Removing one gene caused normal muscle muscle fibers to grow to three times their normal size. Researchers at the School of Medicine have found that targeting a protein related to that gene with lithium can reduce muscle wasting in a rare form of muscular dystrophy.
Pregnancy tests can sometimes give a false negative result to women several weeks into their pregnancies, according to research by Ann Gronowski, professor of pathology and immunology at the School of Medicine. Her findings led the FDA to change its standards for evaluating new pregnancy tests, but old tests with the false-negative problem are still on the market.
The Washington University School of Medicine will provide $100 million in scholarship funding, allowing as many as half of its medical students to attend tuition-free and providing others with partial support. Efforts to enhance the medical education program also will benefit.
The School of Medicine has led a new study showing that new Medicare reimbursement rules reduce financial penalties for safety-net hospitals. The change shifts some of the financial burden away from hospitals that care for the most vulnerable patients.
An international team led by Gary Weil, MD, of the School of Medicine is poised to help eliminate two disabling tropical diseases as public health problems. A large grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will fund clinical trials and other studies aimed at preventing new cases of elephantiasis and river blindness.
Philanthropists Andrew and Barbara Taylor and the Crawford Taylor Foundation have committed $10 million to the School of Medicine to continue research to investigate the scientific underpinnings of psychiatric illnesses, with the goal of improving diagnosis and treatment.
Centene Corp. and the School of Medicine announced a partnership April 8 to transform and accelerate research into treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, breast cancer, diabetes and obesity. As part of the partnership, Centene will fund up to $100 million over 10 years in research at the university.
Mistakes in DNA are known to drive cancer growth. But a new study, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, heavily implicates a genetic phenomenon commonly known as “jumping genes” in the growth of tumors.
The Trump administration said this week that the whole Affordable Care Act should be struck down in the courts. Doing so would have profound implications on health care and the economy, says an expert on health economics at Washington University in St. Louis.
The School of Medicine has received a $15 million gift from Paula and Rodger Riney aimed at accelerating research and developing new treatments for two major neurodegenerative diseases: Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
