News Stories

Campus Catch-Up

Ruben Nava, MD, Assistnat Professor of Surgery, explains the importance of multidisplinary care with Varun Puri, MD, MSCI, Associate Surgical Director of the Lung Transplant Program (left) and Daniel Kreisel, MD, PhD, Surgical Director of the Lung Transplant Program (right).

The Washington University campus community is making headlines every day. Members of the School of Medicine are regularly featured in local, national and international news stories. Department of Surgery faculty, staff and medical students are leaders in their specialties, and share their expertise when called upon. Campus Catch-Up collects some of these stories and celebrates members of the community who are receiving recognition.

Cancer prevention screening check-up disease ill illness healthy health doctor with sign

Innovative training program boosts expertise in putting cancer research into practice

From The Source

Chief of the Division of Public Health Sciences Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH, is among the team of international leaders on the faculty of the Mentored Training for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Cancer (MT-DIRC) program. MT-DIRC is helping to expand knowledge and science of dissemination and practice beyond Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis through mentorship opportunities.

Prevention of Urinary Stones With Hydration (PUSH): Design and Rationale of a Clinical Trial

From The American Journal of Kidney Diseases

“It is difficult to keep drinking fluid over time to prevent urinary stones,” says Henry Lai, MD, Professor of Urologic Surgery. “The PUSH study uses smart Bluetooth bottles, smart apps, and coaching to encourage hydration to prevent urinary stones.”

BJH Cribs: Jason and Ashley

From WashU Surgery YouTube

Welcome to Jason and Ashley’s crib! Resident Jason Gauthier, MD and his wife, Ashley, show you around their home in Webster Groves and discuss their favorite things about living in St. Louis.

Fragmented Care in the Treatment of Rectal Cancer and Time to Definitive Therapy

From The Journal of the American College of Surgeons

The National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach for treating rectal cancer and has developed performance measures to ensure that patients receive standardized care. A team of researchers, including Colon and Rectal Surgery faculty Kerri Ohman, MD, Steven Hunt, MD, Matthew Silviera, MD, and Section Chief Matthew Mutch, MD, hypothesized that rectal cancer patients receiving care at multiple centers would be less likely to receive timely and appropriate care.

Economic evaluation of the specialized donor care facility for thoracic organ donor management

From The Journal of Thoracic Disease

Over the last decade two alternative models of donor care have emerged in the United States: the conventional model, whereby donors are managed at the hospital where brain death occurs, and the specialized donor care facility (SDCF), in which brain-dead donors are transferred to a SDCF for medical optimization and organ procurement. Despite increasing use of the SDCF model, its cost-effectiveness in comparison to the conventional model remains unknown. A multidisciplinary team of experts from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, including cardiothoracic surgeons, transplant surgeons, public health sciences researchers, members of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pathology and Immunology, and Mid-America Transplant, performed an economic evaluation of both models, finding that the SDCF model may be less costly and more effective.