St. Jude Research Highlights

James R. Downing, M.D., of St. Jude, elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital president and CEO joins the 236th class of members, which includes national and international scholars, artists, philanthropists and leaders.
James R. Downing, M.D., of St. Jude, to advise National Cancer Moonshot Initiative

The Blue Ribbon Panel will serve as a working group for presidentially-appointed National Cancer Advisory Board.
St. Jude research will guide development of new anti-influenza drugs

Researchers lay the foundation for a new class of influenza drugs that will be tougher for flu viruses to resist.
Defects in the body’s cell disposal system may contribute to the most common form of lupus

A casual observation leads to discovery that defects in a cell disposal system called LAP may lead to a lupus-like autoimmune disorder
Capsule Shedding: A new bacterial pathway that promotes invasive disease

Suicide enzyme LytA helps pneumococcus bacteria rapidly shed capsule to evade early immune response and set the stage for invasive disease
Risk factors identified for acute pancreatitis that can disrupt leukemia treatment

Native American ancestry and rare CPA2 gene variation may leave some leukemia patients at risk of pancreatitis following treatment with asparaginase.
Discovery of likely subtypes of rare childhood brain tumor signals diagnostic advance

Molecular classification of rare brain tumors CNS-PNET likely to improve diagnosis and set stage for targeted therapies.