Category: Research

DOLF researchers announce initiation of a major a new clinical trial of treatments for onchocerciasis in Liberia. The study will compare the safety and efficacy of three new combination treatments with a reference treatment of albendazole plus ivermectin. 

Thomas M. Maddox, MD, MSc, Professor of Medicine, Cardiovascular Division at WashU Medicine, and colleagues recently published two articles outlining the current opportunities for AI to impact cardiovascular care. These articles highlight how AI is poised to affect almost every aspect of cardiovascular care. ” says Maddox. “Our group hopes that this work helps prepare […]

The document also strengthens advice regarding which medications should be started in all patients Thomas M. Maddox, MD, MSc, Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division at WashU Medicine, and colleagues recently published an Expert Consensus Decision Pathway (ECDP) for the many decisions required in the management and treatment of patients with heart failure with […]

On October 10, 2023, Kyle P. McNerney, MD of the Department of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine and Sina Jasim, MD of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Lipid Research, had their book chapter titled “Long-Term Effects of Cancer Treatment” published in Familial Endocrine Cancer Syndromes: Navigating the Transition of Care for Pediatric and Adolescent Patients.  

‘Polypills’ recommended to reduce heart attacks, strokes but have been slow to gain favor

Strategy effective against some rare, aggressive sarcomas with no other treatment options A clinical trial led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has shown that a T cell immunotherapy — in which the patients’ own T cells are genetically modified to attack and kill cancer cells — is effective in […]

“COVID-19 poses a serious risk to brain health, even in mild cases, and the effects are now being revealed at the population level,” clinical epidemiologist Ziyad Al-Aly said

Congratulations to the research team of the Mahjoub Laboratory, who are celebrating their multiple recent publications, one of which landed the cover of the journal JCI Insight.

In a recent publication in JCI Insight, researchers from the Civitelli Lab unveil the pivotal role of connexin43 within mesenchymal lineage cells, shedding light on its influence in regulating body adiposity and energy metabolism in mice.

Members of the Scheller Lab in collaboration with the Milbrandt and DiAntonio groups at WashU published a paper in JCI Insight in which they found that loss of Sarm1 could completely protect female mice against the development of bone loss and severe osteoblast suppression secondary to type 1 diabetes. 

Cynthia Ma , MD, PhD, lead author and Professor of Medicine in the Division of Oncology along with her colleagues Kiran Vij, Jeremy Hoog, Mark Watson and Erika Crouch in the Department of Pathology investigated the role of neoadjuvant anastrazole, fulvestrant or the combination in a multi-institutional trial.

In October of 2023, Jennifer Powers Carson, PhD and colleague, Jyoti Arora, MS of the Washington University School of Medicine, Center for Biostatistics and Data Science, had their work published by Clinical Biochemistry. The article was titled, “Glycated serum proteins and albumin but not glycated albumin show negative correlation with BMI in an overweight/obese, diabetic population from the United States.” 

Study in Blood dissecting the role of NFκB signaling effectors in MPN disease biology Stephen T. Oh, MD, PhD, Co-Chief and Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and has been published in Blood. The WashU group of researchers previously identified hyperactivation of NFκB […]

Method may inform personalized cancer treatments Physicians treating patients with early-stage lung cancer face a conundrum: choosing potentially helpful yet toxic therapies such as chemotherapy, radiation or immunotherapy to knock out the cancer and lessen the risk of it spreading to the brain, or waiting to see if lung surgery alone proves sufficient. When up […]

David DeNardo, Ph.D., is a Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of the Tumor Immunology Program at the Washington University St. Louis, School of Medicine.  His research team is working to understand why responses to cancer immunotherapy vary among patients. In studying and uncovering mechanisms of cancer immunology, Dr. DeNardo aims to identify strategies that can […]

Whether malignant or benign, a brain tumor is life-altering. Malignant tumors can spread and become deadly. And benign doesn’t mean harmless; benign tumors can cause serious problems such as paralysis, seizures and personality changes depending on which parts of the brain they affect.

New network to evaluate emerging technologies in diverse populations Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is joining a new clinical trials network launched by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to investigate emerging technologies for cancer screening, with the goal of reducing cancer-related illnesses and deaths. […]

The study followed 113 patients at four different hospitals in Switzerland. A new study in Science is shining a light on the continuing impact of long COVID, with research revealing further and continuing health concerns for some of the 16 million sufferers in the U.S.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have determined how Eastern equine encephalitis virus attaches to a receptor it uses to enter and infect cells. The whole virus is shown on the left and a magnified view of the viral structural proteins on the right. The findings laid the groundwork for a […]

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a highly under-recognized disease that affects almost 15% of the US population and carries significant morbidity and mortality.  Although important scientific advances promise to accelerate CKD research, many are not accessible to the kidney research community due to limited expertise and/or the need for expensive equipment.

A study in Nature Cardiovascular Research by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis explores a new, noninvasive imaging technique that helps scientists  visualize immune cells in the human heart.  

On March 30, Cris Brown, BA and Fumihiko Urano, MD, PhD of Urano Lab, alongside colleagues from Belgique, Belgium and Italy, had their article titled “GLP-1R agonists demonstrate potential to treat Wolfram syndrome in human preclinical models,” published in Diabetologia. 

A lifesaving cancer treatment may itself cause cancers, the Food and Drug Administration reported on Tuesday. The treatment, called CAR-T, was first approved in November 2017 for life-threatening blood cancers. But, the F.D.A. said, it had received 19 reports of new blood cancers in patients who received the treatment.

Radiotherapy may improve heart function by reducing inflammatory immune cells Cardiologists and radiation oncologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis pioneered the use of radiation therapy — a strategy typically used against cancer — to treat patients with a life-threatening abnormal heart rhythm called ventricular tachycardia.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found an innovative way to block infection by a variety of alphaviruses, a group of mosquito-borne viruses that can cause joint and brain infections in people. The study, led by Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD, the Herbert S. Gasser Professor of Medicine, and Daved […]

In their newly-published article in Nature Communications, a multi-center group led by Ying Maggie Chen, MD, PhD, WashU Division of Nephrology, describes previously unknown mechanisms of action of mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF) and its therapeutic function, with regards to kidney disease.  MANF is a secreted endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein that possesses cytoprotective properties.

Epigenetics of cancer critical in understanding tumor initiation, growth and spreading For decades, scientists have been sequencing the DNA of many cancer types, identifying errors in the genetic code to help understand the formation of tumors, how they grow and what leads to their spreading. But sometimes cancer is driven by subtle changes in the […]

Complete picture of genetic errors can advance precision medicine approaches to treatment A new test for two blood cancers — developed by a team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis — is the first whole-genome sequencing test for cancer to be approved for reimbursement by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. […]

Understanding of molecular basis of cancer may lead to new therapies Scientists have completed a deep analysis of the proteins driving cancer across multiple tumor types, information that can’t be assessed by genome sequencing alone. Understanding how proteins operate in cancer cells raises the prospect of new therapies that block key proteins that drive cancer […]

Test results available in less than a minute Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a breath test that quickly identifies those who are infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. The device requires only one or two breaths and provides results in less than a minute.

Research collaboration details molecular knowledge, step toward personalized medicine Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are among the leaders of a multi-institution research team that has built an atlas focused on the kidney’s myriad cells. The aim of the kidney tissue atlas is to further the understanding of kidney injury and disease.

Study could expand treatment options for patients with severe COVID-19 Two drugs commonly used to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis did not shorten recovery time for patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 but did reduce the likelihood of death when compared with standard care alone, according to a national study led by […]

Insulin sensitivity improved twofold when exercise paired with 10% weight loss Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that combining regular exercise with a 10% loss of body weight more than doubles sensitivity to insulin, compared with a 10% weight loss without exercise. Enhanced sensitivity to insulin has important health […]

Once a freak occurrence, fungi resistant to standard drugs now threaten millions of vulnerable Americans It took doctors a month to figure out a fungus had infected Glenda Brame’s bloodstream. The delay likely led to her death. The 56-year-old died in September, felled by a fungus that kills between 30% and 60% of people it […]

Studies in mice and in human immune cells link low prenatal vitamin D in mothers to insulin resistance in offspring Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a process in immune cells that links vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy to an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes in offspring. The […]

The association of donor hepatitis C virus infection with 3-year kidney transplant outcomes in the era of direct-acting antiviral medications Tarek Alhamad, MD, MS, MBA, Associate Professor of Medicine, Medical Director of Transplant Nephrology, Division of Nephrology, recently had two manuscripts published in JAMA Open and the American Journal of Transplantation regarding new findings of […]

Primary cilia are vital cell-surface sensory organelles, but their physical dimensions have eluded characterization due to difficulty in isolating and studying these enigmatic structures, especially in human tissues. In the present study, we use a multi-scale surface scanning approach to enable a 3D architectural study of human primary cilia, the first in pancreatic islets and […]

Diabetes researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered at least one reason insulin-secreting cells made from stem cells in the lab don’t work as well as natural cells. The discovery could help speed progress toward making insulin-secreting cells — called islet beta cells — more effective in the treatment of […]

In April, Fumihiko Urano, MD, PhD was featured in the documentary “Colorado Voices: Ellie White,” to raise awareness of the rare genetic disorder, Wolfram syndrome. The short documentary was published by Rocky Mountain PBS and tells the story of Colorado college student Ellie White, who lives with the disorder. Although the disorder is very rare […]

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified four important signs and symptoms that signal an elevated risk of early-onset colorectal cancer. These red flags may be key to earlier detection and diagnosis of early-onset colorectal cancer among younger adults. The number of young adults with colorectal cancer has nearly doubled […]

Hrishikesh Kulkarni MD, MSCI, from the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine recently had two manuscripts published in Science Immunology and a Phase 3 clinical Trial on complement inhibition in COVID-19 in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Lung epithelial cell–derived C3 protects against pneumonia-induced lung injury The complement cascade is made up of innate immune defense proteins that protect […]

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support training and mentorship for early-career physician-scientists. This relatively new funding opportunity — called Stimulating Access to Research During Residency (StARR) — will provide support for early-career physicians pursuing careers in cancer research.

EMMI helps assess uterine contractions to aid in preventing preterm deliveries Dr. Phillip Cuculich, Cardiovascular Division at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, shared new findings that were published in Nature Communication. The group of doctors led by Dr. Yong Wang, published the “first-in-woman” study blending the disciplines of cardiac electrophysiology and obstetrics. […]

Sugary beverage consumption in adolescence, young adulthood associated with increased risk