News

The Department of Medicine is very happy to welcome our new Associate Clerkship Director for Internal Medicine, Dr. Lisa Zickuhr. She will be assisting the current clerkship director Dr. Gerome Escota in providing professional, administrative, and educational leadership for third and fourth year students rotating in Medicine. Dr. Zickuhr is an Assistant Professor of Medicine […]

Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has been recognized once again as a top U.S. cancer institution, based on a review of its research programs. This evaluation resulted in a nearly perfect score, earning Siteman the highest possible rating — exceptional — by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the […]

A major U.S. study reveals large gaps between urban and rural patients in quality of care received after a stroke and rates of survival. In more rural areas, the ability of hospitals to deliver advanced stroke care is lower and mortality rates substantially higher, the research shows.

With Brazil leading the world in newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases, Latin America has become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, outbreaks continue to escalate in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Public health authorities worldwide desperately need to expand testing so they can track the spread of the infection, but molecular diagnostic […]

People who inject illicit drugs can develop potentially deadly infections of the heart, blood, joints and soft tissues. Typically, such infections require weeks of hospitalization to treat effectively. But a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that drug users who, while in the hospital, started IV antibiotics […]

In the weeks before the St. Louis region saw its first patients with COVID-19, physician-scientists at Washington University School of Medicine began planning and preparing how best to collect blood and other biological samples from such patients so specimens could be quickly disseminated to researchers seeking strategies to treat, prevent and contain the novel coronavirus.

Dr. Poddar completed medical school at V.S.S Medical College in India. He pursued a career in Internal Medicine at his medical school and went on to earn his MD in 2003. He then moved to the United States and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center in 2009. He was […]

Dr. Casey Katerndahl joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Oncology as an Instructor in June, 2020. The long-term goal of Dr. Katerndahl’s research is to better define the molecular mechanisms that control the aberrant self-renewal and transformation of myeloid progenitor cells, and to use this information to improve therapy for acute myeloid […]

The global effort to quickly develop drugs and vaccines for COVID-19 has been hampered by limited numbers of laboratory mice that are susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report they have developed a mouse model of COVID-19 that replicates the […]

As the St. Louis region grapples with reopening businesses and lifting stay-at-home orders, more than 100 students at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have been volunteering to help local health departments perform case investigations and contact tracing, which are essential public health strategies to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Dr. Kaori Sakurai joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Sciences as an Assistant Professor in May, 2020. Dr. Sakurai began her pursuit of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their focus on problem-based learning in small group settings was an innovative concept at the time and […]

Study of welders could shine light on early stages of Parkinson’s disease Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a $3.7 million grant to investigate the link between manganese and cognitive problems. Understanding how the metal harms the brain could lead to better ways to prevent or treat some forms […]

Dr. David Alvarado joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology as an Instructor in May, 2020. Dr. Alvarado earned his Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine’s Cellular and Molecular Medicine Graduate Training Program. Upon matriculation in 2014, he joined Dr. Matthew A. Ciorba’s lab in […]

In this Issue: Letter from the Chair, Stories of Care, Resilience and Hope from Across the Department of Medicine, Voices from Across the Department of Medicine, COVID-19 EPIC Update, Share Hero Stories, and Department of Medicine Health Care Heroes

People with COVID-19 who are seen by Washington University physicians or BJC Medical Group providers, but not sick enough to be hospitalized, can be enrolled in an in-home health monitoring program. With daily check-ins for each patient via smartphone app or phone call, the program helps medical professionals identify signs of worsening illness early so […]

Lead by Washington University, researchers in the field of critical care outcomes have collaborated to set up an open-access website that provides an outcome risk assessment calculator for severe COVID-19 patients getting various treatments. Read more and download flyer

Emergency medicine physician Komo Gursahani, MD, suits up in gloves, disposable gown, N95 mask and face shield before she sees patients, many of whom arrive in the emergency room seriously ill with COVID-19. Gursahani is one of many Washington University physicians on the front lines of the battle against the novel coronavirus. (Photo: Erin Jones/Barnes-Jewish […]

Juan Calix, MD, PhD, joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases as an Instructor in April, 2020. Dr. Calix was born in New Orleans, LA but lived much of his youth in his family’s native El Salvador. He moved back to the United States to obtain his bachelor’s degree in biological […]

Dr. Nicole Ducharme joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology as an Instructor in November, 2019. Dr. Ducharme was born in Warwick, Rhode Island to a close-knit Portuguese/Italian family. She spent a lot of time with her grandmother who had emigrated from the Azores and did not speak English. With the help […]

Dr. Nichole Zehnder joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of General Medicine as an Associate Professor in April, 2020. Dr. Zehnder is Associate Dean for Educational Strategy and Associate Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Zehnder has extensive experience in curriculum development, admissions, student affairs, and faculty development. Dr. […]

Using induced pluripotent stem cells produced from the skin of a patient with a rare, genetic form of insulin-dependent diabetes called Wolfram syndrome, researchers transformed the human stem cells into insulin-producing cells and used the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to correct a genetic defect that had caused the syndrome. They then implanted the cells into lab mice […]

When Washington University Vice Chancellor for Research Jennifer K. Lodge first sounded the alarm about the disruptive impact COVID-19 likely would have on labs across the university, the research community heeded her warning, taking steps to shut down lab work and move as much as possible online. Those in position to do so began pivoting their research […]

Infectious diseases physicians at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed an expanded access program to give blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors to critically ill patients at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Led by principal investigator Rachel Presti, MD, PhD, an associate professor of medicine, a team of researchers began enrolling potential donors […]

Dr. Antonietta Franco joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Pharmacogenomics as an Instructor in July, 2019. Dr. Franco started her scientific carrier in Naples, (Italy). During her PhD training, her studies focused on G-Protein-Coupled receptor (GRK2) and its role in cardiovascular disease under supervision of Professor Guido Iaccarino and Bruno Trimarco. She […]

Dr. Sytse Piersma joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology as an Instructor in September, 2019. Dr. Piersma’s research focuses on understanding Natural Killer cell activation, in particular in response to virus infection and cancer. Dr. Piersma completed his PhD under supervision of Prof. Dr. Sjoerd van der Burg and Dr. Cornelis […]

Dr. Edward Sheen joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology as an Assistant Professor in January, 2020. Dr. Sheen’s experience has bridged the public, private, non-profit, and academic sectors and includes work with Stanford University, the White House, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, California State Assembly, […]

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are launching a clinical trial in patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 but who are not sick enough to be hospitalized. The trial is investigating whether the antidepressant medication fluvoxamine, which is currently used to treat patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), can be repurposed […]

The Heart Team Summit Team is pleased to invite you to a second one hour complimentary webinar on Thursday April 16, 2020 at 4:00 PM (CDT) featuring Cardiology and Pulmonary Critical Care faculty from Ascension St. Vincent, Northwestern Medicine and Barnes Jewish Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine. View here for more information.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is launching a clinical trial for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. The trial will investigate the effectiveness of different combinations of the antimalarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin in treating ill patients infected with the novel coronavirus. Express Scripts, a Cigna company, […]

As the novel coronavirus has accelerated its spread throughout the Midwest and across the U.S., scores of students on the Washington University Medical Campus have mobilized to support health-care workers and the St. Louis community in the fight against the global pandemic. Among the projects the students have initiated or joined, they’ve reviewed and summarized […]