Juneteenth (Links to an external site)

On June 19th, we celebrate Juneteenth, the annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States following the Civil War. In Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Grander announced the end of the Civil War and that those enslaved were now free. This announcement, however, came two and a half […]

Researchers augment infection surveillance tool with AI, find enhanced patient safety (Links to an external site)

Abby Sung, MD

WashU Medicine infectious diseases researchers have developed a practical use of artificial intelligence to enhance patient safety, while potentially reducing costs and improving efficiency at hospitals. Abby Sung, MD, an assistant professor of medicine, and colleagues in the Division of Infectious Diseases, WashU McKelvey School of Engineering AI for Health Institute, and Barnes-Jewish Hospital (BJH) found that a large language model (LLM) can strengthen a semi-automated surveillance tool used by infection prevention. 

Celebrating our 2025-2026 Graduates and Award Recipients (Links to an external site)

CRTC graduates and faculty

Throughout the academic year, scholars work relentlessly to elevate their learning and support their peers, mentors show up day after day ready to provide guidance to their mentees, and course directors engage scholars in labs and classrooms with dynamic training. This strong community is central to the success of programs at WashU Medicine, and it […]

Faculty join Infectious Diseases Society of America Fellowship in 2026 (Links to an external site)

Faculty join Infectious Diseases Society of America Fellowship in 2026

Nicolo Cabrera, MD, Joseph Cherabie, MD, MSc, and Adriana Rauseo, MD, Assistant Professors of Medicine, and Aaloke Mody, MD, Associate Professor in Medicine, have joined more than a dozen other Washington University School of Medicine Division of Infectious Diseases faculty members as Fellows of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). They are among 166 new fellows this year to receive […]

Class Acts 2026: Ariel Hernandez-Leyva (Links to an external site)

Ariel Hernandez-Leyva, a graduating MD/PhD student at WashU Medicine

For about an hour, Ariel Hernandez-Leyva held a scientific secret. A discovery only he had uncovered. At the time, more than a decade ago, he was an undergraduate at Yale University, working long hours in a biology lab studying cytokinesis, the final stage of cell division. One spring afternoon, while using a high-resolution fluorescence microscope […]

Goldberg co-authors study on obicetrapib in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (Links to an external site)

Anne Carol Goldberg, MD, FACP, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Lipid Research

Anne Carol Goldberg, MD, FACP, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Lipid Research at WashU Medicine, is a co-author of a study published February 27, 2026, in Nature Medicine. The article, titled “Obicetrapib in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: the BROOKLYN randomized clinical trial,” explores a potential new option for people living […]

Soudah and collaborators review semaglutide’s metabolic and cognitive effects  (Links to an external site)

Hani Soudah, MD, PhD

On March 1, Hani Soudah, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, & Lipid Research at WashU Medicine, along with collaborators, published a new systematic review and meta-analysis examining the broader physiological effects of semaglutide titled “A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Semaglutide Effects on Adipose Tissue and Emerging Effects on Brain and Cognition.” 

Identifying how the body regulates fat breakdown during metabolic stress (Links to an external site)

Irfan Lodhi, PhD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Lipid Research at WashU Medicine

Irfan Lodhi, PhD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Lipid Research at WashU Medicine, and collaborators are authors of a study published January 8, 2026, in Nature Metabolism. The article, titled “A catecholamine-independent pathway controlling adaptive adipocyte lipolysis,” investigates how the body breaks down stable fat stores during conditions such as starvation, wasting and cachexia. 

WashU Celebration of Inventors 2026 (Links to an external site)

WashU Celebration of Inventors 2026

On May 7, 2026, the Office of Technology Management hosted the ninth annual Celebration of Inventors, an event to honor and recognize Washington University inventors, researchers and faculty entrepreneurs. Honorees included 2025 United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) awardees; newly elected National Academy of Inventors Fellows and Senior Members; and the recipients of the 2026 […]

Jennifer Alexander-Brett, MD, PhD Featured for COPD Research Advances (Links to an external site)

Jennifer Alexander-Brett, MD, PhD

Jennifer Alexander‑Brett, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, has been featured in a recent Nature Biotechnology article highlighting major advances in targeting interleukin‑33 (IL‑33) signaling in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The article, “Newcomer anti‑IL‑33 makes strides in COPD,” underscores the growing impact of IL‑33–focused therapeutics and the importance of foundational biological insight in translating discovery to patient […]

Personalized vaccine shows promise against aggressive brain cancer (Links to an external site)

A WashU Medicine-led clinical trial conducted at Siteman Cancer Center has found that a personalized vaccine to treat glioblastoma is safe and could potentially improve outcomes. Trial participant Kim Garland (left) reviews a scan with the study’s primary investigator, Tanner Johanns, MD, PhD, a WashU Medicine oncologist.

A personalized vaccine to treat glioblastoma, a fast-growing and incurable brain cancer that affects four in 100,000 people in the U.S., is safe and elicits robust and broad immune responses that appears to increase recurrence-free survival in a subset of patients after surgery, according to an early-stage clinical trial co-led by researchers at Washington University […]

People with poor mental health report worse care worldwide (Links to an external site)

A global study of more than 32,000 adults in 18 countries finds that people with poor mental health experience more unmet needs and lower confidence in care. (Photo: Getty Images)

A new multinational study finds that individuals with poor mental health consistently report lower-quality healthcare experiences across diverse health systems. Published May 5 in PLOS Medicine, the study was led by Margaret E. Kruk, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, in collaboration with an international team of researchers.

Renowned Gastroenterology Leader at Siteman Cancer Center Honored for Mentorship (Links to an external site)

Nicholas Davidson, MD

Nicholas O. Davidson, MD, DSc, AGAF, the John E. and Adaline Simon Professor of Medicine and Developmental Biology and chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at WashU Medicine and a nationally recognized physician-scientist who treats patients at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine, is the recipient of the 2026 Distinguished Mentor Award from the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA). He will […]

Celebrating Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month (Links to an external site)

May marks the annual celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the United States. In 1978 Congress proclaimed the first week of May as “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.” Future Presidents continued this annual proclamation until 1992 when Congress and President George H.W. Bush signed a law designating the month of May to celebrate […]

Grants bolster research on myelodysplastic syndromes (Links to an external site)

Jeremy Baeten, PhD and Matthew Walter, MD

The Edward P. Evans Foundation has awarded three-year, $750,000 Discovery Research Grants to Jeremy Baeten, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine, and Matthew Walter, MD, the Edward P. Evans Endowed Professor of Myelodysplastic Syndromes, both in the Division of Oncology at WashU Medicine. Walter treats patients at Siteman Cancer Center, based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and […]

WashU Nephrology Presents at NKF 2026 Spring Clinical Meetings (Links to an external site)

Anuja Java, MD

The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) 2026 Spring Clinical Meetings (SCM) will be held May 6 -10 at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, bringing together kidney‑care professionals from across the country for practical education, clinical updates, and multidisciplinary collaboration. WashU Nephrology will be well represented this year by Anuja Java, MD, and Dr. Tingting Li, MD, MSCI, FASN, who […]

Huffman Receives Honorary Professorship at University of Abuja (Links to an external site)

Mark Huffman, MD, MPH, William Bowen Endowed Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division

Mark Huffman, MD, MPH, William Bowen Endowed Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named an honorary professor at the University of Abuja in Nigeria. The appointment recognizes his contributions to cardiovascular research and public health in Nigeria.

ID Fellowship Program receives continued accreditation (Links to an external site)

WashU Medicine Division of Infectious Diseases co-chief Barbara Trautner, MD, PhD, discusses a patient's case with First Year Fellow Laveena John, MD, visiting medical student Hiyori Mori, medical student Elisa Carrillo, and senior clinical research coordinator Johanan Luna during ID rounds at Wohl Hospital on March 16, 2026.

The Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program at Washington University School of Medicine celebrates its continued accreditation status, effective January 23, 2026, by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The ACGME sets standards for effective educational and training programs, and monitors compliance with those standards.

New software safeguards research participants’ privacy (Links to an external site)

WashU Medicine and University of Michigan researchers developed a software, De-ID, that flags sensitive information in data collected through focus groups, surveys and interviews. It highlights and suggests generic replacements using a color-coding scheme: red for information that has a high risk of identifying someone; yellow for medium-risk information; and blue for low-risk information. Accepted suggestions are highlighted in green, and ignored suggestions in gray.

Which details in a de-identified scientific record are enough to still identify a person? If, for example, the record includes that a person is a CEO, the abundance of CEOs in the world would make identification nearly impossible. If the person is a CEO living in Missouri, the list becomes notably shorter but likely extensive […]

Innovative CAR-T cell therapy receives FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation (Links to an external site)

An innovative cell-based immunotherapy developed by WashU Medicine researchers has received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA. The novel CAR-T cell therapy is licensed to Wugen, a WashU Medicine startup based in the Cortex Innovation District in St. Louis (shown).

A cell-based immunotherapy designed to treat rare and aggressive types of blood cancer has been granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Developed by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, this innovative CAR-T cell therapy is licensed to Wugen, a WashU Medicine startup biotechnology company based […]

Global Health Researchers Find Care Disparities Among Asian Heart Failure Patients in US (Links to an external site)

Mark Huffman, MD, MPH, William Bowen Endowed Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of the Global Health Center, and Anubha Agarwal, MD, MSc an associate professor of medicine and Co-Director of the Program in Global Cardiovascular Health

WashU Cardiovascular Division Global Health researchers have published a new article on disparity on heart failure care for Asian patients in the U.S. Mark Huffman, MD, MPH, William Bowen Endowed Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of the Global Health Center, and Anubha Agarwal, MD, MSc an associate professor of medicine and Co-Director of the Program in Global Cardiovascular Health […]

Ewald Receives BJH Neville Grant Award (Links to an external site)

Gregory Ewald, MD

Greg Ewald MD, Director, Section of Heart Failure and Heart Transplantation, has received the  2026 Neville Grant Award for Clinical Excellence. Ewald and other recipients will be recognized at the upcoming BJH Medical Staff Association Semi-Annual meeting.