Month: September 2019

Lawmakers in California have approved a bill that could pave the way for gig economy workers, such as Uber and Lyft drivers, to be reclassified as employees and not contract workers. If the bill becomes law, it will have broad implications for labor in America, says Pauline Kim, an employment law expert in the School of Law.

Kristina Anderson, a survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, will be the featured speaker for Ready Week, which will take place Sept. 16-20 and is organized by the Washington University in St. Louis Emergency Management Department. Ready Week will emphasize the importance of tuning in, learning more, looking around and taking action through interactive events and presentations.

The School of Medicine has received a $5 million grant from the Edward P. Evans Foundation to establish and endow a new center focused on advancing research and improving treatments for a rare set of blood disorders called myelodysplastic syndromes, or MDS, that leaves the body unable to make enough healthy blood cells.

Restricting the sale of menthol cigarettes to tobacco specialty shops may reduce the number of retailers and increase the cost of smoking, according to new research from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Radiation oncologist Dennis E. Hallahan, MD, of the School of Medicine, has been elected a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors. Hallahan is the Elizabeth H. and James S. McDonnell III Distinguished Professor of Medicine and head of the Department of Radiation Oncology. 

Three members of the Washington University faculty have been appointed to serve as faculty fellows in the Office of the Provost,  according to Interim Provost Marion Crain. During the 2019-20 academic year, they will focus on several high-priority academic initiatives.

Thorold Theunissen, assistant professor of developmental biology, Kristen Kroll, associate professor of developmental biology, and Lilianna Solnica-Krezel, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor and head of developmental biology, all at the School of Medicine, have received a three-year, $1.04 million grant from the Children’s Discovery Institute for their project titled “Establishing novel stem cell platforms to model developmental disorders […]

In commemoration of the 18th anniversary of 9/11, Washington University will lower the American flag over Brookings Hall and ring the Graham Chapel bells 18 times at 9:28 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11. Also, the university’s College Republicans will again plant flags on Mudd Field in honor of the victims of the deadly attacks.

As part of a federal initiative to end the HIV epidemic, Washington University in St. Louis will establish a center to provide guidance and support to local organizations working to reduce HIV infection rates in their communities. Among other things, the center will help organizations provide PrEP, a medicine that prevents HIV infection.

Michael Nowak, research professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, is a member of the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration that won the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. The award recognizes the team’s achievement of making the first image of a supermassive black hole, “taken by means of an Earth-sized alliance of telescopes.”