Saint Louis University to eliminate program, cut 21 jobs

ST. LOUIS — Saint Louis University School of Medicine is closing a research department and eliminating 21 jobs.

The school said the eliminated jobs mostly are positions in the Center for World Health and Medicine, which focuses on developing treatments for rare diseases. The center will close June 30.

President Fred Pestello said the changes are part of the school’s response to an estimated $16 million budget deficit.

Pestello said when the program began in 2010, the university planned to subsidize it through 2013. After that, the center was expected to be self-sustaining financially but that never happened.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported 14 of the eliminated positions will be from the center, with seven jobs cut elsewhere in the School of Medicine.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com