Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a leading research university. The Source newsroom publishes stories on medicine, science, and campus research.
Facing major surgery is stressful, but for older adults, unaddressed anxiety and depression can impede physical recovery. A clinical trial led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that starting an intervention before surgery — one that combines mental health coaching with optimization of medications that may increase risks for older adults — reduces pos
The brain is a black box of densely packed neurons, blood vessels and immune cells, all locked away in a sealed skull. WashU’s Song Hu has dedicated his career to unlocking that puzzle box by developing new ways to “see” inside. His team’s newest innovation could give researchers a new view of how brain cells and blood vessels work together and what happens when the coupling between the two breaks
The ideas kept coming. So the team behind WashU’s AI Perspectives Week decided to add a second week of programming. Nathan Jacobs, vice provost for artificial intelligence, was not surprised by the community’s interest. “The proposals came from every corner of the university,” said Jacobs, a professor of computer science and engineering at WashU McKelvey Engineering . “Our faculty and students hav
Melons produce many seeds, making the melon shape a traditional symbol of fertility and prosperity in Chinese culture. But the historical debate about how melons made their way to modern tables is as long and twisted as the vines they grow on. A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals newly discovered aspects of melons’ ancient history. Based on an analysis o
Immune cells that normally protect the body from damage by attacking foreign or infected cells are found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders at much higher levels than in healthy brains. The cells appear to contribute to neurodegeneration, but where they were coming from, and how they were primed to accumulate in the brain, was not known. Researchers at Washing
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children — better known as WIC — reaches an extraordinary share of American families. An estimated 41% of all U.S. infants participated in the federal nutrition program in fiscal year 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In Missouri, where more than 300,000 households experience food insecurity, WIC provides nutrit
A surgical team at WashU Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Transplant Center has performed the world’s first-reported robotic combined liver and kidney transplant, extending the benefits of minimally invasive transplant surgery to a patient in need of both organs. Robotic transplantation has previously been performed successfully for separate kidney transplants and liver transplants. In 2020, WashU Medic
Imagine swimming in open water and feeling slime brush against your leg. Most people might shake it off without a second thought. But what if the surface of a boat could do the same? Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis’ McKelvey School of Engineering are about to find out, thanks to a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop materials that incorporate soft robo
There is no shortage of popular diets to try, and they can generally produce weight loss if followed to the letter. But are all diet plans created equal in terms of reducing the cardiometabolic risks that come with obesity, such as Type 2 diabetes and liver disease? A randomized clinical trial from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests they aren’t, even when they lead to i
Machine learning doesn’t replace human intelligence, but it can outlast human endurance, which makes it a very helpful tool for chemistry and material discovery. Scientists know the machine learning models can make predictions based on the vast reams of data it is trained on, but can it take it a step further and massively scale up testing out those predictions? “We already see that AI is powerful
Ahead of the scheduled Aug. 30 launch of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, several Washington University in St. Louis researchers have been selected to play important roles in the mission’s inaugural science program. The Roman telescope promises to transform our understanding of the universe. NASA will use the Roman telescope to investigate dark energy, discover thousands of exoplanets and
A new federal directive on childhood vaccines is putting federal policy at odds with leading medical organizations. President Donald Trump’s Aug. 10 executive order calls for reducing the number of vaccines routinely recommended for all children, separating the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into individual shots and, when possible, spacing childhood vaccines across separate medical visits. Ma
