Seven faculty inducted as AIMBE fellows

Seven Washington University in St. Louis faculty members have been named fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), joining 23 existing fellows at Washington University. The new fellows are among 162 colleagues inducted March 25 in Arlington, Va. Election to AIMBE’s College of Fellows is limited to the top 2% of […]

WashU leads new multi-omics production center for NIH research consortium

Multi-omics is a research approach that leverages the power of several different “omics” data types at once to build a detailed picture of factors that contribute to human health and disease. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is channeling $50.3 million over the next five years into a new consortium dedicated to advancing the generation […]

Wang, nationally recognized geneticist, named head of genetics

Ting Wang, PhD, a national leader in genetics and genomics who has led groundbreaking studies in how the genome is regulated, has been named head of the Department of Genetics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. A computational biologist, he will begin his new role Aug. 1. Wang’s lab is focused on understanding how […]

WashU Medicine joins national effort to ID genetic differences within the body

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has received two grants totaling $22.5 million to help lead national efforts to understand how DNA changes create differences in genomes across tissues within the same person. This variation — called somatic mosaicism — can change how cells operate and affect early development, disease risk, the aging […]

Detailed human pangenome reference captures human diversity

The Human Genome Project, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), ended in April 2003 and produced a human genome sequence made up of a patchwork of data from a small number of individuals. This lack of diversity limited its usefulness as a research tool for understanding human health and disease. Now, researchers have […]

$9 million to fund study of ‘jumping genes’ in Alzheimer’s

Scientists have identified a handful of gene mutations that cause or contribute to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. But many scientists suspect that other DNA changes may help drive Alzheimer’s-related damage to brain cells and lead to symptoms of confusion and memory loss experienced by patients. In particular, the researchers want to understand how segments […]

School of Medicine joins major NIH brain mapping effort

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are joining a national network to map the intricacies of the brain, with a goal of deepening knowledge of how the brain works and generating new insights into how the brain functions in healthy people — and how it malfunctions in Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, autism and […]

$7 million to support research into how human genome works

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has received a $7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to help lead national efforts to investigate how variations in the human genome sequence affect how the genome functions. Such information is critical for understanding human health and seeking new ways to treat diseases. […]

‘Jumping genes’ drive many cancers

Mistakes in DNA are known to drive cancer growth. But a new study, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, heavily implicates a genetic phenomenon commonly known as “jumping genes” in the growth of tumors. The study is published March 29 in the journal Nature Genetics. Since jumping genes aren’t mutations — mistakes […]

Wang named Loewentheil Distinguished Professor

Ting Wang, PhD, whose work sits at the intersection of biology and computer science, has been named the inaugural Sanford C. and Karen P. Loewentheil Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Wang was installed by Washington University Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton and David H. Perlmutter, MD, executive vice […]