Dr. James Mendoza joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine as an Instructor in July, 2019. Dr. Mendoza is a born and raised Virginian. He majored in Chemistry at the University of Virginia, then obtained a Master’s degree in Medical Sciences at Boston University before completing medical school at Virginia Commonwealth […]
Dr. Han Li joined the Department of Medicine as an Instructor in Hospital Medicine in July 2019, after completing her internal medicine training at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. She received her undergraduate education at the University of Michigan, where she majored in Cellular and Molecular Biology. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated with High […]
Dr. Ajitha Kommalapati was born in India and grew up in Cypress, Texas. She completed her undergraduate degree in biochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. After discovering an overarching fascination with human physiology, she went on to complete her medical degree at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Her love of internal medicine […]
High-protein diets may help people lose weight and build muscle, but a new study in mice suggests they have a down side: They lead to more plaque in the arteries. Further, the new research shows that high-protein diets spur unstable plaque — the kind most prone to rupturing and causing blocked arteries. More plaque buildup […]
Matthew J. Walter, MD, has been named the inaugural Edward P. Evans Endowed Professor of Myelodysplastic Syndromes at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. These syndromes make up a group of rare blood disorders that prevents the body from making sufficient healthy blood cells. Walter, an international leader in the study and treatment […]
Their mother’s death when they were teenagers set identical twins Obi and Malachi Griffith on a shared path to find better cancer therapies. Today, the twins, both geneticists and computational biologists at the School of Medicine, are seeking precision treatments for the disease. The Griffith Lab, driven by the twins’ independent and complementary research interests, […]
The patient is nine months pregnant and in good health. With the proper care, she has much to look forward to.
The Academic Women’s Network Fall Dinner: “Ally, Advocate, or Accomplice: We are Better Together” with guest speaker Michelle Lall, MD, MHS, Associate Professor of Department of Emergency Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine took place on November 19, 2019.
Dear colleagues, It is my pleasure to announce that Andrew Odden, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Divisions of Hospital Medicine and General Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) has been appointed as Vice Chair of Patient Safety for the Department of Medicine. Dr. Odden has been an esteemed member of the Washington University community […]
Tapped for their work aimed at stemming opioid abuse and halting what has become an epidemic in the United States, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received federal grants totaling more than $10 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). […]
Mark Thoelke, MD, SFHM is stepping down as Director of the Division of Hospital Medicine, as of Jan 1, 2020 to have more time and flexibility for travel with his family. Dr. Michael Lin, Professor of Medicine, will be the Interim Chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine while we initiate a national search for […]
The highly contagious norovirus causes diarrhea and vomiting and is notorious for spreading rapidly through densely populated spaces, such as cruise ships, nursing homes, schools and day care centers. Each year, it is responsible for some 200,000 deaths, mostly in the developing world. There are no treatments for this intestinal virus, often incorrectly referred to […]
Washington University School of Medicine students recently honored faculty and residents with Distinguished Service Teaching Awards for the 2018-19 academic year. The awards, which were first given in 1991, reflect the students’ appreciation for dedication, patience and skill in training future physicians. Students completing their first, second and third year of studies select the course […]
In critically ill patients who require a heart pump to support blood circulation as part of stent procedures, specific heart pumps have been associated with serious complications, according to a new study led by cardiologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Though the observational study does not prove that the heart pumps […]
Jason Burnham, MD, assistant professor of medicine
Victoria Fraser, MD, the Adolphus Busch Professor of Medicine
Dear colleagues, I am pleased to announce that Dr. Dominique Cosco has agreed to accept the role of Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Washington University School of Medicine/Barnes-Jewish Hospital. As you know, Dr. Cosco assumed the responsibility of Interim Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program in March of this year. Since […]
Michael Rauchman, MD, is Canadian, but his mother and father raised him to honor America, too. As a child, he learned that the U.S. military had played a key role in the defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II, allowing Rauchman’s Jewish parents to survive the Holocaust. Both had been imprisoned in concentration and […]
In this Issue: Letter from the Chair, Divisional Spotlight, Research News, Clinical News, Education News, New Faculty Leadership, Awards/Grants/Honors, DOM Faculty Affairs, Future Workforce in Medicine, Upcoming Events and Symposiums, Epic Update, and Giving
Studying mice, scientists have shown that boosting the activity of specific immune cells in the heart after a heart attack can protect against developing heart failure, an invariably fatal condition. Patients with heart failure tire easily and become breathless from everyday activities because the heart muscle has lost the ability to pump enough blood to […]
Peggy Kendall, MD, was named director of the Division of Allergy and Immunology in the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She joined the university from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, where she was an associate professor of medicine and pathology, microbiology and immunology.
Benjamin D. Humphreys’ hobbies include experimenting with international cuisine in his kitchen, harvesting heirloom tomatoes in his backyard, and growing miniature kidneys in his laboratory. He has been perfecting his first two hobbies for years. However, his interest in growing tiny kidneys — specifically, using human stem cells to cultivate kidney organoids — began in […]
Dr. Syed Hasan joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine as an Instructor in July, 2019. He is originally from Karachi, Pakistan and immigrated to the U.S. in 2009. He finished medical school at the prestigious Sindh Medical College (now known as JSMU) in Pakistan. After graduation, Dr. Hasan spent time […]
Dr. Ian Green originally hails from Tampa, Florida. He received his Bachelor of Science degree, magna cum laude with honors, from The Ohio State University in 2011. He studied microbiology in the former 7-year B.S./M.D. combined degree program and was nominated to Phi Beta Kappa. He developed an enthusiasm for learning and investigation that led […]
Dr. Kathleen Evans grew up in Spring, Texas and attended the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma for her undergraduate education. She received degrees in both biochemistry and journalism and was interested in tying mass communication, health literacy, and education together. She completed her honors thesis on the effect of pesticides on blow flies and […]
10.18.19 Ofer Zimmerman, MD, a clinical fellow in the Department of Medicine at the School of Medicine, received a $100,000 Physician Scientist Fellowship award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. He will be working in the laboratory of Michael Diamond, MD, PhD, the Herbert S. Gasser Professor of Medicine, to study the role of variations in the […]
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a $3.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support an open-source database aimed at boosting personalized approaches to cancer treatment. The database is designed to help doctors match cancer mutations — found in patients’ tumors — with drugs that […]
Dr. Jack El Sawda joined the Department of Medicine as an Instructor in Medicine for the Division of Hospital Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis in July 2019. He was born and raised in the northern part of Lebanon, in a small town, along the Mediterranean coast. He completed his undergraduate […]
Dr. Hanan Dihowm joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine as an Instructor in July, 2019. Dr. Dihowm always wanted to learn to conduct research, and so she earned a master’s degree in clinical research from Rush University. She has a strong interest in cancer research, more specifically breast cancer and […]
As obesity rates climb, so do the number of people receiving weight-loss surgery. One of the most frequently performed weight-loss procedures in the world — Roux-en-Y gastric bypass — is effective, but another procedure rarely performed in the U.S. is more effective at eliminating type 2 diabetes in patients with obesity. A new study from […]
The Stanley J. Korsmeyer Memorial Lectureship was established in 2005 at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Thursday, October 31, 2019 | 3:00 p.m. Eric P. Newman Education Center, Floor 1 EPNEC Auditorium “ER Stress: Reprogramming the Tumor Microenvironment” Download Flyer (pdf)
On a crisp autumn Saturday two years ago, the newly appointed senior associate dean for education began getting ready for an important finance meeting with the medical school’s senior leaders. That’s when a crazy idea struck her. “I was thinking about ways to reduce medical school debt and, on a broader level, my overall purpose […]
Throughout the St. Louis region, underserved and low-income patients cannot obtain quality health care. Many live in poverty without access to medical services, or even food. Dedicated community leader Lee Kling has seen firsthand how economic disparities create lifelong challenges for so many people. In response to those challenges, Kling, a St. Louis native and […]
At nearly 250 pounds, Linda DeCosta had tried everything — and failed — to lose weight: prescription drugs, exercise programs, dieting. She had even considered bariatric surgery, but insurance wouldn’t cover it. “I was almost starving myself,” DeCosta said. “Our family doesn’t eat out a lot. I don’t cook a lot of fried foods. I […]
Dr. Anthony Dao joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine in July, 2019. Dr. Dao was born in Troy, Ohio and pursued a combined 6-year BS/MD program at the University of Akron, which is associated with the Northeast Ohio Medical University. In medical school, he was interested in public health. Dr. […]
Dr. Benjamin Buetner joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine in July, 2019. Dr. Buettner was born and raised in Lima, Ohio where he graduated from Shawnee High School in 2008. He then went on to pursue his undergraduate Bachelor of Arts in Zoology at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, being […]
Dr. Natalia Brito Rivera joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine in July, 2019. Dr. Brito Rivera was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Biology with a concentration in Neurobiology and a Minor in Italian Studies at Cornell University in 2011. Dr. […]
Dr. Sydney Blount joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine as an Instructor on July 1, 2019. Dr. Blount earned her medical degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center School of Medicine in 2012. While there, she was elected to the Gold Humanism Honor Society as well as the Alpha […]
Dr. Faris Bakeer joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine as an Instructor in Medicine in July, 2019. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Union University in 2011 and in 2016, Dr. Bakeer received his Doctor of Medicine degree from East Tennessee State University, where he graduated […]
Dr. Kelly MacArthur joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Dermatology as an Assistant Professor on August 1, 2019. Dr. MacArthur specializes in Mohs micrographic surgery and reconstruction. Born and raised in St. Louis, MO, she received her undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis where she was a two-time NCAA All-American […]
Addressing a nationwide shortage of physician-scientists, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has established a Division of Physician-Scientists to help nurture the career development of physicians who treat patients and also want to conduct scientific research. The division will provide resources, mentorships, and research and leadership programs to encourage and inspire physicians interested […]
Missouri Chapter of the ACP Laureate Award The Laureate Award honors ACP (American College of Physicians) Fellows and Masters who have demonstrated their commitment to excellence in medical care, education, research and service to their community, their Chapter and the College. Awardees are generally senior physicians and have been Fellows for at least 15 to 20 […]
Bloodstream infections caused by the fungus Candida are among the most common and deadly infections in hospitals, with 25,000 such cases seen annually in the U.S. – mostly in people originally hospitalized for other reasons. About 40% to 45% of people with Candida in their blood die of the infection. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in […]
Aaron Ver Heul, MD, PhD joined the Department of Medicine on July 1, 2019 as an Instructor in the Division of Allergy and Immunology. Dr. Ver Heul is originally from Iowa, where he attended Iowa State University on a National Merit Scholarship and earned his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Master of Science degree in […]
Dr. Rodrigo Vazquez Guillamet joined the Department of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine as an Associate Professor on July 1, 2019. The focus of Dr. Vazquez Guillamet’s clinical practice and research gravitates around chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung transplantation. COPD is the leading chronic respiratory cause of death […]
Certain human gut microbes with links to health thrive when fed specific types of ingredients in dietary fibers, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The work — conducted in mice colonized with human gut bacteria and using new technologies for measuring nutrient processing — is a step […]
ADVANCED TRAINING IN CLINICAL INVESTIGATION The Clinical Research Training Center (CRTC) is accepting applications for programs providing advanced training in Clinical Investigation! Postdocs, Fellows, Faculty, Jr. Faculty, and Instructors are encouraged to apply for MTPCI and MSCI. * Mentored Training Program in Clinical Investigation (MTPCI) • 17 credit hour training program • 2-3 years to […]
Aiming to encourage and inspire more physicians to develop careers that blend scientific research with patient care, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) has announced that Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will receive a prestigious, $2.5 million Physician-Scientist Institutional Award. The award — of which only 10 have been given, five of them […]