Category: Division Announcements

LMtV Podcast: Let’s ‘meet’ the virologist Dr. Sebastien Felt who is studying defective viral genomes or DVGs and how they modulate the clinical outcome of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a significant cause of pediatric respiratory disease.

RSV infects most children before the age of two and leads to a wide range of disease outcomes from asymptomatic to severe. While host genetic factors for severe outcome are known, viral determinants are not as well defined. ‘Let’s Meet the Virologists’, hosted by Larissa Thackray, PhD, associate professor of Infectious Diseases, talks in Episode […]

DOLF project shares several recent publications from clinical trials and community studies of alternative treatments for lymphatic filariasis. All with open access.

The DOLF project is pleased to share several recent publications from clinical trials and community studies of alternative treatments for lymphatic filariasis. All of these have been published with open access. The first two articles (by Campillo et al and Ouattara et al) provide further strong evidence in support of the WHO recommendation to use […]

Kwon named committee vice chair of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) Research Committee.

Robert J. Boston photograph Jennie Kwon named National Academy of Medicine fellow. HORIZONTAL environmental portrait. IF IN LAB, with PPE. BUT WE DEFINITELY ALSO NEED PHOTOS OF HER WITHOUT GOGGLES (so you will need to take some photos out of lab). We will need headshots of her to announce the honor — but we also would like other options as well.

SHEA is the foremost professional organization promoting health-care epidemiology and infection prevention. As vice chair, Jennie Kwon, DO, MSCI, assistant professor of medicine, will help identify research priorities in health-care epidemiology, encourage new research initiatives in the field, foster research on the prevention and control of health care-associated infections and antibiotic resistance, promote communication and […]

LMtV Podcast: Let’s ‘meet’ the clinician Dr. Jeannie Kelly examining the risk of COVID-19 during pregnancy and the benefit of vaccination for both pregnant women and their babies in utero and after birth through breast milk.

Clinical research is essential for developing optimal intervention and treatments for COVID-19 patients. ‘Let’s Meet the Virologists’, hosted by Larissa Thackray, PhD, associate professor of Infectious Diseases, talks in Episode 25 with Jeannie Kelly, MD, MS, an assistant professor of OB-GYN and Medical Director of Maternal-Fetal Transport and Labor and Delivery, about her work examining […]

Rachel Presti, MD, PhD, urges public to take first vaccine available.

Rachel Presti, MD, PhD, an infectious disease physician who led WashU Med’s participation in the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine trial, encourages the public to take the first vaccine available to them. Presti’s team conducted their clinical trial for several months — as the St. Louis area saw massive spikes in COVID-19 cases — and […]

Findings in the lab of Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD, show new evidence COVID-19 antibodies, vaccines less effective against variants (Links to an external site)

New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that three new, fast-spreading variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 can evade antibodies that work against the original form of the virus that sparked the pandemic. With few exceptions, whether such antibodies were produced in response to vaccination or natural infection, or […]

FDA review confirms safety, efficacy of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine; under leadership of Rachel Presti, MD, PhD WashU IDCRU was a trial site

The FDA has confirmed a third vaccine is effective and safe in protecting against COVID-19. The vaccine, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, is overall 67% effective beginning 14 days after vaccination, 77% effective against severe illness and completely effective against death from COVID-19. Efficacy increased over time and was demonstrated against more infectious variants seen in […]

ID fellow alumnae, Judith A. Aberg, MD, appointed Dean of System Operations for Clinical Sciences at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Dennis S. Charney, MD, the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean and President for Academic Affairs at Mount Sinai Health System announced that Judith Aberg, MD, the Dr. George Baehr Professor of Clinical Medicine, has been appointed Dean of System Operations for Clinical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. An internationally renowned […]

New Treatment Study for COVID-19 Positive Adults

Washington University School of Medicine announces a new clinical trial for COVID-19 positive patients, STOP COVID Trial. Many patients testing positive for COVID-19 initially experience mild symptoms, but then clinically deteriorate in the second week of illness. The STOP COVID Trial tests a medication (fluvoxamine) for its anti-COVID properties for individuals ages 30 and up […]

LMtV Podcast: Let’s ‘meet’ the virologist, Dr. Sharmila Nair, who is harnessing viruses for cancer therapy

Use of viruses to target tumors has a long history. ‘Let’s Meet the Virologists’, hosted by Larissa Thackray, PhD, associate professor of Infectious Diseases, talks in Episode 21 with Sharmila Nair, PhD, an instructor in Infectious Diseases, about her recent work to understand the oncolytic activity of Zika virus for a fatal human cancer, Glioblastoma […]

Mike Diamond, MD, PhD and colleagues lead study that could help improve design of next generation COVID-19 antibody drugs

Of the nine treatments and preventives for COVID-19 authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration, three are drugs made from so-called monoclonal antibodies. Such drugs provide patients with ready-made antibodies that neutralize the virus, bypassing the body’s slower and sometimes less effective process of making its own antibodies. But such therapies were […]

Dr. Matifadza Hlatshwayo, MD, MPH highlighted by IDSA Foundation during Black History Month

Highlighting members during Black History Month This Black History Month, the IDSA Foundation highlighted members that make this month even more special. While Black History Month is only one month, the IDSA Foundation focuses year-round on diversity and inclusion for the future of ID. In the video below, Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis shares her thoughts […]

Liang Shan, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, and colleagues identified a potential way to eradicate the latent HIV infection that lies dormant inside infected immune cells (Links to an external site)

Treatment for HIV has improved tremendously over the past 30 years; once a death sentence, the disease is now a manageable lifelong condition in many parts of the world. Life expectancy is about the same as that of individuals without HIV, though patients must adhere to a strict regimen of daily antiretroviral therapy, or the […]

Let’s Meet the Virologist, episode 20, features Dr. Tristan Jordan who has been encouraging vaccine uptake in friends and family

‘Let’s Meet the Virologists’, hosted by Larissa Thackray, PhD, associate professor of Infectious Diseases, talks in Episode 20 with Tristan Jordan, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, about his work using a CRISPR screen and proteomics of the virus replication complex to identify new […]