Ongoing Research & Discovery
Every day in our labs and across campus we’re shaping the future of medicine. With over $1.2 billion in annual research support and a #2 national ranking in NIH funding, we transform groundbreaking discoveries into therapies that change lives.
Explore some of our ongoing research highlights below.
Ongoing clinical research includes:
- Participating in a national network to determine new ways to prevent preterm birth.
- Developing innovative ways to diagnose and treat stroke as part of a national network of leading stroke treatment centers.
- Decoding the genetics of cancer and developing novel diagnostic genetic tests and personalized treatments.
- Leading an international collaboration to study inherited forms of Alzheimer’s disease, spearheading the first drug prevention trials.
- Pioneering noninvasive radiation treatment for life-threatening heart arrhythmias and minimally invasive surgical treatments for heart valve replacement.
- Investigating the roots of health disparities in Alzheimer’s, cancer, maternal health, cardiovascular disease and other areas.
- Improving pediatric heart health through participation in a national collaborative network of leading hospitals and research institutions.
- Developing cell-based immunotherapies and cancer vaccines to treat various types of cancer or prevent cancer recurrence.
- Documenting the toll of long COVID, including increased risks of heart, liver and kidney problems and death.
- Developed an intranasal vaccine for COVID-19 that has been approved for use in India and licensed to a U.S. company that is aiming for commercialization in the U.S., Europe and Japan.
Ongoing basic science research includes:
- Developing new strategies to fight antibiotic resistance, including vaccines against superbugs and alternatives to antibiotics.
- Advancing brain imaging studies to understand development and aging, building upon our leadership on the Human Connectome Project.
- Pioneering studies probing the links between obesity and childhood malnutrition and the community of microbes living in the gut.
- In battling neurodegenerative disease, identifying new therapeutic approaches to prevent nerve cell death.
- Developing new ways to image inflammation, which plays a role in many diseases and autoimmune conditions.
- Investigating the role the gut microbiome plays in normal brain development, mental health and neurodegenerative conditions.
- Exploring the potential of neuroactive steroids as treatments for psychiatric conditions.
- Identifying the body’s central regulators of aging and identifying therapeutic strategies to boost cellular energy and delay aging.
- Generating foundational insights into the brain’s immune system to understand healthy brain functions and neurological diseases.
- Leading advances in pandemic preparedness through the development of novel vaccines and drugs.
Nobel awards
The Nobel prizes in chemistry and in physiology or medicine recognize some of the modern world’s most beneficial contributions to science and medicine. We are proud to recognize the broad scope and benefit of this foundational work undertaken at WashU Medicine.
Nobel laureates affiliated with WashU Medicine »
BJC Investigator Program
Launched in 2017, the BJC Investigator Program will bring 10 renowned basic science investigators to WashU Medicine. These investigators bring novel insights to major biological questions, and their ideas have the potential to lead to new ways of understanding health and disease.