Faculty Scholar & gastroenterologist Jean Wang, MD, says lowering the recommended age for colorectal screening can save lives.
Category: Chronic Disease
Center funds two new community-academic partnerships

The Center for Community Health Partnership & Research has awarded funding to two projects through its PDSS program. Read more about these community-academic partnerships!
Go Red: St. Louis women advised to take charge of heart health (Links to an external site)
Center for Community Health & Partnership co-Director, Angela Brown, MD, who leads WashU’s Hypertension Clinic weighs in on taking charge of your heart health & the Go Red Movement.
Thompson to study cancer patients, caregivers (Links to an external site)
Congratulations to Tess Thompson, PhD, MPH, research assistant professor and Institute for Public Health Faculty Scholar for her 5-year grant from the National Cancer Institute to study unmet social needs of cancer patients and their caregivers.
Global Health Center co-directors, Faculty Scholars awarded Global Incubator Seed Grants
Institute for Public Health university partner, McDonnell International Scholars Academy along with the provost’s office have announced recipients of the 2022 Global Incubator Seed Grants in Public Health. Recipients include Victor Dávila-Román, MD and Mark Huffman, MD, co-directors of the Global Health Center at the Institute for Public Health.
Institute’s Summer Research Program adds new RADIANCE track

The application period for the Institute for Public Health 2023 Summer Research Program opens Oct. 14 with a new track in cardiovascular disease and hematology.
Center awards grants to three community-academic partners for cancer prevention and research

Through the Institute for Public Health Pitch Partners’ funding mechanism, three area cancer awareness and prevention organizations have been awarded grants that will help further cancer equity in the St. Louis region.
Center supports trainee study illuminating underserved patient access to treatment

The Center for Health Economics & Policy has supported work by Janki Luther who studies racial equity in access to healthcare.
Faculty Scholar expands project to provide advanced radiation therapy in Mongolia
Institute Faculty Scholar, Baozhou Sun along with WashU & global partners are bringing life-saving cancer treatment to underserved parts of the globe.
Can digital health tools help lower cancer risk in rural communities?
Faculty Scholar & primary investigator, Maura Kemper and team are looking at digital tools as a means to prevent cancer in rural Missouri. The study was funded in part, by a pilot grant from the institute’s Center for Dissemination & Implementation.
Faculty Scholars’ project receives Gates Foundation grant for lymphatic filariasis elimination in Indonesia
Two faculty scholars receive a Gates Foundation award to support their fight against a devastating disease in Indonesia.
Center aids research project on radiation therapy treatments in Uganda
The Global Health Center is collaborating on a research project that will deploy advanced radiotherapy in low and middle-income countries.
Research study and community collaboration become a “rich partnership and friendship”

For a disease that can be devastating to the lungs, the abstract medicine of words and knowledge cures much more effectively than a stethoscope. Christopher Prater WashU researchers and Vitendo4Africa say that a collaborative study funded by the Center for Community Health Partnership & Research has resulted in increased discussion, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis […]
Research team uses implementation science to positively affect breast cancer patients
An ongoing project lead by Institute Faculty Scholar, Ashley Housten, is using implementation science to adapt an evidence-informed intervention.
Global Health Center & partners acknowledged in new report
Members of the team responsible for adding state of the art radiation oncology equipment to a clinic in Guatemala are featured in a nationally published article about the project.
Two Institute for Public Health centers award funding

Two centers have awarded funding to research projects focusing on mental health and the cost of prostate cancer.
Bringing life-saving therapy to the poor (Links to an external site)

WashU Medicine spearheads collaboration to install radiation oncology equipment in Guatemala.
Improving Cancer Care in Guatemala (Links to an external site)
The Global Health Center at the Institute for Public Health is helping provide state of the art equipment and the latest in cancer treatment technology to a part of the world where patients are underserved and technology to treat the disease is severely lacking. Through a grant from the United States Agency for International Development […]
A situational analysis of breast cancer early detection services in Trinidad and Tobago

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, as well as the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women, with over half occurring in developing countries. Specifically, it is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). Not only does T&T have one of the highest breast cancer mortality […]
Breathing dirty air may harm kidneys (Links to an external site)

Outdoor air pollution has long been linked to major health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A new study now adds kidney disease to the list, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs (VA) St. Louis Health Care System. Read the full story…
Birth defects, cancer linked (Links to an external site)
This article originally appeared on The Source and it is reproduced here with permission. Some children born with birth defects may be at increased risk for specific types of cancer, according to a new review from the Brown School and the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. [side_car urls=”/scholars/kimberly-j-johnson/,/scholars/todd-e-druley/,”]In the first systematic and most […]
Center for Health Economics and Policy funds four pilot projects

The Center for Health Economics & Policy pilot program has awarded funding for four projects in the 2017-2018 cycle. Demonstrating the economic value of spine nerve Injury reconstruction Primary Investigator: Christopher Dy, assistant professor, Orthopedic Surgery Department, School of Medicine Spine nerve injuries (i.e. brachial plexus injuries) have a profound effect on patients due to the devastating […]
Regulating ‘the most heavily marketed product in the world’ (Links to an external site)

Cigarette ads have long been absent from television, radio and billboards in the United States due to federal bans. But that doesn’t mean the tobacco industry isn’t pitching its products to potential buyers.
The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015
The Lancet recently published the 2015 Global Burden of Disease Capstone papers including articles on global mortality, years living with disability, disability-adjusted life-years, risk factors for disease, and a baseline analysis of health-related sustainable development goals. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 (GBD 2015) brings together the most recent epidemiological […]
Tobacco 21/STL

The Center for Community Health Partnership and Research is supporting the fast moving initiative Tobacco 21/STL. Support includes getting the word out to community-based organizations and community members concerned about the health risks for kids and young adults related to tobacco use. Tobacco 21/STL is a movement spreading across the state of Missouri. Kansas City and Columbia, […]
Global Research Site Award to project on malnutrition in Haiti
Lora Iannotti, PhD, Associate Professor at the Brown School received funding to establish a Global Research Site in Haiti to work on malnutrition. “The goal of this award from the Global Health Center is to deepen already existing links in a resource-poor settings, in order to increase the involvement of Washington University faculty and students […]
Data center presents on collaborations at APHA

Ben Cooper, MPH, manager of the Institute’s Public Health Data and Training Center, recently attended the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and offered two presentations on recent collaborative projects. The first, “Novel approaches to obesity surveillance using population level data,” involved a partnership with the St. Louis City Department of Health […]
New collection of papers addresses diabetes and obesity prevention strategies
In 2014, the Washington University Center for Diabetes Translation Research and the Institute for Public Health at Washington University partnered on an event called “Next Steps in Public Health: Elimination Population-Based Disparities in Diabetes and Obesity.” This one-day conference brought together dozens of researchers from a variety of disciplines across Washington University and partner institutions […]
The Emperor of All Maladies

On Thursday, March 26 our deputy director Graham Colditz, DrPH, MD, MPH was featured along with a panel of experts on Stay Tuned from the Nine Network, for a show about “Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies.”
Successful Open Streets program

During Open Streets events, cars are restricted from driving on certain streets so that people may walk, run, bike, skate, dance and play for a few hours each week, most commonly on Sundays. Common in Latin America, these events give communities a safe and affordable environment in which to come together for exercise and play. […]
Faculty come together to develop solutions to fight diabetes at “Next Steps” Event
This spring the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis partnered with the Center for Diabetes Translation Research (CDTR) on “Next Steps in Public Health: Eliminating Population-Based Disparities in Diabetes and Obesity.” Led by CDTR director and institute scholar Debra Haire-Joshu, PhD, MSEd, Joyce Wood Professor at the Brown School at Washington […]