COVID-19 boosters: An update with experts Lawrence and LeBlanc (Links to an external site)
Boosters are safe, but not required. Many Washington University in St. Louis students, staff and faculty are now eligible for a COVID-19 booster.
Paper Focused on Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus Published in Nature
Michael Diamond, MD, PhD and Daved Fremont, PhD recently had a paper published in the journal Nature. The paper describes how Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) interacts with its receptor, LDLRAD3. This is important because VEEV is an emerging mosquito-borne virus that causes fast-spreading outbreaks. There are no good therapies or preventives for VEEV encephalitis, and figuring out […]
Congratulations, Drs. Caline Mattar and Aaloke Mody, on appointments to IDSA global health committee
Caline Mattar, MD, assistant professor of medicine and Aaloke Mody, MD, assistant professor of medicine both have been appointed to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Global Health Committee. Dr. Mattar’s interests are in antimicrobial resistance and infection prevention in resource limited settings, global and international health, infectious diseases in pregnancy, currently COVID-19. Dr. Mody […]
Hookworms have potential to protect soldiers from chemical, biological weapons (Links to an external site)
Combat troops require special equipment to guard against chemical and biological agents that could be unleashed in a war zone. While such suits and respirators can protect against chemical and biological weapons, they are cumbersome and can limit mobility at the worst possible times.
Drs. Kwon and Babcock reveal vaccine effectiveness in health care professionals in a publication in NEJM
Hilary Babcock, MD, MPH, professor of medicine and Jennie Kwon, DO, MSCI, assistant professor of medicine participated in a CDC led multicenter study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showing that the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines were highly effective under real-world conditions in preventing symptomatic COVID19 in health care personnel. Drs. Kwon and […]
Jennie Kwon, DO, MSCI appointed to serve on IDSA committee
Jennie Kwon, DO, MSCI, assistant professor of medicine has recently been appointed to the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) Antimicrobial Resistance Committee Committee. The Antimicrobial Resistance Committee serves to advance, through public policy and advocacy, the development of new antimicrobial agents where unmet need exists and the reduction of occurrence of antimicrobial resistance. The committee […]
Nathan Nolan, MD, and colleagues will present workshop at AAIMW22
Dr. Nathan Nolan, instructor in medicine, division of infectious diseases, along with Frank O’Brien, MBBCh, MRCPI, assistant professor of medicine, division of nephrology and Lisa Zickuhr, MD, assistant professor of medicine, division of rheumatology, submitted a workshop proposal for the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine Week 2022 (AIMW22). Their submission, “Interprofessional, Multidisciplinary Case Conferences: A Novel Approach […]
Welcome Dr. Nicolo Cabrera to Infectious Diseases Division
Nicolo Cabrera, MD, joined the Infectious Diseases Division following completion as a PGY-7 Immunocompromised Host/Transplant Infectious Disease fellow at the Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He was born and raised in the Philippines where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, magna cum laude, at […]
Common respiratory virus manipulates immune genes to protect itself (Links to an external site)
Daisy W. Leung, PhD, reveals common respiratory virus manipulates immune genes to protect itself
The Infectious Diseases Division Celebrates Women in Medicine
Each September, the AMA Women Physicians Section (WPS) honors physicians who have offered their time, wisdom and support to advance women with careers in medicine. The ID Division recognizes all the women physicians, researchers, residents, fellows and medical students working to make health care more equitable. We celebrate these trailblazers during Women in Medicine month. […]
Julia López, PhD, MPH, LCSW is panelist at the Missouri History Museum on September 15, during National Hispanic Heritage Month
This event is in person at the Missouri History Museum but can also be accessed virtually. Join a panel discussion at the Missouri History Museum on the first day of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Panelists will hold an open dialogue with the audience about their personal identities, cultural perspectives, and how they’re building social spaces […]
COVID-19 vaccine elicits antibodies in 90% taking immunosuppressants (Links to an external site)
However, people treated for autoimmune conditions produce weaker responses than healthy people COVID-19 vaccination elicited antibody responses in nearly nine out of 10 people with weakened immune systems, although their responses were only about one-third as strong as those mounted by healthy people, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine […]
Bernard Camins, MD, MSCR, former faculty member, participates in the coin toss for the men’s singles match on Pride Day at the 2021 US Open
Rainbow flags flew proudly at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 1 as the USTA celebrated and welcomed the LGBTQ+ community to the first-ever Open Pride Day during the main draw of the 2021 US Open. It’s been an exciting start of the #USOpen for Dr. Bernard Camins, an infectious diseases specialist […]
Antibodies block specific viruses that cause arthritis, brain infections – Could form basis of universal therapy, vaccines for alphaviruses (Links to an external site)
Alphaviruses — mosquito-borne viruses that can trigger brain infections and arthritis — may have met their match. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified two antibodies that protect animals from disease caused by alphaviruses. The antibodies worked for every alphavirus tested, meaning they potentially could form the basis of treatments […]
Elvin Geng, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, uses epidemiologic model that indicates early COVID-19 shutdowns helped St. Louis area avoid thousands of deaths (Links to an external site)
Delays in implementing public health orders likely would have resulted in many more hospitalizations, deaths. In March 2020, not long after the first cases of COVID-19 were reported locally, health officials in the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County issued emergency public health orders intended to reduce interactions between people and slow the […]
Podcast: Vaccines and COVID-19 infection generate protective antibodies, even against delta
This episode of ‘Show Me the Science’ focuses on the work of scientist Ali Ellebedy, who has published several papers about the immune response to vaccines and COVID-19 infection. Ali Ellebedy, PhD, a researcher at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has found that patients with COVID-19 infections and others who have been […]
WashU infectious diseases alum, Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis, named St. Louis Public Health Director
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones named Dr. Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis, an infectious disease specialist, the director of the St. Louis City Department of Health. Hlatshwayo Davis most recently was on the infectious diseases faculty at John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis. Her work includes fighting Covid-19, and HIV/AIDS, including on the Fast Track Cities Initiative, a […]
Antibody protects against broad range of COVID-19 virus variants – Targets key part of virus’s spike protein that changes little across variants (Links to an external site)
The virus that causes COVID-19 today is not the same as the one that first sickened people way back in December 2019. Many of the variants circulating now are partially resistant to some of the antibody-based therapeutics that were developed based on the original virus. As the pandemic continues, more variants inevitably will arise, and […]
Hilary Reno, MD, PhD, FIDSA, an author of recent STI Treatment Guidelines 2021 also co-authors “A Guide to Taking a Sexual History”
Associate professor of medicine, Dr. Hilary Reno, is a co-author of the recently released Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines, 2021 (cdc.gov). The guidelines provide current evidence-based prevention, diagnostic and treatment recommendations that replace the 2015 guidance. Although the new guidelines emphasize treatment, prevention strategies and diagnostic recommendations are also discussed. CDC’s Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) […]
Andrej Spec, MD, MSCI, FECMM selected to lead the update of the Histoplasma guidelines by the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA)
Andrej Spec, MD, MSCI, FECMM has been selected to lead the update of the Histoplasma guidelines by the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA); the first update since 2007. The guidelines haven’t been updated since 2007. Dr Spec was chosen among a large field of candidates based on his research in histoplasmosis. Most recently he […]