Medicine & Health

Abhinav Diwan, MD, a highly regarded cardiologist with expertise in the molecular underpinnings of cardiovascular disease, has been named the inaugural Charlie W. Shaeffer, MD, Professor of Cardiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Nine researchers at the School of Medicine have received funding from the Longer Life Foundation — a cooperative effort between the School of Medicine and the Reinsurance Group of America. The foundation supports research aimed at improving human health, wellness and longevity.

Four Washington University in St. Louis faculty are among 250 newly elected members of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies. They are John Atkinson, MD, Pauline Kim, Adia Harvey Wingfield and Jeffrey Zacks.

Jianjun Guan, a materials scientist in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, received a four-year more than $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to design a system of nanoparticles that deliver drugs after a heart attack much more effectively than current methods allow.

Robert Schmidt, MD, PhD, a professor of pathology and immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has curated a collection of over 33,000 individually annotated neuropathology images that are now available as a resource to the Washington University and international neuroscience community via a newly launched website.

In a paper published in ACS Nano, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis outline how they used a chemical probe to light up interlocking peptides. Their technique will help scientists differentiate synthetic peptides from toxic types found in Alzheimer’s disease.

Jenna Ditto, an assistant professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University, is taking a closer look at the chemistry of indoor dust with a three-year $453,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

Zainab Mahmoud, MD, an instructor in medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been awarded the Dr. Nanette K. Wenger Research Goes Red Award from the American Heart Association.

A microbiome-directed food developed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is now being evaluated in major randomized controlled trials. The food is designed to nurture beneficial gut microbes and treat childhood malnutrition.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a $6.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a gene therapy that would modify the immune system’s B cells to spur them to produce broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV.