ID-CRU Coordinator strives to end racism ‘block by block,’ starting in Tower Grove (Links to an external site)
William Powderly, MD, the Larry J. Shapiro Director of the Institute for Public Health discusses the effect that racism has on public health
In his presentation to the 2020 Summer Research Program- Public & Global Health Abbreviated Track, Dr. Powderly, Dr. J. William Campbell Professor of Medicine and co-director of the Infectious Diseases Division discusses the effect that racism undermines public health. View the video.
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 […]
Rachel Presti, MD, PhD, associate professor and investigator at the IDCRU/ACTU for HPTN 083 says study results are a game changer for HIV prevention
HPTN 083 Study Demonstrates Superiority of Cabotegravir for the Prevention of HIV . Both cabotegravir and oral tenofovir/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) have high efficacy for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Researchers from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) announced today that the HPTN 083 clinical trial showed that a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) regimen containing long-acting cabotegravir (CAB LA) injected […]
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 […]
William Powderly, MD, reminds the community that the COVID-19 pandemic is still in the first wave of the pandemic and Americans need to continue to take steps to control the spread.
More than 1,000 people in Missouri have died from COVID-19, according to data analyzed by St. Louis Public Radio. The state reached that milestone three months after the first person in the state died from the disease. In a recent St. Louis Public radio story, William Powderly, MD, the J. William Campbell Professor of Medicine, […]
In two and a half weeks Jane O’Halloran, MD and Phil Mudd, MD create COVID-19 specimen bank
In early March, just as the pandemic was gaining steam in the St. Louis region, Jane O’Halloran, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine, and Philip Mudd, MD, PhD, assistant professor of emergency medicine, met to discuss the possibility of creating a COVID-19 specimen bank. Two and a half weeks later, they began collecting their […]
Gary Weil, MD and Peter Fischer, PhD, evaluate COVID-19 antibody tests as diagnostic test in low-resource settings (Links to an external site)
Such antibody tests use finger-prick blood samples, deliver quick results Gary Weil, MD and Peter Fischer, PhD, professors of medicine, have joined an international effort led by the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics and the World Health Organization (WHO) to evaluate COVID-19 antibody tests for use as diagnostics in places with limited resources. Assisting with […]
Oral antibiotics work, shorten hospital stays for IV drug users with infections (Links to an external site)
Drs. Laura Marks, a clinical fellow in infectious diseases and Mike Durkin, assistant professor of medicine, conduct study that shows oral antibiotics work, shorten hospital stay for IV drug users with infections
Patients with COVID-19 donate specimens to advance research efforts
Philip Mudd, MD, PhD, above, an assistant professor of emergency medicine, and his colleague, Jane O’Halloran, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, infectious diseases specialist, have led efforts to create a repository for storing and managing specimens collected from patients with COVID-19. To date, more than 7,000 samples, including blood, urine and saliva specimens, have […]
COVID-19 mouse model will speed search for drugs, vaccines
The global effort to quickly develop drugs and vaccines for COVID-19 has been hampered by limited numbers of laboratory mice that are susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report they have developed a mouse model of COVID-19 that replicates the […]
White Coats for Black Lives – ID Division faculty, fellows and staff demonstrate with hundreds of medical professionals for Black Lives Matter outside medical center complex
Washington University medical students organized and led a powerful event that brought together students, residents, faculty and staff in solidarity with those who stand against systemic racism. The White Coats for Black Lives event outside the Barnes-Jewish Hospital complex was held in conjunction with other hospitals across the area and country. A large group from […]
William Powderly, MD talks about COVID-19 investigational drugs and clinical trials on BJC’s “Five Questions with …”
Bill Powderly, MD, J. William Campbell Professor of Medicine & Co-director, Infectious Diseases Division, answers questions about COVID-19 investigational drugs in clinical trials, hosted by Emily Brasel, director of communications for BJC HealthCare. The video is part of “5 Questions with…,” an ongoing series in which leaders answer viewer questions about important Medical Campus topics.