Scientists aim to develop vaccine against all deadly coronaviruses (Links to an external site)

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis scientists Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD, (left) and Sean Whelan, PhD, lead a team working to minimize the risk of another devastating coronavirus pandemic by designing a vaccine that reduces sickness and death caused by all potentially deadly coronaviruses, including ones that have not yet affected people. The research is supported by an $8 million grant from the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are working to reduce the risk of another devastating coronavirus pandemic by creating what is known as a pan-coronavirus vaccine. Such a vaccine is designed to reduce sickness and death resulting from the virus that causes COVID-19 as well as any other coronaviruses of concern, including […]

WashU Med Easing Mask Restrictions on Campus 

WashU Med Easing COVID Mask Restrictions on Campus

Starting Wednesday, March 23, WashU Medicine and BJC Healthcare will ease masking requirements on the Medical Campus, including clinical settings plus all common areas. Masks will be situational and optional for patients and visitors and their families.  Employees will still be required to wear a mask to comply with these requests:  Masking and personal protective […]

Fauci discusses COVID-19 during online Department of Medicine Grand Rounds on Jan. 7

Anthony Fauci, MD

Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), gave the Gerald Medoff Visiting Professor lecture at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis on Thursday, Jan. 7. The session was delivered online. Part of the Department of Medicine’s virtual, weekly Grand Rounds, […]

Cornea appears to resist infection from novel coronavirus (Links to an external site)

New findings from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggest the eye’s cornea can resist infection from the novel coronavirus. Although the herpes simplex virus can infect the cornea and spread to other parts of the body in patients with compromised immune systems, and Zika virus has been found in tears […]

Clinical trial focuses on reducing overactive immune response in COVID-19 (Links to an external site)

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are investigating whether a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat rare diseases of an overactive immune system could help critically ill patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The drug blocks a specific protein of the immune system that doctors suspect contributes to […]

Experimental COVID-19 vaccine prevents severe disease in mice (Links to an external site)

An experimental vaccine is effective at preventing pneumonia in mice infected with the COVID-19 virus, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The vaccine, which is made from a mild virus genetically modified to carry a key gene from the COVID-19 virus, is described in the journal Cell Host […]

Washington University, St. Louis County collaborate on COVID-19 survey (Links to an external site)

Washington University in St. Louis, the St. Louis County Department of Public Health and other collaborators are conducting a survey of St. Louis County residents and offering COVID-19 testing to gauge the prevalence of and risk factors for the illness. Working with the county, Washington University’s Institute for Public Health is teaming up with other local public health and […]

Pandemic acts as dress rehearsal for new medical school curriculum (Links to an external site)

Dozens of faculty, students and staff at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have committed countless hours over the past three years to planning a new curriculum that will launch in September with the arrival of incoming medical students. Although faculty, students and staff didn’t know it, they also were preparing for the […]

COVID-19 vaccine trials to be conducted at Washington University, Saint Louis University (Links to an external site)

As U.S. scientists ramp up a national effort to evaluate COVID-19 vaccine candidates at clinical trial sites across the country, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Saint Louis University Center for Vaccine Development have been tapped to join the historic effort to find a COVID-19 vaccine that can prevent […]

Lab-made virus mimics COVID-19 virus (Links to an external site)

Airborne and potentially deadly, the virus that causes COVID-19 can only be studied safely under high-level biosafety conditions. Scientists handling the infectious virus must wear full-body biohazard suits with pressurized respirators, and work inside laboratories with multiple containment levels and specialized ventilation systems. While necessary to protect laboratory workers, these safety precautions slow down efforts […]

Effort to screen potential COVID-19 antiviral drugs underway (Links to an external site)

Six months into the pandemic, people diagnosed with mild cases of COVID-19 still are told to isolate themselves and wait out the infection at home. Doctors monitor such patients so they can intervene if their condition deteriorates, but no antiviral drugs have been shown to hasten recovery or forestall severe illness in people who are […]

COVID-19 antibody tests evaluated as diagnostic test in low-resource settings (Links to an external site)

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 […]

Patients with COVID-19 donate specimens to advance research efforts (Links to an external site)

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.

COVID-19 mouse model will speed search for drugs, vaccines (Links to an external site)

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 […]