Colonna receives NIH grants

Marco Colonna, MD, the Robert Rock Belliveau Professor of Pathology and Immunology at the School of Medicine, received a four-year $1.7 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for diabetes, digestive and kidney diseases extramural research, and a one-year $1.6 million grant from the National Institute […]

Immunologist joins Colonna lab as Pew Latin American Fellow

Brazilian immunologist José Luís Fachi, PhD, will join the laboratory of Marco Colonna, MD, the Robert Rock Belliveau, MD, Professor of Pathology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, as a Pew Latin American Fellow in Biomedical Sciences. The program is designed to promote exchange and collaboration between investigators in the United States and […]

Studies reveal skull as unexpected source of brain immunity

The immune system is the brain’s best frenemy. It protects the brain from infection and helps injured tissues heal, but it also causes autoimmune diseases and creates inflammation that drives neurodegeneration. Two new studies in mice suggest that the double-edged nature of the relationship between the immune system and the brain may come down to […]

New center to explore brain, immune system connections

As the brain reigns supreme over the human body, the immune system works 24/7 to defend the body from foreign invaders. For decades, however, the brain and the immune system were thought to operate independently of one another. But a growing body of evidence suggests the two are intimately connected in keeping the body healthy. […]

Immunotherapy-resistant cancers eliminated in mouse study

Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment by stimulating the patient’s own immune system to attack cancer cells, yielding remarkably quick and complete remission in some cases. But such drugs work for less than a quarter of patients because tumors are notoriously adept at evading immune assault. A new study in mice by researchers at Washington University […]

Scientists find timekeepers of gut’s immune system

As people go through their daily and nightly routines, their digestive tracts follow a routine, too: digesting food and absorbing nutrients during waking hours, and replenishing worn-out cells during sleep. Shift work and jet lag can knock sleep schedules and digestive rhythms out of whack. Such disruptions have been linked to increased risk of intestinal […]

Oltz, Colonna awarded $3.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s NIAID

Eugene Oltz, professor of pathology and immunology, and Marco Colonna, MD, the Robert Rock Belliveau, MD, Professor of Pathology, both at the School of Medicine, received a $3.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study how immune cells balance the need for a robust […]

Pursuing a precision paradigm

Why move from current standards of patient care to a more personalized approach to treatment? Experts at the School of Medicine describe today’s medical landscape as they plan for the care — and cures — of the future. From the WashU Newsroom… Of the top-grossing domestic movies of 2017 to date, three of the Top 5 […]

Alzheimer’s gene poses both risk — and benefits

Study suggests role of inflammation in brain disease is complicated From the WashU Newsroom… Scientists drilling down to the molecular roots of Alzheimer’s disease have encountered a good news/bad news scenario. A major player is a gene called TREM2, mutations of which can substantially raise a person’s risk of the disease. The bad news is that […]