Big Ideas program to sunset, celebrating legacy of innovation (Links to an external site)

Big Ideas graphic

The Big Ideas program, which began to foster health care innovation, will officially conclude with the 2025-2026 cohort at the end of the academic year. This decision follows the planned sunsetting of the Healthcare Innovation Lab, marking a strategic shift to better integrate care delivery innovation throughout clinical operations.

Nussbaum family fuels pancreatic cancer research (Links to an external site)

WashU Medicine’s Kian-Huat Lim, MD, PhD, second from left, welcomed members of the Nussbaum family to his research lab. (Courtesy photo)

When Sam Nussbaum was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in his 70s, it was no surprise to his family that he chose WashU Medicine for his care. After all, Nussbaum had spent a significant portion of his distinguished career as a physician-scientist and health-care executive at the medical school and BJC HealthCare. And during that time, […]

Genetic analysis explains rare disease severity, points to possible treatment (Links to an external site)

Normal lung tissue is shown on the left. On the right is lung tissue from a person with primary ciliary dyskinesia with a CCDC39 mutation. A large mucus plug is visible in magenta, demonstrating the severe airway problems seen in such patients with these specific mutations. (Image: Brody lab/WashU Medicine)

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered why some patients with a rare genetic disorder called primary ciliary dyskinesia have worse lung problems than others with the same disorder. The discovery, published in Science Translational Medicine, suggests that gene therapy to restore a missing protein complex could help treat the […]

Couple make $6.5 million gift to WashU Medicine (Links to an external site)

Kyung Ja Shin Lee, MD, PhD, left, and Won Ro Lee, MD, right, paid their first visit to St. Louis in July to witness the installation of their daughter, Janet Lee, MD, as WashU Medicine’s Selma and Herman Seldin Distinguished Professor in Medicine. (Photo: Dan Donovan/WashU Medicine)

Won Ro Lee, MD, PhD, and Kyung Ja Shin Lee, MD, consider themselves fortunate people, despite having grown up in challenging circumstances. Kyung Ja escaped North Korea as a young child; both she and Won Ro grew up in poverty and lived through the Korean War. Their futures could have been significantly different had they […]

2025 Winston Fellows (Links to an external site)

Lila Dabill and David Turicek

The David and Deborah Winston Fellows in Diabetes Research was established in 2012 through a generous gift from David and Deborah Winston. Awarded annually by the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Lipid Research, it supports graduate students engaged in diabetes and diabetes-related research who reside within laboratories of Diabetes Research Center members. 

$3.2 million grant funds research on computational AI in fistulizing Crohn’s disease (Links to an external site)

Parakkal Deepak, MBBS, MS, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, and David H. Ballard, MD, an assistant professor of radiology at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology

Parakkal Deepak, MBBS, MS, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, and David H. Ballard, MD, an assistant professor of radiology at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, both of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and Satish Viswanath, PhD, an associate professor in pediatrics and in biomedical engineering at Emory […]

Building the Future of General Medicine (Links to an external site)

Dr. McNairy presents keynote

On Thursday, November 20, 2025, Chief of the Divisions of General Medicine, Geriatrics and Hospital Medicine, Dr. Molly McNairy, conducted a keynote address in the Connor Auditorium of the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center. When Molly McNairy, MD, MSc, joined WashU Medicine, she took on the unique challenge of re-imaging the structure of general medicine, […]

Outlook Magazine (Links to an external site)

David H. Perlmutter, MD

Decades ago, during my fellowship, I worked in the lab of a world-renowned investigator who put me on a project that everyone in the lab thought would fail. I think this mentor knew that I needed the deep dive into complex cell biology the project would entail, but he likely also understood that challenge and […]

Hospitalists Celebrate their Peers at the Second Annual Hospital Medicine Awards (Links to an external site)

Hospitalists Celebrate their Peers at the Second Annual Hospital Medicine Awards

The Social and Wellness Committee organized the Second Annual Hospital Medicine Awards on November 19, 2025. Hospitalists, APCs, and staff came together to enjoy ‘WashU-Giving’ and celebrate their colleagues in the Holden Auditorium in the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center. We shared a delicious Thanksgiving meal, complete with all the traditional fixings, to help reward hospitalists for […]

Happy Hanukkah (Links to an external site)

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Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish festival (December 14 – 22, 2025). The central theme of Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the second century B.C. and the miracle of the oil. Hanukkah holds great cultural and religious significance for Jewish communities around the world, and the celebration of this festival […]

Happy Kwanzaa (Links to an external site)

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Kwanzaa is a secular festival observed from December 26th through January 1st as part of a celebration of African American cultural heritage and traditional values.

Prabhu Coauthors ACC Scientific Statement on inflammation and cardiovascular disease (Links to an external site)

Sumanth Prabu, MD, Lewin Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Diseases and Chief of the WashU Cardiovascular Division

Sumanth Prabu, MD, Lewin Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Diseases and Chief of the WashU Cardiovascular Division, co-authored the 2025 scientific statement published by the American College of Cardiology on the role of inflammation in cardiovascular disease. The new statement reviews residual inflammatory risk, screening & management, and new anti-inflammatory strategies.

Inaugural Jack Sarver Prize honors groundbreaking research by WashU Medicine scientist (Links to an external site)

Zainab Mahmoud, MD

 Zainab Mahmoud, M.D., M.Sc., an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and Zhao Zhang, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, will receive the inaugural Jack Sarver Prize in Clinical Science and Jack Sarver Prize in Basic Science, respectively, at […]

Getting Ready for a Heart Failure Polypill, Well Before the Data Are In (Links to an external site)

Justin Chen, MD

A new paper in JACC: Advances delves into the factors that may affect implementation of a polypill for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF)—assuming one proves safe and effective—and outlines strategies for an eventual rollout. This exercise “just reinforces the idea, in addition to previous data showing therapeutic inertia and reluctance to use other […]

Hospitalists take next steps to Implement Diagnostic Accuracy Improvements (Links to an external site)

Radha Devi, MD, Timothy Evans, MD, and Rob Young, MD

Radha Devi, MD, Timothy Evans, MD, and Rob Young, MD, have been spearheading the ADEPT (Achieving Diagnostic Excellence Through Prevention and Teamwork) initiative at WashU in collaboration with Colorado’s Institute for Healthcare Quality, Safety, and Efficiency (IHQSE). Along with 14 other academic medical institutions across the United States, the WashU ADEPT team is leading the […]

CDL Echo Capacity and Workflow Optimization project wins 2025 QUEST award (Links to an external site)

Barnes Jewish Hospital

The team in the Cardiac Diagnostic Lab at Barnes-Jewish Hospital have won a 2025 QUEST (Quality, Excellence and Safety Team) award. This BJH award recognizes contributions made to improve organization performance and quality of care through the use of process and outcome measures. The CDL submission, CDL Echo Capacity and Workflow Optimization, also reflected goals of the […]

“Friend of Rehab” Award Presented to Robert Young, MD, MS (Links to an external site)

Robert Young, MD, MS

National Rehabilitation Awareness Week is celebrated every year on the third week of September. In 2025, the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Rehabilitation Department celebrated National Rehabilitation Awareness Week from September 15-21, culminating in an awards luncheon recognizing those who made a difference in rehab. The “Friends of Rehab” award is given to a colleague outside of the […]

WashU Medicine works to integrate AI into MD curriculum (Links to an external site)

Steven J. Lawrence, MD, a professor of medicine and an assistant dean for curriculum at WashU Medicine, collaborates with Quinn Payton, a fourth-year medical student

As a medical student at WashU Medicine, Quinn Payton often questioned how her professional identity might evolve in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence (AI). She knew she wanted to care for patients — with that, she felt confident. Rather, she wondered what that would look like in five years, 10 and beyond.

WashU researchers honored with NIH Director’s Awards (Links to an external site)

Andrew L. Young, MD, PhD

Three researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have received prestigious and highly competitive awards through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. The awards support unconventional approaches to major challenges in biomedical and behavioral research.

WashU PCCM Researchers Awarded Rosenau Family Research Foundation Grant for Cystic Fibrosis Project (Links to an external site)

Tom Brett, PhD, and Jennifer Alexander-Brett, MD, PhD

St. Louis, MO – Congratulations to Tom Brett, PhD, and Jennifer Alexander-Brett, MD, PhD, in the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, on receiving a three-year grant from the Rosenau Family Research Foundation. Their project, “Investigating the role of a novel TMEM16A isoform in cystic fibrosis,” will explore new mechanisms of CF lung […]

Hospitalists Contribute to Diabetic Ketoacidosis Protocol Improvements (Links to an external site)

Margo Girardi, MD, SFHM, and Gina LaRossa, MD

Margo Girardi, MD, SFHM, and Gina LaRossa, MD, contributed to an abstract and article that were featured in the Society of Hospital Medicine’s Journal of Hospital Medicine. The article, titled “Putting SQuID on the menu: A subcutaneous insulin protocol for diabetic ketoacidosis,” demonstrates how using a subcutaneous insulin protocol on hospitalist units for low-to-moderate severity DKA […]

Barriers Remain to Widespread Use of Polypills for CVD Therapy in High-Income Nations As Testing Continues (Links to an external site)

Anubha Agarwal, MD, MSc

The World Health Organization (WHO) added cardiovascular polypills to its 2023 Model List of Essential Medicines, and research continues to show that these medications are effective at preventing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ACD) among various other forms of cardiovascular disease. Yet experts say obstacles remain to the adoption of these medications in high-income developed nations.

Anuja Java Receives Inaugural Foundation for Women’s Health Grant to Study Preeclampsia and Complement Pathways (Links to an external site)

Anuja Java, MD

Anuja Java, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and transplant nephrologist at WashU Nephrology, has been awarded a prestigious research grant from the Foundation for Women’s Health.  Her project, one of the foundation’s inaugural $1 million awards, investigates the role of complement system dysregulation in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, including preeclampsia.

Happy Diwali (Links to an external site)

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Diwali is one of the most significant and widely celebrated festivals in India and among Hindu communities around the world. Diwali is a festival that celebrates the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. It has deep-rooted religious and cultural significance and is celebrated with enthusiasm and joy, fostering unity […]

Meet the Researcher: Kameron Bradley (Links to an external site)

Kameron Bradley

A new preprint by Kameron Bradley of the Jeffrey Millman Lab, titled “Divergent Cell-Type Specific Hypoxia Responses in Human Stem Cell–Derived and Primary Islets,” sheds light on how different types of insulin-producing cells respond to oxygen deprivation, which is a common challenge in cell transplantation therapies for type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Leveraging AI to improve NF1 patient care: Comparing clinical entity extraction methods (Links to an external site)

Figure illustrating the general project workflow.

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) showcases how modern AI methods are advancing clinical and translational research in Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Conducted by Levi Kaster, BS, Ethan Hillis, MS, Inez Y. Oh, PhD, Elizabeth C. Cordell, MD, Randi E. Foraker, PhD, MA, Albert M. Lai, PhD, Stephanie M. Morris, […]

Innovative approach helps new mothers get hepatitis C treatment (Links to an external site)

Giving postpartum mothers with hepatitis C the opportunity to start antiviral treatment while still in the hospital after giving birth — and delivering the medication to their bedside before discharge — significantly increases their odds of being cured, according to a new study at WashU Medicine. (Image: Sara Moser/WashU Medicine)

Hepatitis C, a bloodborne virus that damages the liver, can cause cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure and death if left untreated. Despite the availability of highly effective treatments, the prevalence of hepatitis C infection remains high, particularly among women of childbearing age, who account for more than one-fifth of chronic hepatitis C infections globally. Within […]

Microbiome instability linked to poor growth in kids (Links to an external site)

Researchers at WashU Medicine found a link between an unstable, fluctuating gut microbiome and poor growth in children in a study that sequenced the genomic material from fecal samples collected over nearly a year from eight toddlers in Malawi. (Image: Getty Images)

Malnutrition is a leading cause of death in children under age 5, and nearly 150 million children globally under this age have stunted growth from lack of nutrition. Although an inadequate diet is a major contributor, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found over a decade ago that dysfunctional communities of gut […]