Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a leading research university. The Source newsroom publishes stories on medicine, science, and campus research.
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
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
“Buy now, pay later” plans — which allow consumers to split purchases into a handful of interest-free installments — have become a common way for Americans to pay for everything from furniture to groceries. New research from Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis suggests the increasingly popular payment option can have consequences beyond the checkout screen — influencing reta
Kidney disease is silent in its early stages, progressing without symptoms until the disease is advanced. Researchers in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, in collaboration with researchers at WashU Medicine and at Texas A&M University, have been developing a minimally invasive method to improve diagnosis in earlier stages. New research from the lab of Srikan
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared for marketing an innovative blood test with underlying technology invented at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. The test, known as PrecivityAD2, was developed and validated by C2N Diagnostics, a WashU startup company. PrecivityAD2 is a blood-based diagnostic test cleared by t
For low-income older adults, where they live may affect how long they live, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis. Park The study , forthcoming in the September print issue of the journal Social Science & Medicine, examined the relationship between housing, social isolation and risk of death among low-income renters age 65 and older. Researchers analyzed 12 years of nat
In 2024, St. Louis experienced its deadliest year on record for pedestrians. As city leaders invest millions of dollars in traffic safety improvements, WashU Continuing & Professional Studies (CAPS) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) students Dash Martin and Margaret Mulligan wanted to understand a simple question: What impact are those changes actually making on the ground? Their search for ans
Advances in medical imaging and artificial intelligence (AI) have revolutionized many aspects of medical practice in recent years. Quantitative measurements derived from medical images are increasingly being used to support diagnosis and clinical decision-making. Consequently, many new quantitative imaging tools, including those based on AI, are being developed. But evaluating the reliability of t
