Department of Internal Medicine
The Department of Internal Medicine at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine offers state-of-the-art facilities, a faculty of outstanding clinical scholars and rapidly expanding research programs. Of equal importance, you will find a friendly, caring atmosphere and a love for learning that are part of the culture of this Jesuit University and medical center.
Ours is a well-established program with deep historical roots. In 1911, Charles Hugh Neilson, M.D., was appointed as the first director of the Department of Internal Medicine, marking the foundation of the department. The department celebrated its Centennial in 2011.
Letter from the Chair
Welcome to the Department of Internal Medicine. For over 100 years, we have excelled in patient care, education, research, and community services. Internal Medicine is the largest department in the School of Medicine with more than 145 physicians and scientists who are national and international leaders in vaccines, liver, lupus, kidney, and aging just to highlight recent accomplishments in setting standards of excellence in research. The department is also a leader in undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate medical education teaching with 10 specialty divisions and 12 accredited residency training programs and our faculty are dedicated to teaching our residents and medical students.
Ravi P. Nayak, M.D., FCCP
James B. and Ethel D. Miller Endowed Chair in Internal Medicine
Chairman and Professor of Internal Medicine
Residency Training Programs
Explore our residency training program, as well as our subspecialty residency training programs, including:
- Allergy and Immunology
- Cardiology
- Critical Care
- Endocrinology and Metabolism
- Gastroenterology and Hepatology
- Geriatric Medicine
- Hospice and Palliative Care Fellowship
- Hematology and Medical Oncology
- Infectious Diseases and Immunology
- Nephrology
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
- Rheumatology
Internal Medicine Research
From 2010 to 2018, 23 researchers in the Department of Internal Medicine have received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), totaling $67,528,705. This funding has led to significant discoveries and inventions that have already had a major impact on the health of Americans.
SLU's Center for Vaccine Development has played a key role in the development of vaccines that have saved lives and protected the public from important diseases, such as influenza, herpes virus infection and zika. It has also played a role in our national response to terrorism with its rapid testing of potential vaccines against smallpox.
The Saint Louis University Liver Center is notable for its research on hepatitis C, with studies that have sought to understand the fundamentals mechanisms of how the hepatitis C virus attacks the liver and causes cirrhosis and liver cancer. Members of the Saint Louis University Liver Center have also been at the forefront of efforts to develop effective treatments for chronic hepatitis C, a battle that now seems largely won and may lead to the saving of hundreds of thousands of lives around the world.
Researchers in the Division of Rheumatology have helped to develop effective treatments for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, or more simply Lupus), a disabling and often deadly autoimmune disease that disproportionately affects women and African Americans. We continue to obtain insights into how lupus is caused and how it damages target organs.
Faculty in the Division of Geriatric Medicine have been national leaders in teaching people about aging successfully. They have studied and developed approaches to managing delirium, frailty and even Alzheimer’s Disease. Our researchers have pioneered the use of a unique mouse model, the SAMP8, to study mechanisms of Alzheimer’s and, more recently, to develop a novel therapeutic approach to this common disease of aging through the use of antisense RNA that blocks the conversion of amyloid precursor protein to beta amyloid.