Pictured is Oliver Langenberg, who led the foundation for more than 50 years before his death last year and after whom the physician scientist training programs in the departments of Medicine and Pediatrics have been renamed.

Marco Colonna, MD, has been named the Robert Rock Belliveau, MD, Professor of Pathology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Shown (from left) are Colonna; Belliveau’s wife, Rita Deanin Abbey; and Belliveau.

Three School of Medicine employees have been honored with the dean’s annual distinguished service, research support staff and operations staff awards. Shown is the dean, Larry J. Shapiro, MD, with Kristin Palmquist, winner of the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award.

A key brain structure that regulates emotions works differently in preschoolers with depression compared with their healthy peers, according to new research at the School of Medicine. Brain scans of preschoolers with depression revealed elevated activity in the amygdala, the area shown in the red circle, when compared with scans of young children exhibiting no signs of depression.

F. Sessions Cole, MD, the Park J. White, MD, Professor and vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected to the March of Dimes National Board of Trustees.

Thomas W. Ferkol, MD, the Alexis Hartmann, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine, has been installed as president-elect of the American Thoracic Society (ATS).

A study of older adults has found that combining antidepressants with cognitive behavioral therapy appears to be effective as a treatment for anxiety. Pictured is Eric J. Lenze, MD, professor of psychiatry, discussing therapy options with Diana Simpson.

Samuel A. Wickline, MD, has been named the inaugural James R. Hornsby Family Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine.​

Dabeeru C. Rao, PhD, director of the Division of Biostatistics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named a fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA), the nation’s preeminent professional statistical society.