Dr. Richard Van Besien joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Richard Van Besien joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine as an Assistant Professor in July 2025. He first came to St. Louis for undergrad at WashU. Medical school brought him back to his home state to attend the University of Maryland on a full merit scholarship. While […]
Dr. Osler Guzon joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Osler Guzon joined the Department of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division as an Assistant Professor in July 2025. He is a board-certified preventive cardiologist with clinical expertise caring for patients with cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, pericardial diseases, and obesity-linked conditions such as diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea. Promoting nutrition and a healthy, active lifestyle as a […]
Dr. Fred Karaisz joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Fred Karaisz joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology as an Instructor in July. In residency, he loved teaching medical students and residents, particularly in bedside procedures, including lines, lumbar punctures, and paracenteses. These experiences translated well in gastroenterology, where he discovered my passion for therapeutic endoscopy. He hopes to work in […]
Dr. Sopiko Gogia joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Sopiko Gogia joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine as an Instructor in July 2025. She earned her medical degree from the American MD Program at Tbilisi State Medical University in 2020. During medical school, she actively participated in several community serving projects. After graduation, she worked as a junior […]
Catheter and Surgical Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Bryce E. Montané, MD, Assistant Professor and Brian F. Gage, MD,MSc, Professor of Medicine, WashU Medicine Division of General Medicine and Geriatrics, led an interdisciplinary team to review trials of ablation of atrial fibrillation. They found that compared with medical therapy, catheter ablation reduced the relative risk for ischemic stroke by 37%, for death by […]
Dr. Edward Daniel joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Edward Daniel joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine as an Instructor in July 2025. He was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He attended Harvard University where he obtained his degree in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology with a minor in Music, graduating cum laude in 2012. Afterwards, he attended the […]
Dr. Adnan Al Najada joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Adnan Al Najada joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine as an Instructor in July 2025. This role marks an important milestone in his career, following the completion of his internal medicine residency at Unity Hospital in Rochester, New York. Originally from Jordan, Al Najada earned his medical degree from the […]
Dr. Eugenia Miranti joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Eugenia Miranti joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases as an Assistant Professor in July 2025. She received her medical degree from Northwestern University. Dr. Miranti specializes in clinical infectious disease and healthcare epidemiology. She is particularly interested in ambulatory infection prevention and emerging infectious diseases.
Dr. Olufunto Olusanya joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Olufunto Olusanya joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases as an Assistant Professor in July of 2025. She is a physician, implementation scientist, and epidemiologist with over 17 years of clinical experience and 12 years of impactful research expertise. Dr. Olusanya’s expertise allows her to investigate innovative methods blending community […]
Dr. Temitope Ojo joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Temitope Ojo joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases as an Assistant Professor in July of 2025. She graduated from the New York University School of Global Public Health with a PhD in Public Health. She has authored several publications on global implementation research, including developing situationally tailored tools to assess […]
Dr. Kyle Moylan joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Kyle Moylan joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Palliative Medicine as an Associate Professor in July of 2025. Dr. Moylan is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care. After completing his internal medicine residency and geriatric fellowship at Washington University, he served as chief resident before joining the Division of […]
Dr. Gassan Kassim joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Gassan Kassim joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology as an Assistant Professor in July of 2025. He graduated from medical school as valedictorian at the University of Debrecen in Hungary. He completed his internal medicine residency at Mount Sinai in New York City. He completed his gastroenterology and hepatology fellowship training […]
Dr. Megan White joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Megan White joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology as an Assistant Professor in July of 2025. She completed her medical education at Saint Louis University and further honed her expertise through residency and fellowship (both in gastroenterology and transplant hepatology) training at Washington University in St. Louis as well as an […]
Dr. Quazim Alayo joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Quazim Alayo joins the Department of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology as an instructor in July 2025. He earned his medical degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, followed by advanced training in global health science at the University of Oxford and immunology at Harvard Medical School. Under the mentorship of Dr. Dan Barouch, […]
Dr. Sambhawane Bhandari joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Sambhawana Bhandari joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology as an Assistant Professor in July 2025. She provides comprehensive care to patients with autoimmune diseases, participating in general rheumatology, Rheumatology-Oncology, myositis, and CTD-ILD clinics. Dr. Bhandari’s research focuses on clinical outcomes in patients with rheumatic diseases, including database studies on ICI-induced […]
Dr. Wei Zou joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Wei Zou joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Bone and Mineral Diseases as an Associate Professor in July 2025. He has more than two decades of extensive research experience on bone biology. His research was initially focused on understanding the mechanisms by which inflammatory factors such as LPS and TNF-α regulate osteoclast differentiation. […]
Petersen awarded American Heart Association grant to study cholesterol effects of ketogenic diet (Links to an external site)
Max Petersen, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Lipid Research at WashU Medicine, has been awarded the prestigious 2025 Career Development Award from the American Heart Association (AHA).
Region’s first patient receives sickle cell gene therapy (Links to an external site)
The first sickle cell disease patient in the St. Louis region has been successfully treated by WashU Medicine physicians at St. Louis Children’s Hospital with a gene therapy newly approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Julia López, PhD, MPH, LCSW, an inaugural recipient of the 2025 Spark Change Award (Links to an external site)
The Spark Change Award honors leaders who catalyze transformation—not only through bold ideas, but also through the daily, persistent work of creating more inclusive, just communities. Julia was nominated by colleagues and selected by the Spark Change Award Selection Committee to be one of two inaugural recipients of this award.
Yili Fang Receives AHA Postdoc Fellowship for Chronic Kidney Disease Research (Links to an external site)
Yili Fang, MD, PhD, a Postdoctoral Research Scholar in the Ying Maggie Chen laboratory, has been awarded a prestigious 2025 American Heart Association (AHA) Postdoctoral Fellowship for his project “Develop a Biotherapeutic Protein to Treat Uromodulin-Associated Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).”
Strategy to prevent age-related macular degeneration identified (Links to an external site)
A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identifies a possible way to slow or block progression of age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in people over age 50. The WashU Medicine researchers and their international collaborators implicated problems with cholesterol metabolism in this type of vision loss, perhaps […]
Dr. Shannon Coombs joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Shannon Coombs joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine as an Instructor in June 2025. She grew up in Elmsford, New York before attending Howard University in Washington, DC where she graduated summa cum laude with honors distinction with a Bachelor of Arts in History as well as being inducted into […]
Dr. David Zhang joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. David Zhang joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine as an Instructor in June 2025. He was raised in San Antonio, Texas. He attended Washington University in St. Louis, where he studied physics and graduated with college honors. During his time in college, was inducted into the physics honor society, […]
2025 Department of Medicine Intern Welcome Party
The Department of Medicine’s annual Intern Welcome Party, was graciously hosted this year at the home of Dr. Victoria Fraser, the esteemed Adolphus Busch Professor of Medicine and department chair. On Saturday, June 14, 2025, more than 50 incoming interns, representing institutions from across the country, gathered for an evening of informal introductions and camaraderie. […]
WashU summer camp merges art, public health education (Links to an external site)
The LIGHT Creativity in Public Health Summer Camp at WashU encourages students to tap into their imaginations and lived experiences to create artwork, poetry and stories that communicate the importance of health and science.
Jones appointed Associate Program Director for Internal Medicine Residency (Links to an external site)
Kai Jones, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in WashU Medicine’s Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Lipid Research, has been additionally appointed Associate Program Director for the Department of Medicine’s Internal Medicine Residency Program, effective May 15, 2025.
Department of Veterans Affairs Challenge Coin Presented to Bernal-Mizrachi
Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi, MD, Chief of Medicine/ ACOS Medical Service at St. Louis VA Medical System, Philip E. and Carolyn E. Cryer Professor in Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Lipid Research, was recently presented a VA Challenge Coin by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs at the VA health system. A challenge coin is a small, […]
Payne co-authors ‘AI Code of Conduct’ for National Academy of Medicine (Links to an external site)
Philip Payne, PhD, director of I2DB and inaugural Chief Health AI Officer for WashU Medicine and BJC Health System, has long advocated for an “AI Code of Conduct” that pertains to the responsible, effective, equitable, and human-centered use of AI in medicine.
Genetic Testing Core Curriculum: An Interview (Links to an external site)
Implementation of clinical genetic testing into the routine diagnostic workup of patients with kidney disorders can improve care when employed with proper patient selection. Due to advances in technology, testing with curated gene panels associated with kidney diseases are commercially available, are relatively inexpensive, and have quick turnaround time.
15th Annual Gateway Conference Delivers a Spectrum of Educational Opportunities (Links to an external site)
The 15th Annual Gateway Hospital Medicine Conference took place from May 1, 2025, to May 3, 2025, at the Eric P. Newman Education Center (EPNEC). The Gateway Conference planning committee, composed of adult and pediatric physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and pharmacists, put extensive effort into designing, planning, and implementing the agenda for the conference.





























