Category: Division Announcements

Baldridge receives prestigious award as Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund

Megan Baldridge, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named an Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Each awardee receives $500,000 over five years to support research projects that hold the potential to significantly advance understanding of how […]

Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis, M.D., MPH, shares her opinion with Newsweek “Rushing a COVID-19 Vaccine Risks Leaving Behind the People Most at Risk”

Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis, MD, MPH, ID alumae ’18, is a clinical instructor in infectious diseases at Washington University School of Medicine and the John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis, as well as an infectious diseases physician and researcher.  Dr. Davis discusses how there are alarmingly few vaccine volunteers from the communities who have […]

WUSM ID Fellows, Miguel Chavez and Nathanial Nolan, launch ID Fellows Network on Twitter (#ID_fellows), an educational space for fellows by fellows

Inspired by all the fantastic #MedEd content provided by #IDtwitter community, several fellows have joined resources to create the ID Fellows Network (#ID_fellows), an educational space for fellows by fellows.This is a collaborative approach to promote ID clinical reasoning for fellows.  In just under 2 months they have over 2,400 Followers. They share tweetorials, clinical […]

Gerome Escota, MD, honored with “Sidney S. Pearl, MD, ’32 Clinical Teacher of the Year”

In 1979, Sidney S. Pearl, MD, alumnus of the class of 1932, established an award for inspirational teaching to be chosen by the medical school graduating class, from among the clinical faculty. The award was presented to Dr. Escota at the MD Commencement Recognition Ceremony 2020 by Dr. Brian Hickman, medical education representative and member […]

IDSA honors Rachel Presti, MD, PhD, among distinguished physicians, scientists with FIDSA Designation

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the nation’s leading infectious diseases professional society, recognizes the distinguished physicians and scientists from the United States and around the world who were elected this year to be Fellows of IDSA. This year, Rachel M. Presti, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division,  was honored with […]

Join us on Sept. 24, 2020 for a CME event: Telemedicine in Infectious Diseases during a Pandemic

The ID Society  of St. Louis, in partnership with the Washington University Infectious Diseases Division and joint providership with the St. Louis STD/HIV Prevention Training Center,  is proud to host a CME-Accredited education opportunity on Telemedicine. We are fortunate to have as our guest speaker, St. Louis native, Javeed Siddiqui, MD, MPH, co-founder and chief […]

Spec selected Deputy Editor of Mycoses

Andrej Spec, MD, MSCI, assistant has accepted the role as deputy editor of Mycoses. Dr. Spec is also an associate editor for Open Forum Infectious Diseases (OFID), and serves on the editorial boards of Medical Mycology and Clinical Infectious Diseases (CID).

Podcast: Where does life in the U.S. stand six months into the pandemic?

This episode of ‘Show Me the Science’ looks at where the nation has come and where we may be headed as coronavirus infections and deaths continue to rise. A new episode of our podcast, “Show Me the Science,” has been posted. At present, these podcast episodes are highlighting research and patient care on the Washington […]

Washington University develops COVID-19 saliva test

Test is faster, simpler than nasal, oral swab tests and enables screening on a massive scale A new saliva test to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been developed by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Results from the COVID-19 diagnostic test are available in a few hours and, ideally, able to […]

Washington University, St. Louis County collaborate on COVID-19 survey

Washington University in St. Louis, the St. Louis County Department of Public Health and other collaborators are conducting a survey of St. Louis County residents and offering COVID-19 testing to gauge the prevalence of and risk factors for the illness. Working with the county, Washington University’s Institute for Public Health is teaming up with other local public health and […]

Meet our ID Fellowship Program Leaders

The Infectious Diseases Division introduces the leaders of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program. Gerome Escota, MD has been named co-director of the ID Fellowship Program. Dr. Escota has been involved in the fellowship program as associate director. He completed his medicine degree at the College of Medicine, University of the Philippines in 2004, and ID […]

Rachel Presti, MD, PhD leads Washington University effort to conduct COVID-19 vaccine trials in collaboration with Saint Louis University

As U.S. scientists ramp up a national effort to evaluate COVID-19 vaccine candidates at clinical trial sites across the country, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Saint Louis University Center for Vaccine Development have been tapped to join the historic effort to find a COVID-19 vaccine that can prevent […]

WUSM scientists create a safer version of virus to speed research

The virus that causes COVID-19 is so dangerous that scientists studying it must wear full-body biohazard suits with pressurized respirators inside high-level biosafety labs. But scientists at Washington University School of Medicine have developed a defanged virus that acts like SARS-CoV-2, but that can be handled under ordinary lab safety conditions, according to a study […]

Andrej Spec, MD, MSCI, assistant professor at WUSM ID co-authors editorial of the downsides of lowered rigor seen during the COVID outbreak.

The medical community must contend with an unprecedented deluge of scientific information during the worst pandemic in a century. In an effort to ensure rapid dissemination of studies, the rise of non-peered pathways, including the use of pre-print services and the apparent trend of publication by press releases, Drs. Spec and Ilan Schwartz argue that […]

Jenn Philips, MD, PhD, co-director of Washington University ID Division and colleagues argue for Global wildlife surveillance that could provide early warning for next pandemic

Global wildlife surveillance could provide early warning for next pandemic Experts propose decentralized system to monitor wildlife markets, other hot spots. The virus that causes COVID-19 probably originated in wild bats that live in caves around Wuhan, China, and may have been passed to a second animal species before infecting people, according to the World […]

M. Joshua Hendrix, MD, instructor in medicine/2020 ID fellow graduate, and others shows the importance of wearing masks to slow the spread of COVID19.

Absence of Apparent Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from Two Stylists After Exposure at a Hair Salon with a Universal Face Covering Policy — Springfield, Missouri, May 2020 Weekly / July 17, 2020 / 69(28);930-932 On July 14, 2020, this report was posted online as an MMWR Early Release. SummaryWhat is already known about this topic? Consistent and correct use […]

Dr. Powderly weighs in on US withdrawal from the WHO

WashU Expert: America gains nothing by leaving WHO ‘Cutting this collaboration in the middle of a pandemic is foolish at best’ President Donald Trump’s recent announcement to suspend U.S. funding to, and withdraw from, the World Health Organization is “counter to our interests in addressing our needs to save the lives and further the health of […]

Welcome Fellows to ID!

Congratulations to our 2020 Fellows in Training on completing their first day as Infectious Diseases Fellows at Washington University School of Medicine. Your next two years will be both challenging and rewarding.    You are the next generation of ID specialists in science, clinical care and education. Meet our fellows.

Jennifer Philips, MD, PhD, an associate professor of medicine and co-director of the Division of Infectious Diseases sets up high-security biosafety lab to screen potential COVID-19 antiviral drugs.

Six months into the pandemic, people diagnosed with mild cases of COVID-19 still are told to isolate themselves and wait out the infection at home. Doctors monitor such patients so they can intervene if their condition deteriorates, but no antiviral drugs have been shown to hasten recovery or forestall severe illness in people who are […]