WashU Researchers to Study Effectiveness of Flu Vaccines in Preventing Household Transmission

WashU Researchers to Study Effectiveness of Flu Vaccines in Preventing Household Transmission
Jennie H. Kwon, DO, MSCI, Associate Professor of Medicine, Section Director, Healthcare Epidemiology & Antimicrobial Stewardship, WashU Division of Infectious Diseases, has received a new contract from the CDC to investigate how influenza (flu) spreads within households and whether vaccines reduce transmission of flu. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the […]

Oktoberfest (Links to an external site)

Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest is a world-renowned festival held annually in Munich, Germany, typically from late September to the first weekend in October. Oktoberfest dates back to October 12, 1810, when Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The citizens of Munich were invited to join the festivities held over five days on […]

Infectious Diseases Division Co-Director Philips Published in Nature Microbiology

Infectious Diseases Division Co-Director Philips Published in Nature Microbiology
Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence lipid PDIM inhibits autophagy in mice Jennifer A. Philips, MD, PhD, Theodore and Bertha Bryan Professor, Departments of Medicine and Molecular Microbiology; Co-director, Infectious Diseases Division, recently co-authored a Nature Microbiology publication, with Ekansh Mittal, PhD, Instructor of Medicine, WashU Division of Infectious Diseases, on Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Dr. Philips is the principal investigator […]

Dr. Fan He joins the Department of Medicine

Dr. Fan He joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Fan He joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hematology as an Instructor in September 2024. Under the mentorships of Dr. Stephen Oh and Dr. Jorge Di Paola, Fan studies molecular mechanisms underlying hyperinflammation in MPN and novel therapeutic vulnerabilities against it using patient samples, genetic mouse models, omics approaches (such as single […]

Dr. Kai Jones joins the Department of Medicine

Dr. Kai Jones joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Kai Jones joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology as an Assistant Professor in August 2024.  Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Dr. Jones earned the BA in Biology from Washington University in 2015 and the MD degree from Washington University in 2019.  Between 2019 and 2022, she completed Internal Medicine Residency Training […]

Dr. Rabia Mayer joins the Department of Medicine

Dr. Rabia Mayer joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Rabia Mayer joined the Department of Medicine in Division of Dermatology as an Assistant Professor in August 2024. Dr. Mayer received her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and subsequent PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Florida. She decided to pursue medicine thereafter and has completed two separate residencies in pediatrics and dermatology from Washington […]

Dr. Ju-Fang Chang joins the Department of Medicine

Dr. Ju-Fang Chang joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Ju-Fang Chang joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Oncology as an Assistant Professor in July 2024. Her research focus is to overcome barriers in immunotherapy by incorporating insights from protein structural biology. Dr. Chang received bachelor’s degrees in Physics and Biology from National Tsing-Hua University, Taiwan. After graduating, she was awarded a […]

Bhayani Recognized with the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) Inspire Award

Bhayani Recognized with the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) Inspire Award
Celebrating women physicians who inspire others as they lead the way forward in medicine. The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) is honored to announce the recipients of the 2024 AMWA INSPIRE Award. This annual award celebrates women physicians who exemplify the highest values of vision, integrity, service, and role-modeling in medicine and healthcare. “During Women in […]

Dr. Max Wattenberg joins the Department of Medicine

Dr. Max Wattenberg joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Wattenberg joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Oncology as an Assistant Professor in July 2024. He has a long-standing interest in immune-oncology and hopes to unveil new approaches to targeting the immune system for cancer therapy. Dr. Wattenberg received his MD from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. During medical […]

Dr. Ramon Jin joins the Department of Medicine

Dr. Ramon Jin joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Ramon Jin joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Oncology as an Assistant Professor in July 2024. He treats gastroesophageal cancer patients and studies these cancers and their precursor conditions in the research lab. His career goal is to become an independent basic science and translational researcher at the nexus of cancer […]

Dr. Spencer Ng joins the Department of Medicine

Dr. Spencer Ng joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Spencer Ng joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Dermatology as an Assistant Professor in July 2024. He received his BSc in Cancer and Cell Biology from McGill University and subsequently received his MD and PhD degrees from Emory University. His PhD dissertation work focused on enhancing immune-based therapies against cancer and autoimmune […]

Peterson Leads SHVM Annual Meeting in St. Louis (Links to an external site)

Peterson Leads SHVM Annual Meeting in St. Louis
The 21st annual meeting of the Society for Heart and Vascular Metabolism (SHVM) was held in St. Louis September 8th through 11th, with Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division Dr. Linda Peterson serving as SHVM President. This is the first time that the meeting has been held in St. Louis, and events were held in Clayton […]

Dr. Helen Ajufo joins the Department of Medicine

Dr. Helen Ajufo joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Helen Ajufo joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hematology as an Assistant Professor in March 2024. She is currently leading a large multicenter retrospective study, the Analysis of the North American Myelofibrosis Transplant Outcome (NAMTO) assessing the role of high-risk mutations and other clinical and transplant specific factors on overall survival in […]

WashU Medicine leads two major pandemic preparedness research projects (Links to an external site)

WashU Medicine leads two major pandemic preparedness research projects
Two grants totaling $30 million a year for 3 years support efforts to design vaccines, drugs for understudied virus families Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are laying the groundwork to rapidly respond to potential future pandemics caused by viruses from five understudied families. The effort, the aim of which is […]

Dr. Linying Zhang joins the Department of Medicine

Dr. Linying Zhang joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Linying Zhang, PhD joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of General Medicine and Geriatrics as an Assistant Professor in October 2023. Dr. Zhang’s research focuses on improving the reliability of real-world evidence generation using causal inference and artificial intelligence. Her works have been published on high impact clinical journals (e.g., Journal of the […]

Podany Metastatic Breast Cancer work spotlighted in JNCCN360

Podany Metastatic Breast Cancer work spotlighted in JNCCN360
Genomic Alterations and Targeted Treatment by Race in Metastatic Breast Cancer Emily Podany, MD, Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Program, Fellow Wellness Leader, WashU Division of Oncology, was recently spotlighted in JNCCN360 for her work on Genomic Alterations and Targeted Treatment by Race in Metastatic Breast Cancer. The study used a multi-institution consortium database that includes both clinical […]

Dr. Hani Soudah joins the Department of Medicine

Dr. Hani Soudah joins the Department of Medicine
Dr. Hani Soudah joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology as an Assistant Professor in June 2024. Beyond his clinical work, Dr. Soudah has a tremendous interest in teaching and educating medical students, residents, and fellows about the treatment of obesity. He has also been involved in the development of guidelines and protocols […]

July 2024 Kudos and Awards

July 2024 Kudos and Awards
Thank you, residents and interns, for all you do for one another and for your patients. Though often under-appreciated, your work does not go unnoticed.  Help us highlight the kindness, clinical judgement, resourcefulness, and work ethic.​​​​​​​Nominate a resident/intern for Housestaff of the month or just share something good. July 2024 Inpatient Intern of the MonthDr. Laura Keible […]

Second Annual Washington University Glomerular Disease Symposium: An Update on Disease Mechanisms and Management a Success (Links to an external site)

Second Annual Washington University Glomerular Disease Symposium: An Update on Disease Mechanisms and Management a Success
Kudos to everyone who helped make the 2nd Annual Glomerular Disease Symposium: An Update on Disease Mechanisms and Management, held September 6 – 7, 2024, a success.  The event was organized and chaired by WashU Nephrology’s Tingting Li, MD, MSCI, with the support of the planning committee members Michelle Bloom, BSN, RN, Reena Gurung, MD, Nidia Messias, MD, and Morgan Schoer, MD, and Continuing Medical […]

Odeny publication in Science Direct offers new cancer insights

Odeny publication in Science Direct offers new cancer insights
Crucial intersection of oncology and HIV research, with insights for clinical practice Thomas A. Odeny, MD, MPH, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at WashU Division of Medical Oncology, leads the Global Oncology Initiative. He recently was published in Science Direct with new insights into HIV and cancer research. Dr. Odeny’s research focuses on applying implementation […]

Spotlight on our new Dean’s Scholar (Links to an external site)

Spotlight on our new Dean’s Scholar
What motivated you to become a physician-scientist? As part of the physician-scientist community I will always hold onto the “bench to bedside”model. It is where I first encountered the medical doctors that I found myself wanting toemulate. Growing up, my brother was born with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome. He had a longlist of specialists he […]

WashU now offers safe and effective, nonsurgical treatment option for benign thyroid nodules (Links to an external site)

WashU now offers safe and effective, nonsurgical treatment option for benign thyroid nodules
Patients navigating symptomatic or growing benign thyroid nodules can now receive safe and effective, nonsurgical treatments using radiofrequency ablation (RFA) technology or percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI), provided by Washington University’s Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Lipid Research. 

WashU Fellow Published in Annual Reviews

WashU Fellow Published in Annual Reviews
Giulia Petrone, MD, WashU Hematology/Oncology Fellow, study, “Clinical and Therapeutic Implications of Clonal Hematopoisis” was recently published in Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics, Volume 25, 2024. Clonal Hematopoiesis (CH) is a condition in which hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells acquire the same somatic mutations, leading to the expansion of these mutated cells. The […]