Dr. Aisha Shaikh joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology as an Associate Professor in September, 2020. Dr. Shaikh completed medical school at the Dow University of Health Sciences in Pakistan. Her subsequent training included an Internal Medicine residency at St. Louis University Hospital, followed by a Rheumatology fellowship at Washington University […]
Dr. David Sumoza joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Oncology in July, 2020 as an Instructor. Dr. Sumoza is an instructor of medicine specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of Hematologic and Oncologic malignancies. Dr. Sumoza graduated from the Medical School of the University of Carabobo, Venezuela, where he also completed his […]
James Krings, MD joined the Department of Medicine as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine in September, 2020. Dr. Krings is originally from the St. Louis area. He completed his fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Washington University School […]
By itself, beginning medical school is a major milestone. But the entering class of 2024 also experienced several significant firsts upon their arrival earlier this month at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The 105 aspiring physicians are beginning medical school in the midst of a global pandemic.
As summer gives way to fall, a time when a “second wave” has been predicted, our state finds itself in a battle, with a pattern of small advances followed by setbacks, against the pandemic. After flattening the curve in the St. Louis metropolitan region with shelter-in-place and masking policies, we saw increases in cases in […]
Dr. Nicole Droz joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology as an Assistant Professor in September, 2020. Dr. Droz completed her undergraduate education at Colorado State University, where she received a B.S. in Health and Exercise Science with a concentration in Sports Medicine and graduated Summa Cum Laude. She then attended medical […]
Dr. Dennis Chen joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology as an Assistant Professor in August, 2020. Dr. Chen completed his undergraduate training at Duke University followed by medical school training at the University Of Texas School of Medicine in San Antonio where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) […]
Dr. Massini Merzkani joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology as an Assistant Professor in July, 2020. Dr. Merzkani received his M.D. from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras in 2011. He subsequently completed his internal medicine residency at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine from 2012 – 2015. He was distinguished […]
Ofer Zimmerman, MD, joined the Department of Medicine on July 1, 2020 as an Instructor in the Division of Allergy and Immunology. Dr. Zimmerman obtained his medical degree from Sackler School of Medicine at Tel-Aviv University in Israel. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical […]
Dr. Elyse Everett joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Palliative Medicine as an Instructor on July 1, 2020, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Neurology. She received her Bachelor degree in Rehabilitation Science in 2009 followed by a Master of Occupational Therapy in 2011, both at the University of Pittsburgh. […]
Dr. Christine Schafer joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Dermatology as an Assistant Professor in September, 2020. Dr. Schafer was born and raised in Morristown, New Jersey. As an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, she studied history and graduated with honors. She returned to New Jersey to attend Rutgers Robert Wood […]
The Division of Physician-Scientists announces the 2021 request for applications for the Dean’s Scholars Program. In an effort to provide more notice for applicants, the timeline for this award has been moved up, as compared to the 2020 RFA. Note, the earliest award start date is still July 1, 2021.
Flu season comes around like clockwork every year, and sooner or later everyone gets infected. The annual flu shot is a key part of public health efforts to control the flu, but the vaccine’s effectiveness is notoriously poor, falling somewhere from 40% to 60% in a typical year.
Mati Hlatshwayo Davis, MD, MPH was recently featured in several media channels speaking on COVID-19, community engagement and advocacy for marginalized communities. 2nd Newsweek op ed (included a Wash U study) 9.25.20 BBC World 9.28.20: Partial clip/Full clip NBC Now 9.23.20 MSNBC 9.20.20 Yahoo Finance 9.23.20 NBC News Now Newsweek op ed CNN interview BBC […]
Transplant surgeons and researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received two grants totaling $10 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study how immune cells contribute to organ rejection, with the aim of improving the viability of organs after transplant. A $7.7 million program project grant from the […]
Flu season comes around like clockwork every year, and sooner or later everyone gets infected. The annual flu shot is a key part of public health efforts to control the flu, but the vaccine’s effectiveness is notoriously poor, falling somewhere from 40% to 60% in a typical year. A growing body of evidence suggests that […]
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are establishing a new international collaboration that aims to help scientists prepare for the next pandemic and, perhaps, provide insight into the current one. The School of Medicine is one of 10 sites and a coordinating center forming the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases, […]
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a vaccine that targets the SARS-CoV-2 virus, can be given in one dose via the nose and is effective in preventing infection in mice susceptible to the novel coronavirus. The investigators next plan to test the vaccine in nonhuman primates and humans to […]
Gastric bypass surgery is the most effective therapy to treat or reverse type 2 diabetes in severely obese patients. Many achieve remission of diabetes following surgery and no longer require diabetes medications. This observation has led to the theory that gastric bypass surgery has unique, weight loss-independent effects in treating diabetes, but this has remained […]
Dr. Patrick Grierson attended medical school at Ohio State University College of Medicine graduating in 2014. He then matriculated to Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis completing his residency in Medicine in 2016 and a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology in 2020. Dr. Grierson then joined the faculty as an Instructor on the Clinician Track […]
Dr. Ramzi Abboud attended medical school at the University of Rochester where he graduated Alpha Omega Alpha in 2014. He then matriculated to Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis completing his residency in Medicine in 2017 and a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology in 2020. Dr. Abboud then joined the faculty as an Instructor on […]
Dr. Ingrid Eshun-Wilson joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases as an Instructor in July, 2020. Dr. Eshun-Wilson received an undergraduate Medical Degree and Diploma in Family Medicine at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she worked as a HIV physician for several years. She further developed her […]
With the start of the academic year, each and every member of the Washington University in St. Louis community who will be on campus this fall will be required to follow four steps – four public health measures that must be completed by students, faculty and staff individually, but will have an impact globally.
Dr. Peter McDonnell joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of General Medicine as an Instructor in July, 2020. Dr. McDonnell grew up on the coast of the Puget Sound in Washington State, where he also attended Seattle University for his undergraduate studies. He received his medical degree at the University of Michigan School […]
Dr. Sharmila Nair joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases as an Instructor in July, 2020. Dr. Nair completed her Bachelor’s degree at the Amity University, India and a Masters degree at University of Bristol, UK. During her Masters, Sharmila conducted research in the laboratory of Dr. Andrew Davidson investigating interactions […]
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a $3.9 million development award supporting new technologies and therapeutics to advance a first-in-class drug to treat debilitating lung diseases, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
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 […]
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 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 […]
Dr. Maanasi Samant joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care as an Assistant Professor in July 2020. Dr. Samant is a clinician-educator with interests in pulmonary hypertension, specifically in the treatment of diseases that are sequelae of pulmonary embolism (PE), such as chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. She is a […]
Dr. Brian Laidlaw joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Allergy and Immunology in July, 2020. Dr. Laidlaw’s research interests lie in investigating memory B cell (MBC) development and function in settings of disease. MBCs are critical for the development of protective immunity following infection or immunization. Repeated pathogen encounters can give rise […]
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 […]
In this Issue: Letter from the Chair, Spotlight, COVID Update, Wellness Resources, EPIC Update, Research News, Clinical News, Education News, Upcoming Events, Across the Department of Medicine, New Faculty Leadership, Awards/Grants/Honors, Welcome to New Fellows, and Welcome to Twitter
Mary Clare McGregor, MD joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine in July 2020. Dr. McGregor is originally from Minnesota, and attended the University of Notre Dame for undergraduate with a major in pre-professional studies and […]
Dr. Andrew P. Michelson, joined the Department of Medicine in the division of Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine as an Assistant Professor in July 2020. He is a physician-scientist with research interests in critical care outcomes, clinical informatics, and healthcare technology. His current research interests include: (1) the use of artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) to […]
Philip R.O. Payne, PhD, director of the Institute for Informatics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named associate dean for health information and data science, and chief data scientist for the School of Medicine.
The virus that causes COVID-19 probably originated in wild bats that live in caves around Wuhan, China, and may have been passed to a second animal species before infecting people, according to the World Health Organization. Many of the most devastating epidemics of recent decades – including Ebola, avian influenza and HIV/AIDS – were triggered […]
Many children treated for childhood malnutrition in developing countries never fully recover. They suffer from stunted growth, immune system dysfunction and poor cognitive development that typically cause long-term health issues into adulthood.
Some of the most promising advances in cancer treatment have centered on immunotherapies that rev up a patient’s immune system to attack cancer. But immunotherapies don’t work in all patients, and researchers have been searching for ways to increase their effectiveness.
Chikungunya virus, once confined to the Eastern Hemisphere, has infected millions of people in the Americas since 2013, when mosquitoes carrying the virus were discovered in the Caribbean. About half of all people infected with chikungunya virus never show symptoms, while some develop fever and joint pain that lasts about a week, and 10% to […]
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 […]
Dr. Jonathan Moreno joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology as an Instructor in July, 2020. Dr. Moreno is from the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts, and completed his undergraduate training at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he received dual BS degrees in Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Following graduation,he attended […]
Dr. Ben Rogers joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology as an Instructor in July, 2020. Dr. Rogers completed his undergraduate studies at Western Kentucky University majoring in biology. After that, he spent one year teaching English language classes in Spain, subsequently continuing his education at the University of Louisville in Kentucky […]
Dr. Jose Alvarez-Cardona joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology as an Assistant Professor in July, 2020. Dr. Alvarez-Cardona was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Virginia in 2007 and completed medical school at the […]
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 […]
Embedded within the Internal Medicine Residency Program are a variety of educational pathways where residents can specialize their skills. For residents who wish to explore teaching as a possible career path, the Washington University Teaching Physician Pathway (WUTPP) provides opportunities for growth and development as a clinician-educator. One component of the WUTTP program involves pairing […]
Dr. Anas Gremida joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology as an Assistant Professor in July, 2020. Dr. Gremida trained and obtained his medical degree from Zawia University School of Medicine in Zawia, Libya where he graduated with the distinction of Summa Cum Laude. Upon completion of medical school, he then moved […]
Dr. Amanda Verma joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology as an Assistant Professor in July, 2020. Dr. Verma is a heart failure and cardiac transplant cardiologist specializing in the management of advanced stage heart failure and patients being considered for and who have undergone cardiac transplantation. She sees patients in the […]
Dr. Robert Same joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology as an Assistant Professor in July, 2020. Dr. Same received his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, where he graduated summa cum laude in 2010 with degrees in Chemistry and Physiology/Neurobiology and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his […]