Explore the latest issue of WashU Medicine Department of Medicine‘s Insider now! The edition showcases all that is new within the department – research, awards, clinical programs and more.
Read the Latest News from the Department of Medicine!
Andrej Spec, MD, leads the Invasive Fungal Infections Clinic at WashU Medicine, a globally recognized center that treats challenging and often misdiagnosed infections (Links to an external site)
The Fungal clinic is recognized internationally for world-class diagnosis, care and research, often fighting against misdiagnosed infections. Clinic faculty, Patrick Mazi, MD and Adriana Rauseo, MD, stress the need for research efforts to attain better diagnostics and treatments along with raising awareness of primary physicians to identify fungal infections.
Philip Budge and colleagues reveal a faster route to eliminating parasitic infection endemic to Africa (Links to an external site)
A small clinical trial in Cote d’Ivoire, led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, shows that the anti-parasitic drug moxidectin — currently approved to treat river blindness, another tropical disease caused by parasitic worms — is also more effective for lymphatic filariasis than the current gold standard, ivermectin.
Welcome Dr. Autumn Holmes to the Infectious Diseases Division!
Please welcome Autumn Holmes, PhD, Instructor in Medicine, WashU Medicine Division of Infectious Diseases. Dr. Homes joined the WashU ID Division March 1, 2025. Dr. Holmes research interests include understanding how the cell types that are susceptible to RNA virus infection influence infection outcomes in the host. Specifically, she is interested in how events that […]
3rd Annual Infectious Diseases Research Symposium features J. Russell Little MD Lecture
Our guest speaker for the annual J. Russell Little, MD Lecture is Dr. Nira Pollock. Dr. Pollock is an international expert in the development and evaluation of novel diagnostics for infectious diseases, with experience ranging from early proof of principle laboratory demonstration to field implementation. Her diagnostics research has spanned a range of diseases including C. difficile infection, […]
Julia López, secondary appointment confirmed
We are pleased to announce that Julia Lopez, PhD, MPH, LCSW, assistant professor of medicine, infectious diseases, has been confirmed a secondary appointment as an assistant professor in the School of Public Health effective April 3, 2025. While Dr. López primary appointment will remain in the School of Medicine, as a faculty member of the […]
Jennie H. Kwon, DO, MSCI Among Women Shaping St. Louis Future
The Briefcase Coach, a boutique executive career PR firm, recently published a list of “50 Women Shaping the Future of St. Louis” through visionary leadership, bold innovation, and deep commitment to service. These women excel across many fields and are driving meaningful change to their communities. We are proud to share that Dr. Jennie Kwon, […]
Michael Durkin, MD, MPH, has been selected as the new Section Chief of Infectious Diseases at the John Cochran VAMC
Dr. Michael Durkin is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Washington University and will begin his role as Section Chief at the VA in May 2025. He has previously served as a hospital epidemiologist and the co-director of antibiotic stewardship at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. He is passionate about clinical research […]
Leadership Announcement – Dr. Barbara W. Trautner (Links to an external site)
It is my pleasure to announce that Barbara W. Trautner, MD, PhD will be joining WashU Medicine as the new Co-Chief of the Infectious Diseases (ID) Division in the Department of Medicine, effective July 1, 2025. Dr. Trautner is currently a Professor of Medicine and Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and […]
Elvin Geng becomes co-Editor-in-Chief for Implementation Science Communications
Director of the Center for Dissemination and Implementation and Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Elvin Geng, MD, MPH stepped into the role of co-Editor-in-Chief for Implementation Science Communications in January of this year, joining Dong (Roman) Xu at its helm following the retirement from the position of the journal’s Founding EIC, Anne Sales. Implementation Science Communications, […]
Broad-Spectrum Antibiotics Linked To Increased Risk For Adverse Drug Events Among Outpatients With CAP (Links to an external site)
“Among otherwise healthy, non-elderly adults treated for community-acquired pneumonia in the outpatient setting, broad-spectrum antibiotics were associated with increased risk of adverse drug events compared to narrow-spectrum antibiotics. Ultimately, knowledge about antibiotic-related harms can help patients, prescribers, and stewardship programs make judicious decisions about antibiotic utilization” – Ann Mobley Butler, PhD
ID fellow alum, Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis, MD, MPH, FIDSA, keynote speaker at DOM Women in Medicine & Science Annual Seminar
The 4th Annual DOM Women in Medicine & Science Seminar: Strategies for Success: Embracing Transitions & Unconventional Pathways will be at the Eric P. Newman Education Center on Thursday, April 3, 2025, 1:00 – 5:00 pm. This year’s keynote speaker features the Director of Health, City of St. Louis, and WashU ID fellow alum, Matifadza […]
Dr. Megan Baldridge receives Global Grant for Gut Health Award
Megan Tierney Baldridge, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Infectious Diseases Division, Departments of Medicine and Molecular Microbiology, received a $100,000 project grant to explore the interactions between bacteriophages (phages) and human intestinal epithelial cells, aiming to uncover how phages, which infect bacteria, also influence human cells. Phages play a vital role in modulating gut bacterial populations, […]
David K. Warren, MD, joined UNMC as the Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases
Dr. Warren, who completed his ID fellowship at WashU in 2001, was appointed the division chief of Infectious Diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in January 2025. Dr. Warren also holds a Master of Public Health degree, was previously a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Washington University School of Medicine […]
Megan Baldridge, MD, PhD, part of new collaborative of NIH $10 million award to study human virome (Links to an external site)
WashU Medicine labs contribute to a new collaborative program designed to demystify the human body’s resident viruses. Gautam Dantas, PhD, the Conan Professor of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine in the Department of Pathology & Immunology at WashU Medicine, and Megan Baldridge, MD, PhD, an associate professor of medicine, infectious diseases, have received a $5.2 million five-year […]
Nasal COVID-19 vaccine based on WashU technology to enter U.S. clinical trials (Links to an external site)
The investigational nasal vaccine was co-developed by WashU Medicine scientists Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD, the Herbert S. Gasser Professor of Medicine and the co-director of the Center for Vaccines & Immunity to Microbial Pathogens, and David T. Curiel, MD, PhD, the Distinguished Professor of Radiation Oncology, along with members of their laboratories.
Henderson receives a Hypothesis Fund award for Bacterial Infection Research (Links to an external site)
The Hypothesis Fund gave us a green light to explore an unconventional hypothesis that may tie together seemingly disparate concepts in human resistance to bacterial infections. Jeffrey P. Henderson, MD, PhD, FIDSA
Juliet Iwelunmor, PhD, among three faculty members awarded $3 million NIMH grant for HIV prevention in Africa (Links to an external site)
Fred Ssewamala, PhD, William E. Gordon Distinguished Professor at the Brown School and director of the International Center for Child Health and Development (ICHAD); Proscovia Nabunya, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School and co-director of ICHAD; and Juliet Iwelunmor, PhD, professor of medicine, infectious diseases division, and associate director for global health and dissemination […]
Jacco Boon, PhD and colleagues have developed a tool to study how viruses spread
Each colored stripe in the image above represents a unique virus particle, with the width of each stripe reflecting the number of copies, in a hamster infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Jacco Boon, PhD, a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, and colleagues have developed a tool to study […]
Development of a metabolome-based respiratory infection prognostic during COVID-19 arrival (Links to an external site)
Jeffrey P. Henderson, MD, PhD, FIDSA, Professor of Medicine and Molecular Microbiology, at WashU Division of Infectious Diseases, was recently published in ASM Journals with new insights into the development of a metabolome-based respiratory infection prognostic during COVID-19.